The University of Maine baseball team ended up with a four game weekend split with the Albany Great Danes in America East play, after Albany won both ends of a doubleheader on Sunday with 23-11 and 4-3 wins over the visiting Black Bears at Varsity Field in Albany, NY.
After a pair of wins on Saturday, it looked like Maine was ready to jump on Albany again in game one quickly scoring three runs on a Sean Lawlor three-run homer in the top of the first inning. But it wasn’t to be, as the Great Danes sent 13 men to the plate in the bottom half and scored nine times to take control. The hosts tacked on five more in the fourth, four in the fifth, and five in the sixth inning. Lawlor had two hits and five RBi to lead the Black Bears, while Quinn McDaniel had a three run double and Jeff Mejia added a two-run homer. Alex McKenney (3-4) took the loss on the mound only lasting 2/3 of an inning allowing nine runs (six earned) on five hits. Jason Bottari had four hits and three RBI for Albany, and Johnny Marti had two hits and four RBI. The Great Danes also hit a pair of homeruns in the win.
After a pair of rain delays in game two, Albany would take the afternoon sweep on a walkoff RBI single by Marc Wangenstein in the bottom of the ninth inning. Maine had three one run leads in the game thanks to an RBI single by Lawlor, and then an RBI double by Ryan Turrene and later an RBI groundout by Turrene. John Daly tied it for the Great Danes in the bottom of the seventh, before Wangenstein won it in their last at bat. Turrene and Joe Bramanti each had two hits in the loss for the Black Bears, while Andrew Ruggiero (0-1) took the loss in relief. Freshman Tyler Nielsen got a no-decision in his first collegiate start allowing one earned run on four hits with five strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Daly, Bottari, Marti, and Josh Gurnack each had two hits in the win for Albany. Maine falls to 15-14, 10-11 in America East play. Albany goes to 15-18, 13-13 in AE.
Maine returns home to open up a four game America East series with UMass-Lowell on Friday afternoon. The Riverhawks just took three of four games from the Black Bears last weekend.
