The Maine Black Bears were hoping to turn around their late season struggles in their first game of the America East Baseball Tournament on Thursday, but instead Frank Wayman had three hits and two RBI including a game winning RBI single in a five run fifth inning as the University of Massachusetts-Lowell beat Maine 9-7 at Mahaney Diamond in Orono. The top seeded Black Bears are now forced into the losers bracket and will face elimination on Friday afternoon.
UMass-Lowell got off to a good start in the top of the first inning, as Fritz Genther hit a one out solo homerun to right centerfield off Maine starter Trevor Labonte. The Black Bears took the lead in the home half of the second. Joe Bramanti nailed his first solo homer of the day to left to tie it, and later in the inning Jake Marquez had a two-run double and Jordan Schulefand hit an RBI sacrifice fly to make it 4-1. Gerry Siracusa and Brandon Fish had RBI singles for the Riverhawks in the third to cut it to 4-3, before Bramanti led off the bottom of the third with his second solo shot to left. Quinn McDaniel gave the hosts back their three run lead at 6-3 with a two out RBI double in the fourth. Three straight UMass-Lowell hits to start the fifth inning ended the day for Labonte, as the guests went on to score five runs in the frame including a go ahead three-run triple from catcher Ryan Proto and the game winning hit from Wayman and an 8-6 advantage. Maine (27-21) had a great chance in the sixth when Schulefand, Jeff Mejia, and McDaniel all singled consecutively to start it off. Bramanti though would ground into a 6-4-3 doubleplay to kill the big rally, with Schulefand scoring on the play and the Riverhawks held on to a slim lead. The Black Bears had a chance in the seventh with the bases loaded and one out, and then again with two men on and one out in the eighth but didn’t score either inning as they left 13 runners on base in the loss. A two out RBI double by Wayman in the top of the ninth added an insurance run for UMass-Lowell. Maine got a one out single in their last at bat by Marquez, but Schulefand popped out foul to the first baseman and Mejia flied out to left to end it.
Tyler Nielsen (1-1) took the loss for Maine in relief of Labonte. Labonte allowed six runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 4+ innings. The Black Bears bullpen kept them within striking distance, as Colton Carson, Colin Fitzgerald, Leif Bigelow, and Matt Pushard combined to allow one run on five hits over the final 5.0 innings. McDaniel and Marquez both had three hits, while Bramanti had the two solo homers his 16th and 17th on the year. Wayman, Genther, and Siracusa had three hits each for UMass-Lowell (27-28), while Proto had two knocks and three driven in. Zach Fortuna (1-0) got the win in relief of their starter Ryan Towle. Henry Funaro pitched the ninth inning and got his second save of the season. The #4 seed Riverhawks, who got a walkoff win in the opening game of the Tournament over UMBC on Wednesday, are now just needing a win on Friday at 11 a.m. against Binghamton to reach the America East Championship game on Saturday. Maine, who has gone 4-7 in their last 11 games played, will face elimination at 2:30 Friday afternoon against NJIT. The Bears would now need four wins without a loss to capture the title.
UML 1 0 2 0 5 0 0 0 1- 9 14 1
UME 0 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 0- 7 12 1
WP- Fortuna (1-0) LP- Neilson (1-1) SV- Funaro (2)
HR- Bramanti 2 (16,17)
3B- Proto
2B- McDaniel, Marquez, Gallagher, Wayman
SB- Goodman
LOB- Maine 13, UMass-Lowell 9
