University of Maine
Fairfield
Baseball Falls to Fairfield, 8-4
3/11/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The University of Maine baseball squad fell to Fairfield today by a score of 8-4. The loss puts the Black Bears at 5-8 on the season while the Stags up their record to 5-7. Colin Gay (Franklin, Mass.) and Alex Calbick (Burnaby, British Columbia) both registered a pair of hits and scored a run for Maine.
The game started as a pitching duel between Maine starter Jeffrey Gibbs (Toronto, Ontario) and Fairfields' Scott Warwick, holding the opposition scoreless through the first six innings of play. The Stags jumped on the board first after Ryan Plourde tagged relief pitcher Fran Whitten (Westborough, Mass.) for an RBI double, scoring Tyler Wosleger who had reached on a double earlier in the inning. Anthony Hajjar, who had reached on a walk, advanced to third on the play and came around to score after Sebastian Salvo hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Michael Bennett came up to bat next and hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Plourde and giving Fairfield a 3-0 lead.
The Black Bears retaliated in the bottom half of the inning after a bases loaded walk, scoring Fran Whitten. He had reached on a leadoff single. Troy Black (Mississauga, Ontario) knocked a single to left field, advancing Whitten to second base. Colin Gay then loaded the bases after singling up the middle; leading to Sam Balzano (Portland, Maine) drawing a walk to score Maine's first run. However, the Black Bears were held to one run in the inning.
Fairfield tallied five runs in the top of the eighth inning, starting with a bases clearing double by Ryan Plourde, giving him his fourth RBI of the game. Plourde advanced to third on a wild pitch by relief pitcher Mike Connolly (Middleborough, Mass.) and came around to score after Michael Bennett singled to right field, giving Fairfield a 7-1 lead. Manny Pupo (Boynton Beach, Fla.) then came in for Connolly to face Michael Bennett. Sebastian Salvo, who had reached on a walk and advanced to third, came in to score after a balk by Pupo. Manny then fanned the next batter and forced Mark Skrapits to ground out to third and end the inning.
Maine started to rally in the bottom half of the inning after Justin Leisenheimer (Middle Village, N.Y.) drove in Tyler Patzalek (Burlington, Ontario) on a groundout to second. Patzalek reached after being hit by a pitch. Alex Calbick advanced to third on Leisenheimer's groundout after initially reaching on a double. Nick Bernardo (Glenmont, N.Y.) came in to pinch hit for Manny Pupo and doubled, driving in Calbick. Maine now cut Fairfield's lead to 8-3.
The Black Bears struck again for another run in the bottom of the ninth when Tyler Patzalek grounded out to the shortstop, scoring Colin Gay. Colin had reached in a single and advanced to third after a Michael Fransoso double. The Black Bears could not continue their rally and would fall to Fairfield by a final score of 8-4.
Jeffrey Gibbs was given the loss, despite a solid three hit, six inning performance. Gibbs gave up two earned runs while walking two and striking out five batters. His record now stands at 0-3 on the season. Scott Warwick earned his second win of the season for the Stags after pitching six shutout innings. He gave up three hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
The Black Bears will now travel to South Orange, N.J. for four games at the Seton Hall Strike Out Cancer Tournament. They will face NJIT first on Friday, March 16, at 4 PM.
