The Maine Black Bears played a pair of rare mid-week games against two non-conference opponents on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, and made it a two game sweep by knocking off two teams from the Ivy League.
On Tuesday Maine had 13 hits and rallied from a 3-2 deficit by scoring three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings for an 8-5 win over Brown at Murray Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island. Danny Casals gave the Bears a 2-0 lead with a two run single in the third inning. Brown took their only lead on a solo homer by Garett Delano in the bottom of the third, and a two run double by Parke Phillips in the fifth. Ryan Turenne hit a two run single for Maine in the sixth, and Hernen Sardinas added an RBI single to give the lead back to the Black Bears 5-3. Colin Ridley had a two run single in the Maine seventh, and Kerbs followed with an infield RBI single to help pick up the win.
Casals had three hits, while Sardinas, Cody Pasic, and Kerbs all had two hits a piece to lead Maine. Bobby Cliche (1-0) picked up the win in relief on the mound allowing two runs on two hits in 2.0 innings. Trevor Delaite got his third save by pitching a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts. Delano and Phillips had two hits a piece to lead Brown. Joshua Wilder (0-2) didn’t record an out in suffering the pitching loss in relief allowing two runs on a hit. Brown is now 11-25 on the season.
On Wednesday at Biondi Park in Hanover, New Hampshire, Maine built a 6-0 lead and then had to hang on late for an 8-7 win over Dartmouth College. Casals got the Black Bears off to a 2-0 lead with a two run homer to left in the first inning. Joe Bramanti had a sacrifice fly for an RBI in the third inning, and Kerbs an RBI single making it 4-0. Turenne followed with a long two run homer to right center that cleared the fence by 25 feet to make it 6-0. The Big Green got two back in the bottom of the third on a passed ball, and an RBI single by Nate Ostmo to cut it to 6-2. Maine pushed it back to a six run lead on a Sardinas RBI double, and a Bramanti RBI single in the fourth to make it 8-2. Dartmouth got an unearned run in the sixth, and then an RBI single from Blake Crossing in the eighth to make the score 8-4. In the same inning, Trevor Johnson unloaded the bases with a three run triple to make it just a one run game. Maine reliever Jacob Small stranded Johnson at third base though by retiring Dartmouth pinch hitter Michael Calamari to record a huge out. Delaite then got his fourth save by allowing a hit and two strikeouts in the ninth inning to end the Big Green comeback.
Cody Laweryson (4-3) picked up the win on the hill for Maine allowing no runs or hits in 1.0 inning of work. The Bears used seven pitchers on the day in the victory. Turenne had three hits and Casals had two to lead the offense. Matt Feinstein and Crossing had two hits a piece for Dartmouth. Alex Vaules (2-3) took the loss on the bump for the Big Green allowing five runs on six hits in 3.0 innings. Maine is now 11-26, while Dartmouth falls to 14-24. The Black Bears will take their 7-7 America East record into a big three game conference series with Stony Brook at home this weekend, beginning with a doubleheader at noon on Saturday. SBU is on top of the AE standings at 13-5, while Maine is in fourth just a game and a half clear of the sixth place team. The top six teams make the America East tournament when that begins in three weeks.
