After a Saturday rainout, the Maine Black Bears and Albany Great Danes met for a doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Varsity Field in Albany to finish off a three game America East baseball series. The first place Black Bears would pick up a sweep, and swept the series as they head back to Maine with a five game winning streak.
GAME 1 (7 innings)- Maine scored five times in the second inning and then would hang on for an 8-6 victory. Jake Marquez would score on a wild pitch, Connor Goodman scored on an error, and Quinn McDaniel hammered a three-run triple to right center to make it 5-0 Black Bears. Mike Pratte and Jordan Schulefand both got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the third to extend the lead to 7-0. Albany, trailing 8-2 headed to their last at bat in the seventh inning, made it a game against Matt Pushard. With two outs, Johnny Marti walked. The Great Danes then hit five consecutive singles, four of them for an RBI, and had the tying runs on base. Pushard though would strike out pinch hitter Mike Prisco swinging to end it. Goodman and Marquez had two hits a piece for Maine. Brett Irwin (2-3) started on the mound and picked up the win allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Will Binder had three hits to lead the Albany offense, while John Daly and Chris Fisher had two RBI each. Cregg Scherrer (2-2) took the pitching loss allowing eight runs (four earned) on five hits in 4.1 innings.
GAME 2 (9 innings)- Maine would fight back from an early 3-1 deficit to take a 7-3 lead late in the game. As Albany had done the entire series, they would make it interesting in their last at bat but the Black Bears would escape with a 7-6 victory. Scout Knotts scored on a wild pitch to give the guests a 1-0 lead in the second inning, before the Great Danes took a 3-1 advantage with a three run third. Brad Malm hit a solo homerun, Will Feil an RBI groundout, and Will Binder an RBI double. Maine tied it with a single run in the fifth and sixth. McDaniel had an infield RBI single to cut it to 3-2, and Knotts hit a solo homer to left to lead off the sixth. Joe Bramanti put the Black Bears ahead for good with a two-run double in the seventh, and they would add two more to make it 7-3 on a two-run error in the eighth that ultimately made the difference in the game. Albany again did their damage in their last at bat with two outs and noone on base. Marti doubled to center, stole third, and scored on a Michael Whalen single. Feil then walked, and Binder doubled in both runners to slice it to a single run. Schulefand, who has started the inning on the mound, would get Daly to groundout to secure the Maine win. Noah Lewis (2-2) got the pitching win and was fantastic in relief of starter Caleb Leys. Lewis went 5.0 innings allowing no runs on one hit with three walks and five strikeouts. Knotts had two hits, while McDaniel and Bramanti had two RBI each. Binder had two hits and three RBI for Albany. Starter Anthony Germinerio (3-3) took the loss allowing three runs on five hits in 6.1 innings, as the Great Danes fall to 15-16 (5-10 in America East).
Maine is now 15-14, 12-3 in America East and will return to Mahaney Diamond in Orono to host Colby College in a non-conference game on Tuesday at 5 p.m., before welcoming in UMass-Lowell for a three game America East series beginning Friday at 4. It is the first time this season the Black Bears have had their overall record go over the .500 mark.
Game 1 BOX
UME 0 5 2 0 1 0 0- 8 7 2
UALB 0 0 0 1 0 1 4- 6 10 4
WP- Irwin (2-3) LP- Scherrer (2-2)
3B- McDaniel
2B- Marquez, Binder
SB- McDaniel
LOB- Albany 9, Maine 7
Game 2 BOX
UME 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 2 0- 7 7 2
UALB 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3- 6 6 3
WP- Lewis (2-2) LP- Germinerio (3-3)
HR- Knotts (6), Malm (14)
2B- Bramanti, Knotts, Marquez, Marti, Binder
SB- Schulefand 4, Malm, Marti, Whalen, Daly, Bottari
LOB- Albany 10, Maine 9
