BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A four-run fifth inning that featured three runs on bases-loaded walks and a balk proved to be enough, as the University of Maine baseball team earned its first win of the season with a 6-4 victory over Samford on Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Peter Kemble earned the victory for Maine, pitching five innings, allowing just two hits and three runs while striking out four.
Ben Terwilliger (0.0 IP),
Dillon Stimpson (1.0 IP),
Matt Geoffrion (1.1 IP) and
Trevor DeLaite (1.2 IP) combined to allow just two hits and two earned runs over the final four innings. DeLaite picked up his first career save, striking out two of the six batters he faced.
Six Black Bears (1-14) registered at least one hit, while five tallied an RBI.
Joe Bramanti went 2-3 from the plate, with a double and an RBI.
Cody Pasic put together his second-straight multi-hit game, driving in a run on a single in the fourth.
Danny Casals crushed his first home run of the season to lift the Black Bears to an early lead.
Brogan Searle-Belanger plated an insurance run in the eighth on his first career double.
Colin Ridley also earned an RBI on the day.
After the Casals home run to center, the Bulldogs (13-5) put a two-run homer over the fence in left field to claim a 2-1 advantage.
Searle-Belanger began the fifth inning with a walk, as a single from
Caleb Kerbs put runners at the corners. A wild pitch moved Kerbs up to second, as a walk from Casals loaded the bases with just one out. Bramanti and Ridley both earned bases-loaded walk, as Maine would reclaim a 3-2 lead. A balk with Pasic up to the plate scored another run Black Bear run, as the Cotuit, Mass native would single in another run in the bat as Maine led 5-2 after five.
In the top of the eighth, Searle-Belanger lined a double to center to score Pasic on his first career RBI, as Maine would lead Samford 6-2.
With runners on second and third, the Bulldogs would plate two runs in the eighth, but DeLaite would limit the damage with a strikeout to get out of a jam.
DeLaite would shut down the side in order in the bottom of the ninth, as the Black Bears earned its first victory of the season.
The Black Bears go for the series win over Samford tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. EST at Joe Lee Griffin Field. Sunday's season-finale will also be broadcasted on ESPN 3.
-UMaine-
