The Maine Black Bears baseball team opened their regular season on Saturday with a non-conference doubleheader at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts. And for the first time since 2008, the Black Bears would start the year 2-0 with a pair of wins.
In game 1 (9 innings), Maine would build a 6-0 lead and got a great start on the mound from Nick Sinacola cruising to a 9-2 win.
Colin Plante started the scoring with a sacrifice fly RBI in the second inning to make it 1-0 Maine. Scout Knotts hit the first homerun of the season for the Black Bears with a solo shot with one out in the third. Joe Bramanti extended the lead to 4-0 with a two run homer down the right field line later in the inning. Knotts had a bases loaded walk and Sean Lawlor added a sacrifice fly for an RBI in the fourth. Jake Marquez scored on a wild pitch, Ryan Turenne scored on a balk, and Marquez had an RBI groundout to make up the other three runs on the day. Merrimack got two RBI singles for their only runs of the first game. Sinacola went 5.2 innings for the win, allowing one run on three hits with three walks and 11 strikeouts. Andrew Ruggiero pitched the final 3.1 innings and allowed a run on two hits to pick up the save. Connor Goodman and Turrene both had two hits.
In game 2 (7 innings), Knotts hit a go ahead RBI single in the fifth inning propelling Maine to a 4-1 win.
Knotts had a first inning RBI single to make it 1-0, before Merrimack tied it when Joey Porricelli hit a solo homerun to left field in the bottom of the third. Jeff Mejia added a two run single to right in that fifth inning to extend the Black Bears lead. Noah Lewis got the win on the hill going 6.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Matt Pushard picked up the save allowing just a hit in 1.0 inning, and struck out the side in the hosts last at bat in the bottom of the seventh. Goodman continued his big day with three more hits, and Knotts added the two big RBI hits. The teams play another doubleheader Sunday at 12 p.m.
