CORAL GABLES, FL- Former Bangor High School standout Justin Courtney had a very solid outing but Miami pulled away late against the Maine bullpen as the Hurricanes defeated the Black Bears 6-2 in college baseball action Tuesday night at Alex Rodriguez Park in front of a crowd of 2,411.
Jeremy Pena led off the game with a homerun for Maine (3-8) but the lead was short lived as the Hurricanes push across a run to tie it in the bottom of the second inning on a Black Bear throwing error.
Courtney and Hurricane starter Jesse Lepore then took over as the two starting pitchers matched pitch for pitch to keep the game 1-1 until the bottom of the sixth inning.
Miami took their first lead of the ballgame with two walks and a Randy Batista RBI single to make it 2-1. And that would end the night for Courtney after six.
Courtney was relieved by Nick Silva and later Connor Johnson in the seventh inning but the bullpen couldn’t hold the Canes down as Miami scored four runs on the strength of two walks, 2 singles and a double to make it 6-1.
Maine got one back in the top of the eighth on a Colin Ridley RBI single but the Bears got no closer dropping their fourth consecutive game on the spring trip.
Courtneys final stat line was six innings, six hits, two runs, one earned, three walks and three strikeouts to drop to 1-1 on the early season. Lepore who is now 2-0 also went six innings, giving up six hits, one earned run, one walk and struck out six for the 10-2 Miami Hurricanes.
Maine plays again tomorrow night in Deland, Florida at 6 p.m. against Long Island.
Maine 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0- 2 9 1
Miami 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 x- 6 10 0
Runners Left on base- Maine 9 Miami 10
