The University of Maine baseball and softball teams continued America East play on Saturday afternoon. The baseball team was swept at UMass-Lowell by scores of 2-1 and 9-4, while the softball team split at home with the top team in the conference Stony Brook losing game one 3-0 and winning the second 3-2.
In game one at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, the Riverhawks got a walk off sacrifice fly by Roddy Hernandez in the bottom of the seventh inning to take the win. Jake Marquez had given Maine a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the second, before UMass-Lowell evened it on an error with an unearned run in the fourth. Quinn McDaniel led the Black Bears with two hits, while Nicholas Sinacola (6-1) suffered his first pitching loss of the season allowing just one earned run on four hits with 10 strikeouts in 6.2 innings. In the second game, the hosts scored six runs over the first four innings and cruised to the sweep. Connor Goodman had two hits and two RBI for Maine, while Noah Lewis (2-3) took the loss on the hill allowing five runs on seven hits over 3.0 innings. Gerry Siracusa had three hits and four RBI for Lowell, as they took three of the four games on the weekend. The Black Bears drop to 13-11, 8-8 in America East, while the Riverhawks are 11-20, 10-12 in AE.
At Kessock Field in Orono in game one, the Stony Brook Seawolves were held without a hit until the fifth inning but would score three late to take the win. Jordyn Nowakowski had an RBI sacrifice fly, while Kyra McFarland added an RBI double, and Melissa Rahrich an RBI single. Jasmine Gray had two hits for Maine, while Kyleigh O’Donnell (8-3) lost in the circle allowing just one earned run on three hits in 7.0 innings. Kelby Drews gave the Black Bears an early 1-0 lead in the first inning of game two with an RBI single, that stood up for a while. Nicole McCarvill hit a two run single to make it 2-1 Seawolves in the fifth, before an error on a ball hit by Mariah Pearson tied it with an unearned run in the bottom of the inning. An error by the Stony Brook catcher Nowakowski would allow pinch runner Brianna Neely to score from second base in the bottom of the seventh to give Maine the walkoff win. Keely Clark had two hits to lead the way, including a single that set up the game winner in the seventh inning. O’Donnell (9-3) won in relief with one perfect inning. Maine is now 11-15, 7-4 in America East, while Stony Brook is 20-9, 6-1 in AE.
Next up the baseball team is at Albany next Saturday and Sunday for a four game America East series, while softball will host Stony Brook for one more game on Sunday morning at 11 a.m.
