ORONO, Maine - The Maine Black Bears returned home for their first home conference series since taking two of three from Hartford in the first weekend of April, as they split a Sunday double header with the UMBC Retrievers. Maine took game one by a score of 10-7, with a come-from-behind seventh inning rally, but couldn't manage a rally in game two as they fell 9-6.

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Game one started off with UMBC taking a 3-0 lead after two innings, and they slowly built their lead scoring a single run every inning from innings four through seven. The Black Bears were able to answer back with three RBIs in the fourth inning, a throwing error allowing Christopher Bec to reach and Jeremy Pena to score, and home run by Tyler Schwanz scoring Bec would cut UMBC's lead to 4-3.

Down 6-3 in the sixth inning, Tyler Schwanz was at it again as he singled to right center, allowing Chris Bec to score from second, cutting UMBC's lead to 6-4. 

In the bottom of the seventh the Black Bears rallied back, scoring four runs to take the lead; an RBI single to right field by Caleb Kerbs would score Hernen Sardinas, Jeremy Pena would send Kerbs home on an RBI double, Lou Della Fera would score Pena on a right field single, and Tyler Schwanz hit into a throwing error which allowed the go-ahead run to score by way of Lou Della Fera, giving the Black Bears a 8-7 lead.

Cody Laweryson entered the game in releif in the seventh, and after only facing four batters in the eighth, holding the one run lead, Hernen Sardinas would give the Black Bears some insurance as he homered over the right field wall, scoring Brandon Vicens, gave the Black Bears a 10-7 lead going into the final frame. Jeff Gelinas entered the game in the save situation and after a two-out double, ended the game with a strikeout for his fifth save of the season. Cody Laweryson gets the win in relief, he is now 4-1 on the year. Laweryson pitched 1.1 innings, allowing no hits or runs, walking one and striking out one. 

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In game two the Black Bears came out strong, as a deep single by Tyler Schwanz put Maine on the board, scoring Chris Bec to lead 1-0 after one full inning of play. UMBC would answer back quickly in the top of the second on a home run and a deep left field single, putting them up 3-1 after 1.5 innings. 

Maine had a short rally in the fourth inning to retake the lead, four runs on three hits, as a bases-loaded right-field single by Caleb Kerbs would score Brandon Vicens and Jonathan Bennett, tying the game at 3-all. Cody Pasic would then hit an RBI of his own on a right field single, scoring Sardinas, to take the lead 4-3. After a pitching change, Maine added one more run with Jeremy Pena reaching on a fielders choice, scoring Kerbs, to make it 5-3.

Maine held the 5-3 lead until a big sixth inning for the Retrievers as they scored five runs on four hits in the top of the sixth to re-take the lead, 8-5. They would add another run in the top of the seventh on an RBI triple to lead 9-5. Maine would get one back in the bottom of the seventh on a sac-fly by Bec, but it wasn't enough as the Black Bears fell 9-6.

Cody Laweryson who got the win in game one came into the game in the sixth inning to relieve Jonah Normandeau, but only managed 0.1 innings and allowed two runs on two hits. His record sits now at 4-2 after the loss.

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Maine is back in action Saturday, May 13th at 4pm as they host UMass Lowell for a single game Saturday night and a double header Sunday afternoon.

-UMaine-