ALBANY, N.Y. – In a doubleheader that featured two high-scoring affairs by the victor, the University of Maine baseball team was able to bounce back from a 19-3 loss in game one by defeating UAlbany 12-1 in the nightcap at Varsity Field on Saturday afternoon.
UAlbany would score eight runs in the bottom of the third inning while scoring nine in the sixth to pick up a win in the opening game. The Black Bears countered with a six-run frame in the fifth, while adding five runs in the sixth and four runs in the seventh to propel the Black Bears to a 16-1 victoy in the second game.
Maine would hit seven doubles in game two, and a pair of three-run home runs off the bat of
Hernen Sardinas and Joey Bramanti.
--
Cody Pasic and
Hernen Sardinas both earned a pair of doubles in game one, while
Caleb Kerbs batted two singles in the opener.
Kevin Doody collected an RBI single
The Black Bears got the bats going right away in the first inning of game on, as Sardinas doubled to left, while Pasic followed with a two-bagger to right to give Maine a 1-0 lead.
The Great Danes would push across a run on a wild pitch in its half of the first to knot things up at 1-1. After a scoreless second inning and top of the third, the Great Danes would string together eight runs on five hits, earning a 9-1 advantage after three frames.
Starting Black Bear pitcher
Nick Silva, the reigning America East Pitcher of the week, lasted 2 and a 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and seven walks and six earned runs.
Dillon Stimpson completed the third inning, allowing three earned runs in the big Great Dane inning.
Dominic Savino, Albany's starting pitcher, retired nine consecutive Black Bears after allowing back-to-back doubles to begin the game.
Pasic registered his second double of game one in the top of the sixth with one out, but the Black Bears could not send him across home plate.
UAlbany padded their lead with nine runs on six hits and two errors in the sixth frame, extending the advantage to 18-1.
Maine would get back two runs back in the top of the seventh, after Doody singled home
Colin Ridley, and Pasic drew a bases loaded walk to make it 18-3.
Albany scored a run in the bottom of the eighth, but Matt Pushard was able to retire the side in order in the Great Danes in the bottom of eighth.
Sardinas laced his 10
th double of the season and his second of the contest with Maine facing their final out in the ninth, but the final batter would strike out to end the first game of the doubleheader.
--
Cody Laweryson (3-3) got the start in game two, scattering seven hits over five innings. He struck out three, walked three and gave up just a single earned run in the win.
Sardinas would double for the third time on the day in the third inning of game two, but a flyout would strand him on the base paths.
In the fourth inning, Casals would double and Bramanti followed behind him with a walk. After a strikeout a double steal would put two Black Bears in scoring position, as Kerbs would drive in a run on a groundout to the Great Dane shortstop. A hard-hit grounder by
Ryan Turenne would be snagged by the Albany baseman to end the inning with Maine holding a 1-0 advantage.
The Great Danes would strike back right away, as a one-out RBI single following a triple would tie the contest at 1-1.
In the top of the fifth,
Kevin Doody would begin the frame with a deep double to left, as
Jeffrey Omohundro would beat out a sac-bunt attempt to put Black Bears on the corners. Sardinas would blast his seventh home run of the season, and his third dinger in his last five games over the deepest part of the center field fence, as Maine would take a 4-1 lead.
The Black Bears weren't finished in the fifth, as a single from Casals and a double from Bramanti would setup Ridley with a two-RBI bloop double to left field. Kerbs would send Ridley home on a single to center to complete the six-run fifth inning for Maine.
UAlbany looked to get back into the game in the bottom half of the fifth, as a single and two walks would load the bases with one out. Laweryson was able to strikeout the next batter swinging, and would force a groundout to get out of the inning unscathed.
The following inning, Maine would take control by putting up a five-spot in the top of the sixth. Casals would smack a two-RBI double, Bramanti would send two home on a single, and Kerbs would earn his third RBI of game two on a single to left field.
Trevor DeLaite would enter the game in the sixth, retiring the side in order.
Maine tacked on its 13
th on a single off the bat of
Cody Pasic in the top of the seventh.Later in the inning,
Joe Bramanti would blast a 3-run home run, his third of the season, as Maine would take a 16-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
DeLaite finished the Great Danes off in order in the seventh, as Maine earned a split in the doubleheader by a score of 16-1 in game two.
Bramanti led the Black Bears with five RBIs in game two, while Kerbs and Sardinas each drove in three runs.
The Black Bears and Great Danes look to complete the three-game series tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. Stay tuned to goblackbears.com and @MaineBaseball on Twitter for updates on possible weather delays and cancellations.
-UMaine-
