VESTAL, N.Y. – Despite 12 strikeouts from America East first-team pitcher
Cody Laweryson, the University of Maine baseball team dropped its opening game at the America East Championships on Wednesday afternoon at the Bearcats Baseball Complex.
The Black Bears will now battle the loser of No. 3 Binghamton and No. 6 Hartford at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday night at the Bearcats Baseball Complex.
Laweryson (L, 5-5) held the River Hawks to just five hits in seven innings on the mound. His 12 strikeouts are a career-high, as the Moscow native allowed five runs (four earned). He walked three, stranding five on the base paths.
Nicholas Sinacola pitched the eighth inning, allowing a hit and a walk in a scoreless frame.
Fellow America East first-team pitcher Nick Rand (W, 5-5) tossed eight strong innings, allowing four hits, while striking out six.
Danny Casals smacked a double in the contest, while
Hernen Sardinas,
Caleb Kerbs and
Jeffrey Omohundro each recorded a single.
The Black Bears (15-33) led off the game with a Sardinas single and a
Cody Pasic walk, but a flyout and a 6-4-3 double play would end the half inning without a run scored.
The River Hawks (20-34) leadoff hitter would single, as after Laweryson's first strikeout, an Oscar Marchena home run lifted the River Hawks to a 2-0 lead. Laweryson rebounded with back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the inning. A two-RBI triple would double the River Hawk lead to 4-0 after two innings.
In the fourth, a walk a stolen base and a single would pad the River Hawks lead to 5-0.
Casals belted Maine's only extra base hit with one out in the sixth, but a groundout and flyout would strand him on second.
In the top of the ninth,
Joe Bramanti would be hit by a pitch, as after a flyout, Kerbs would walk to put runners on first and second with two outs. A flyout would end the chances of Maine scoring a run, as UMass Lowell took a 5-0 win.
Maine returns to action tonight at the Bearcats Baseball Complex. The Black Bears will face the loser of Hartford and Binghamton. which begins at 2:30 p.m. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
-UMaine-
