University of Maine
Florida Int''l
Gibbs' Two-Hitter Leads Maine Past FIU 4-1 In NCAA Regional
6/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Post-game quotes
CHAPEL HILL, NC -- Jeffrey Gibbs (Toronto, Ontario) allowed just two hits over eight innings, while Tyler Patzalek (Burlington, Ontario) reached base five times as the University of Maine baseball team defeated Florida International University 4-1 in the Chapel Hill Regional off the NCAA baseball tournament on Saturday afternoon. The Black Bears will now face the loser of the #3 UNC vs. James Madison game on Sunday, June 5 at 1 PM.
The win was the first in the NCAA Regionals for the Black Bears since defeating Southern Miss. 12-2 in 2005. In addition, it was the 1,800th win in program history.
"The Maine Black Bears played a great baseball game today," said head coach Steve Trimper. "I thought we played a great baseball game last night. We just didn't get the big hit. Today, we were able to manufacture a few runs, and obviously, we got great pitching."
Maine got on the board in the bottom of the second inning. Tyler Patzalek was hit and scored when Ian Leisenheimer (Middle Village, N.Y.) singled to left field. Maine left a pair of runners on base in the inning.
Maine extended its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Michael Fransoso (Portsmouth, N.H.) singled to right field and then stole his 18th base of the season. He scored the second run of the game for the Black Bears when Joey Martin (Portland, Maine) doubled down the left field line.
The Black Bears plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend their lead to 4-0. Alex Calbick (Burnaby, British Columbia) reached on an infield single. He moved to second on an Ian Leisenheimer sacrifice bunt. Colin Gay (Franklin, Mass.) then singled to shortstop. Calbick scored when Troy Black (Mississauga, Ontario) singled to right center field. Gay scored the fourth run of the game when Taylor Lewis (Montville, Conn.) hit a sacrifice fly to center field.
FIU got on the board in the top of the ninth inning. Yoandy Barrosa led off the inning with a double to center field. He scored when Pablo Bermudez singled to right center, breaking up Maine's shutout. The Black Bears retired the next two batters to earn the victory.
Gibbs was outstanding for the Black Bears, allowing just one run on a pair of hits. He struck out eight batters in the game. He improves to 8-5 on the season. Stephen Perakslis (Abington, Mass.) pitched the ninth inning and allowed one hit.
Phil Haig went 5.2 innings on the mound for the Golden Panthers in the start. He allowed four runs on nine hits. He struck out three while walking two. Haig falls to 9-4 on the season. He was replaced by Mason McVay who went two thirds of an inning and allowed one hit. Bryam Garcia went 1.2 innings and surrendered a pair of hits.
Maine will now face James Madison on Sunday, June 5 at 1 PM at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, NC.
-U-M
