TOWSON, Md. - Junior third baseman Austin Harclerode banged out four hits and drove in five runs as the Tigers (4-16) exploded for a seasonal high 17 runs on a seasonal best 18 base hits en route to a 17-6 victory over UMBC (3-9) at John B. Schuerholz Park on Tuesday afternoon.
Harclerode, who had three singles and double, was one of five Tigers who had more than one base hit in the game as Towson beat UMBC for the 12th time in a row.
The Tigers, who played 18 of their first 19 games on the road, spotted the Retrievers a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Sophomore third baseman Curtis Schickner led off the game with a bloop single to right field. When junior shortstop Rich Conlon lined a single to left, UMBC had runners on first and second base with no outs. After a wild pitch by junior righthander Tyler Bugna moved both runners into scoring position, sophomore first baseman Max Himmelstein lined a two-run double off the rightfield fence.
Bugna struck out sophomore designated hitter Brian Klukowicz for the first out of the inning. Himmelstein advanced to third base on another wild pitch. However, the Tigers escaped the jam when junior leftfielder hit a hard line drive to Harclerode at third base. Harclerode made the catch and stepped on third base to complete a double play by retiring Himmelstein.
Trailing by 2-0 in the bottom of the first, the Tigers rallied to tie the game at 2-2 against junior righthander Austin Drewyer. With one out, senior rightfielder Kevin Collins drew a walk. After Collins stole second base, he scored the Tigers' first run on a single to left centerfielder by junior shortstop Chris Wychock. Moments later, Wychock stole second base to move into scoring position. When Harclerode singled to rightfield, Wychock came around to score the tying run.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Tigers staged a rally to take a 6-2 lead. With one out in the third, Collins drew a walk to start the rally. He advanced to second base on Drewyer's throwing error as he tried to pick him off first base. Senior first baseman Steve Yarsinsky lined a single to centerfield, scoring Collins to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. When Wychock was hit by a pitch, the Tigers had two runners on base. Harclerode followed with an RBI single to make it a 4-2 advantage. Freshman Kurt Wertz upped the lead to 5-2 when he lined a double down the left field line. When junior shortstop Nick Natoli grounded out to third base, Harclerode scored the fourth run of the inning for a 6-2 advantage.
After shutting out the Retrievers for two innings, freshman righthander Mike Bronakoski surrendered an unearned run in the fifth inning. Freshman second baseman Aaron Brill led off with a single. With one out, sophomore rightfielder Mike Lafferty reached on an error by Harclerode. After a single by Schickner loaded the bases, a sacrifice fly Conlon cut the Retrievers' deficit to 6-3.
In their half of the fifth, the Tigers extended their lead to 7-3. Yarsinsky led off with a double to rightfield and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. After a walk to Wychock, Wertz singled to rightfield, scoring Yarsinsky. Drewyer pitched out of the inning by getting pinch hitter Andrew Parker to ground into an inning-ending double play.
UMBC made a strong attempt at tying the game in the sixth inning against junior righthander Charlie Cononie. Klukowicz led off with a single but he was thrown out at second base by Collins when junior Bryan Russo hit an apparent single to rightfield. When catcher Rick Phillips was hit by a pitch, UMBC had two runners on base. Brill's infield single to shortstop loaded the bases with one out. The Retrievers cut their deficit to 7-5 when junior Casey Medairy lined a two-run double down the leftfield line. But Cononie bounced back to retire Lafferty and Schickner on ground balls to the infield, retiring the side.
With their lead cut to 7-5, the Tigers rallied for five runs in their half of the sixth inning, taking a 12-5 lead. With one out, sophomore catcher Brian Wyman started the rally with a single to rightfield. When sophomore centerfielder Ben Winter singled to rightfield, the Tigers had two runners on base. Collins was retired on a fly ball to right field as Wyman advanced to third base. Wyman scored on Yarsinsky's infield single to second base. Wychock upped the lead to 9-5 when he lined an RBI double down the leftfield line. Harclerode's two-run double down the left field line plated two more runs to increase the lead to 11-5. Pinch hitter Steve Rice capped off the rally with an RBI double off the rightfield fence, making it a 12-5 advantage.
The Tigers added three more runs in the seventh inning. Wyman and Winter led off the inning by reaching base when they were hit by pitches. A walk to Collins loaded the bases for pinch hitter Eric Weller. When Weller drew a bases loaded walk, the Tigers took a 13-5 lead. An RBI single by Harclerode made it a 14-5 game before Rice's RBI single upped the lead to 15-5.
UMBC added a run in the eighth inning when Brill led off with a single and went to second on a wild pitch. He came around to score on Medairy's second double of the game before freshman righthander Mike Volpe worked out of the inning.
The Tigers closed out the scoring in the bottom of the eighth inning. Sophomore Brady Baxter drew a one-out walk as a pinch hitter. Baxter moved to second base on a pinch hit single by junior Steve Freinberg. Weller's RBI single drove in Baxter to make it a 16-6 lead. Freinberg scored the final run of the game when Brill made a throwing error trying to turn a double play on a ground ball by Wychock.
While Harclerode led the Tigers with four hits, Yarsinsky had three hits and drove in two runs. Yarsinsky, who has an 11-game hitting streak, now has 198 base hits in his career and needs two more hits to become the 12th player in Towson baseball history with 200 career hits.
Wychock added two hits and drove in two runs while Wertz was 2-for-3 with two RBI's. Rice also had two hits and two RBI's.
Schickner, Klukowicz and Brill led UMBC with three hits each. Medairy had two hits and drove in three runs.
Bronakoski, the second of five Towson pitchers, earned the win. He pitched three innings and allowed one unearned run on two hits while issuing one walk with two strikeouts. He is now 2-1 on the season.
The Tigers return to action this weekend when they travel to UNC Wilmington for a three-game Colonial Athletic Association series with the Seahawks that starts on Friday evening.
TIGER TIDBITS: The Tigers are now 2-0 at Schuerholz Park this year and have outscored their opponents by a 29-9 margin ... With their 18-hit effort against UMBC, the Tigers raised their team batting average by ten points to .281 ... UMBC pitchers issued six walks and hit three batters in the game ... Collins did not get a hit against UMBC but he walked three times and scored three runs ... Towson out-hit UMBC, 18-14 ... There were eight doubles in the game, five by the Tigers.
