Maine baseball sweeps non-conference series over Hartford

Published by %s
April 23, 2023

The Maine baseball team finished off their three game non-conference home series on Saturday and Sunday afternoon at Mahaney Diamond in Orono against Hartford.

On Saturday, left hander Caleb Leys (3-0) fired 6.0 innings of four hit shutout ball on the mound with 11 strikeouts as Maine took a 2-1 win. All three of the runs in the game were via solo homeruns. Jake Rainess for a second straight day homered to lead off the game for the Black Bears in the bottom of the first. Matt McElwain had the game winner with a solo shot in the second. Hartford hit the scoreboard for the only time when Harrison Eng homered to lead off the ninth inning, but Gianni Gambardella picked up his first save of the season when he retired the next three Hawks batters in order. Rainess had three hits in the victory, and Gambardella only allowed the one hit in his 3.0 innings of relief. Robert Chaney (0-4) took the loss on the hill for Hartford allowing two runs on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts in 6.0 innings.

On Sunday, Hartford got out to a 2-0 lead on a second inning RBI double by Jackson Ciccone and a solo homerun by Martin Chavarria in the third. Maine rallied though to compete the weekend sweep, as a two-run homerun by Dylan McNary in the fourth gave the Black Bears the lead for good in a 5-4 win. Connor Goodman helped tie the game with a two-run double in the third, and Rainess homered for the third time on the weekend with a long towering solo shot to left field in the seventh. The Hawks did pull within a run in the eighth inning on a wild pitch and an RBI groundout, but Ryan Scott came on in relief for Geoff Mosseau and got a strikeout to strand the tying run on second base. Justin Beayens retired Hartford in order in the ninth for his fifth save. Noah Lewis (4-1) struckout 11 allowing two runs on four hits and walking just one in 6.0 innings to pick up the pitching win. Rainess and Jake Marquez had two hits each. Edwin Almanzar Jr. (0-8) took the loss for the Hawks giving up five runs on eight hits with four walks and five strikeouts in 6.1 innings. Hartford now has lost 14 in a row, falling to 2-28 on the season. Maine is 21-12 and will play a pair of non-conference matchups on Tuesday and Wednesday in a home and home with Merrimack College. The Black Bears have 16 games remaining in the regular season, trying to reach 30 wins for the first time since 2013 (37-22).

Recaps by Chris Lessner/Video highlights courtesy of Maine Baseball Twitter page 

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