BUIES CREEK, N.C. - The University of Maine baseball program got off to a less-than-ideal start at the Campbell Invitational on Saturday afternoon, as they dropped games to Villanova and Purdue by a combined 13-4 margin.

GAME ONE

Maine sent sophomore righty Nicholas Sinacola to the hill to lead the charge into game one, and Sinacola was on fire through four innings. In the first four frames he didn't give up a single hit or run, cruising through the lineup with six strikeouts. The fifth inning seemed to provide all the offense that Sinacola would need, as the Black Bears plated a pair of runs off a Hernen Sardinas 2 RBI double, but the Villanova offense finally got to Sinacola in their half of the inning for three runs to regain the lead and never look back. A four run seventh inning by the Wildcats provided the dagger, and Maine fell by a 7-2 final

• Nicholas Sinacola ended up with a career-high eight strikeouts in his five innings, breaking his career-high that he set in his first outing of the year against Winthrop last weekend. He gave up three runs, all earned, and walked five batters while hitting two in 96 pitches.
• Hernen Sardinas continues to produce in the second spot in the Black Bears lineup, providing the lone runs for the Maine offense with his fifth inning double that plated Jordan Glazer and Jeffrey Omohundro. Sardinas is on a five-game hit streak to start the season, and an 11-game streak combined between the end of last season and today.
• Matt Geoffrion provided a solid appearance out of the bullpen, throwing three innings and giving up just two earned runs (four overall) with three strikeouts and no walks. 

GAME TWO

Matthew Pushard was called on to start game two for the second straight weekend, and he was similarly derailed by a single bad inning much like Sinacola in game one. For Pushard, it was his second inning that proved to be his bugaboo, as he hit a batter with the bases loaded to provide a free run to Purdue, followed by a 3-RBI double two batters later to give the Boilermakers a 4-0 lead early. Pushard's other four innings featured just one hit, and no runs for the junior righty. Alex McKenney drove in his third run of the season in the sixth inning and Joe Bramanti scored on a wild pitch a few batters later, but Purdue tacked on insurance runs in the seventh and eighth inning to seal the 6-2 win.

• In the end, Pushard went five innings, giving up four hits and four runs (all earned) with four strikeouts and three walks. The combination of Jacob Small and Dillon Stimpson came out of the bullpen to surrender just two runs in four combined innings of relief. 
• The Maine offense recorded just five hits in the game, with no batter getting more than one. Maine has recorded five or fewer hits in three straight games now, and the combination of Hernen Sardinas and Colby Emmertz has 13 of the team's 28 hits (46.4%) on the season.

UP NEXT

• Still in search of win number one, the Maine Black Bears will send Colton Carson to the mound in game number three against the hosting Campbell Camels on Sunday afternoon. Carson threw an inning of shutout baseball at Winthrop in the third game of that series, walking one with no strikeouts in his collegiate debut. First pitch is set for 2:00 PM tomorrow. 

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