Junior Ty Lowe connected for a pair of two-run hits and Justin Ritz and Jackson Beale combined to scatter nine hits, as the University of Mary Washington baseball team opened the 2023 season with a 5-3 victory over Mount Saint Mary College on Saturday at V. Earl Dickinson Stadium.

After the Knights scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning to take the lead, the Eagles knotted the score in the bottom of the inning. Jonathan Sedmak was hit by a pitch and went to third on a double from Bobby Ayscue, and both runners scored on a Lowe single to left.

UMW went ahead with two more in the fifth. Mike Dennis was hit by a pitch, and Sedmak walked with two outs. Ayscue walked to load the bases, and Lowe followed with another two-run hit. Mount Saint Mary scored once in the sixth, but the Eagles answered when Ryan Schwarz was hit by a pitch, stole second and third, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Alex Purgason.

Ritz gained the win, going 5.2 innings and allowing three runs on eight hits, with one walk and six strikeouts. Beale pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit, striking out three.

The two teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. at Dickinson Stadium.