ORONO- Colin Fitzgerald fired 7.0 strong innings on the mound, and Connor Goodman had two hits and two RBI to help lead the University of Maine to a 6-2 non-conference baseball victory over Hartford at Mahaney Diamond on Friday evening.
Hartford had a threat right away in the top of the first inning, as Noah Rivera and Devin Kellogg hit back to back doubles with one out to put runners on second and third. Fitzgerald escaped any damage when he struckout the next two batters. Jake Rainess led off for Maine (19-12) in the bottom half and hit a solo homerun to right field on a 1-0 pitch. Goodman also knocked in Quinn McDaniel with a sacrifice fly in the frame, after McDaniel had walked, stole second base, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Kellogg got the Hawks back within a run with an RBI sacrifice fly in the third, before the Black Bears responded with two runs on an RBI double by Jeremiah Jenkins and an infield RBI single by Jake Marquez in the bottom half. The hosts got their final two runs by scoring one each in the sixth and seventh innings on a passed ball and a Goodman RBI single.
Fitzgerald (4-1) allowed two runs on nine hits with three walks and six strikeouts in his 7.0 inning effort to pick up the win. Ryan Scott and Justin Baeyens pitched 1.0 inning each of scoreless relief to close it out. Ryan Turenne also had two hits. The homer for Rainess was his 10th of the season, and the 51st on the year for Maine in 31 games. Jenkins added to his team lead with his 54th RBI. Rivera had three hits in the loss for Hartford, with Kellogg and Martin Chavarria knocking in a run each. Alec Couture (1-6) was tagged with the pitching defeat allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts in 6.0 innings. The Hawks, who are transitioning to Division III but playing an independent D1 schedule, have lost 12 in a row dropping to 2-26. Game two of the series is Saturday at 1 p.m., and the finale is set for Sunday at 12.
Box Score
HAR (2-26) 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0- 2 10 0
UME (19-12) 2 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 x- 6 8 0
WP- Fitzgerald (4-1) LP- Couture (1-6)
2B- Maine: Jenkins/Hartford: Rivera, Kellogg
HR- Maine: Rainess/Hartford: none
SB- Maine: Rainess, McDaniel, Goodman, Marquez/Hartford: none
LOB- Maine: 6/Hartford: 10
Time- 2:03
Recap/Photos by Chris Lessner, Video highlight courtesy of Maine Baseball
Jake Rainess leads this game off with a BANG 💥
His 10th home run of the year and we are up 1-0!#blackbearnation | #wineverythint pic.twitter.com/gqxZ5AVVyk
— Maine Baseball (@MaineBaseball) April 21, 2023
