ORONO, Maine – Tied 3-3 in game one,
Danny Casals would hit a go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to lift the University of Maine baseball team to a 4-3 win, but Stony Brook would go on to win the nightcap by a score of 5-3 in a doubleheader at Mahaney Diamond on Saturday afternoon.
Nick Silva would start the first game for the Black Bears, going seven strong innings, while striking out eight and walking just one. He struckout the final two batters he faced in the seventh inning, earning his 199
th and 200
th career strikeouts.
Trevor DeLaite (1-1) would pitch the final two frames, earning his first victory of the season after getting the Black Bears out of a jam in the top of the ninth.
Along with the clutch home run from Casals,
Cody Pasic,
Caleb Kerbs and
Kevin Doody would all drive in a run in game one. Pasic (2-for-3) and
Joe Bramanti (2-for-4) each ripped a double and a single in the first game.
Stony Brook would strike first, as after a single, John Tucillo would advance to second on a sac-bunt, head to third on a balk, and would score on a wild pitch to give the Seawolves a 1-0 advantage.
In the next half inning, Pasic would double home
Hernen Sardinas from first to knot the score at 1-1.
Maine would take its first lead in the bottom of the fourth, as Doody's would single home
Bobby Brennan, who reached base on a double.
Stony Brook, who has won every America East series its played this season would fight back to take the lead in the sixth inning on a solo homerun and back-to-back doubles to earn a 3-2 lead.
For the second time in the game, Maine responded by punching back with a sac-fly off the bat of Kerbs, to score
Joe Bramanti who led the inning off with a double to right center.
Silva retired the side in order in the top of the seventh, firing back-to-back strikeouts to reach the 200 career strikeout milestone.
With one out in the eighth, Casals lifted his seventh home run of the season to left center, as Maine retook the lead at 4-3.
Stony Brook would begin the ninth with a single to right field, as he would advance to second on a sac-bunt in the next at bat. After a hit-by-pitch to put the go-ahead run on first place, a bloop single to right field would load the bases.
DeLaite forced a groundout to himself, got the force out at home, as Maine nearly turned a double-play to end the game, but Bramanti would be pulled off the bag off the throw from Pasic.
With two outs and the bases juiced, DeLaite would strikeout the final batter, giving the Black Bears the 4-3 victory over first place Stony Brook.
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Cody Laweryson (4-4) would get the start in the nightcap, allowing five earned runs on five hits, while striking out four and walking just one batter.
Dillon Stimpson would not allow a baserunner in in the sixth, while
Matt Geoffrion would strand a runner on base in the seventh.
Stony Brook would start game two strong, as Michael Wilson would hit his second home run of the doubleheader to give the Seawolves an early 1-0 lead. Casals would tie the game in the bottom half of the first inning, as a single to right field would score Sardinas with one out in the frame.
Stony Brook would connect on a three-run home run in the bottom half of the third to retake the lead and added a run on a pair of Black Bear errors in the top of the fifth to take a 5-1 advantage.
Sardinas would triple to center to lead off the bottom of the sixth, but the next two batters would strikeout and pop-out to have two outs in the inning. An error by the Stony Brook third baseman would score Sardinas and put Bramanti on base, who advanced to second on the play and went to third on a wild pitch. A double of the bat of
Colin Ridley would score Bramanto to make it a 5-3 contest. That's all Maine would get in the inning, however.
In Maine's last opportunity in the bottom of the seventh, the Black Bears would get two runners on base with a walk and a dropped third strike, but the Black Bears could not get any closer, falling to Stony Brook by a score of 5-3.
Maine and Stony Brook will play the rubber match of the series tomorrow at noon at Mahaney Diamond.
