TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –  The University of Maine baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader to No. 11 Florida State, falling 16-3 in game one, while nearly upsetting the Seminoles in the second game by a score of 5-4.
 
Freshman outfielder Jake Roper collected his first collegiate hit in the second game of the double-header, a grand slam which gave the Black Bears their first lead of the series at 5-2. Maine would hold lead until the Seminoles tied and won on a walk-off in the seventh inning of the shortened contest.
 
Trevor DeLaite pitched for the second consecutive day, striking out six of 11 Seminoles he faced in game two, including two in-a-row with runners on second and third in the fourth inning to preserve a Maine lead.
 
Hernan Sardinas led the Black Bears with three hits on the day, driving in a single RBI. Caleb Kerbs picked up two doubles in the first game, sending home Maine's first runs on the season on his first hit since May 6^th of last season.
 
Danny Casals and Ryan Turenne also had two hits in the contests. Turenne's two singles came on his first two collegiate plate appearances. Casals reached base six times on the day, drawing three walks and reached first on a dropped third strike.
 
In game one, Maine put two runners on base after the Casals dropped third strike and Sardinas single, but could not plate a runner after a fielder's choice ended the scoring opportunity.
 
Matthew Pushard (0-1) earned the start in game one, as he got out of a bases loaded jams with limited damage in each of the first three innings, allowing a combined three runs on just three hits, but walked nine over the course of three innings and hit two Seminoles in the span.
 
With the Black Bears trailing 3-0 entering the 4^th inning, the Black Bears loaded the bases after a Casals walk, Sardinas single and Cody Pasic walk. Kerbs took advantage of the situation, lining a double down the left-field line to score Casals and Sardinas to make it a 3-2 game.
 
Ben Terwilliger entered the game in the bottom of the 4^th, as FSU tallied just one hit in the frame, but managed four runs after earning three walks, a hit-by-pitch and a Maine fielding error to make it 7-2 Seminoles.
 
Florida State would record at least one run over the last four innings, tallying one in the fifth, two in the sixth four in the seventh and two in the eighth for 16 total runs in the contest.
 
Maine put Casals and Sardinas on second and third with two outs in the fifth inning, but could not send the runners home on a fly-out.
Maine would plate its third and final run of game one in the sixth frame, as Jeffrey Omohundro picked up his first hit as a Black Bear with a two-out single to center field, scoring Bobby Brennan to make it 8-3. Maine loaded the bases on a Casals walk, but a ground-out to second base ended the threat.
 
Once again in the seventh inning it looked like Maine could get back into the game, as Black Bears loaded the bases with two outs, but a fielder's choice would prevent a score.
 
Kerbs notched his second double in game one with two outs the top of the ninth inning, but a fly-out to left field ended the contest, with Florida State winning 16-3.
 
Dillon Stimpson pitched the final three innings for the Black Bears, allowing six earned runs and five hits, while walking just one. CJ Van Eyk (1-0) earned the win for the 'Noles, pitching five innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs, while striking out eight Black Bears.
 
--
 
The Black Bears led off game two with a single from Kevin Doody, but would be picked off shortly later. After a fly-out, Casals earned his third walk of the day to keep the inning alive. Casals would move all the way to third base on a failed pickoff attempt. Sardinas would ground out at the next at bat, ending the opportunity.
 
Peter Kemble, making his third collegiate start and his first appearance of 2019 struck out the first two batters he saw. Drew Mendoza forced a walk, but Kemble got the next Seminole to fly-out to center to end the first.
 
A Florida State double down the left-field line in the second inning would give the Seminoles a 2-0 lead.
 
Casals got the pivotal fourth inning started with a double to right field on third pitch he faced. He advanced to third on a wild pitch, and would score on a Sardinas ground-out. Joe Bramanti earned a walk on five pitches and advanced to second on a ground-out to third. Turenne registered his second hit in as many at bats on a dribbler to the hot corner, as Bramanti moved to third to put runners on the corners. After Brennan was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Roper smacked the grand slam on his first collegiate hit to left field on an 0-2 count to lift Maine to its first lead of the series at 5-2.
 
Kemble's day came to an end in the bottom of the fourth, allowing a single with runners on the corners to make it 5-3 in favor of the Black Bears. Kemble's day ended with a line of 3 1/3 innings pitched, while allowing three earned runs (four total), striking out three and walking five.
 
DeLaite entered the contest, striking out the first batter he faced, but threw a wild pitch in the next at bat to put runners at second and third. The Brewer, Maine native struck out the next batter to escape the inning with just the one run scored.
 
The fifth inning was quiet offensively for both squads as DeLaite allowed a single and struck out three in the frame. After the Black Bears went down in order, FSU reached base on an error, a walk and moved into scoring position on second and third with a passed ball. The next. Batter would send a sacrifice-fly center field to make it a 5-4 game. DeLaite got the next batter to fly out, and exited the game with his sixth and final strikeout on 11 batters faced. DeLaite pitched 2 and 2/3 innings, allowing a single hit, unearned run, and walk. 
 
Maine could not get a baserunner on in the top of the seventh, as Matt Geoffrion (0-1) entered the game in relief of DeLaite. An FSU walk and double to start the inning tied the game up at 5-5. A balk moved the runner over to third base. The Seminoles would walk-off with  a sacrifice-fly to left field to complete the comeback.
 
The fourth and final game of the series will conclude on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. Nick Silva is projected to start for the Black Bears, while Shane Drohan will be on the bump for Florida State.
 
 -UMaine-