At Smithson Field in Merion Station, Pennsylvania the Maine Black Bears got a combined 13 RBI from Quinn McDaniel and Jeremiah Jenkins on Saturday afternoon, and erased an early seven run deficit to take a 17-12 win over Saint Joseph’s University in non-conference baseball action.
After Maine suffered a tough 3-2 walkoff loss in game one on Friday, things didn’t start well on Saturday for the Black Bears. Nate Thomas and Ryan Weingartner had first inning RBI singles, while Justin Igoe added a sacrifice fly as the Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead. A throwing error in the second by McDaniel allowed a run to score, and then a three-run error by shortstop Jake Rainess would make it 7-0 Saint Joseph’s. Jenkins got the guests on the board in the top of the third inning with a two-run homerun to right field, and then got within a pair of runs in the fourth when Dylan McNary was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Rainess walked with the bags full, and McDaniel had an infield RBI single to slice it to 7-5. An RBI single in the last of the fourth, and two more RBI hits in the home fifth inning pushed the lead back to 10-5. McDaniel drove in another with an RBI single in the sixth, and then Jenkins got the Black Bears back even 10-10 when he hit a grand slam to left center. Maine (8-11) won the game in the seventh inning. After a groundout to start the frame, Dean O’Neill was hit by a pitch but then McNary made the second out by going down on strikes. Rainess kept the inning alive with a single, and then McDaniel homered to left field as the three-run shot gave them their first lead of the day. They added some insurance on a two-run single by McNary in the eighth, and McDaniel did it once again with another homerun a two-run shot in the ninth.
McDaniel ended up with five hits (two homeruns), seven RBI, and scored four times in the win. Jenkins had a total of three hits with two going over the fence and six RBI. Rainess and McNary also added two hits each, with McNary driving in three. Tyler Nielsen started on the mound and only lasted 1/3 of an inning. Maine used seven pitchers, with Andrew Ruggiero (1-2) earning the victory. Ryan Cesarini had two hits, two RBI, walked four times, and scored three runs in the loss for Saint Joseph’s out of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Their starter Ryan DeSanto gave up five runs in 3.1 innings, with Frank Ciccone (0-2) being tagged with the loss in relief. The Hawks are now 8-10 on the season. The teams will finish off the series on Sunday at 12 p.m., with the Black Bears then returning home to Orono and on Friday will open up their home schedule when they host UMass-Lowell in a three game America East set at Mahaney Diamond.
Recap by Chris Lessner
