ORONO – The University of Maine Black Bears needed a spark
aagainst crafty Long Island University sophomore righthander Brad
KKeely.
Sophomore shortstop Brian Seguin provided that spark with a
ttwo-out, two-run single in the fifth inning and the Bears erupted
ffor five sixth-inning runs in a come-from-behind, 11-4 victory to
eeliminate LIU in a wild affair at Mahaney Diamond.
Keely one-hit the Bears, now 40-16, over four innings and his
BBlackbirds, 27-13, built him a 3-0 nest.
A throwing error by shortstop Ciro Ambrosio, a walk, and Chad
WWhite’s sacrifice put runners on second and third before Shanan
KKnox struck out for the second out of the inning.
Seguin followed by poking a soft line single to right.
“I threw him a slider outside. I put it where I wanted to, but
hhe did a good job,” said Keely.
“It was a great pitch (for a pitcher),” said Seguin. “I just
ggot a little of the bat on it.”
Craig Ender started the decisive sixth-inning rally by drawing
aa one-out walk and Tim Scott followed with a long game-tying double
oover center fielder Sal Conti’s head.
Gary Taylor bounced a single to center and Mike DeLucia walked
tto load the bases.
White walloped an 0-2 pitch for a two-run double to
lleft-center field to give Maine the lead for good.
“It was supposed to be a fastball up and in, but I got it down
aa little bit,” said Keely, who added that he tired in the middle
iinnings and got his pitches up.
“I could tell by the way he was holding the ball that it was
ggoing to be a fastball,” said White. “He threw it right down the
mmiddle.”
“Brian’s hit was big and Chad’s hit was the killer,” said
MMaine captain DeLucia.
Knox’s sacrifice fly off reliever John DiStefano produced a
ssecond run when Ambrosio overthrew third on the relay.
LIU got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on a walk and
JJoe Durso’s RBI double, but the Bears put the game away with three
rruns in the eighth on Taylor’s single and stolen base, DeLucia’s
ddouble, Knox’s triple, and Seguin’s single. Maine got another in
tthe ninth on Andy Hartung’s triple and a wild pitch.
The game got off to an auspicious start when Mike Ciuffo
bbowled over Maine catcher Craig Ender as he tried to score on
DDurso’s grounder in the second inning. Maine pitcher Mike D’Andrea
sshoved Ciuffo and both benches emptied.
Home plate umpire Kevin McNulty and base umps Harold Siroka
aand Sandy Sulzyck originally decided to eject both Ciuffo and
DD’Andrea. But head coaches Frank Giannone of LIU and John Winkin of
MMaine and members of the ECAC Games Committee got involved and the
eejections were overturned. The three players involved shook hands
aand there were no further incidents.
A walk, Ciuffo’s single, and Matt Rubino’s double had produced
aa run just prior to the incident, and the Blackbirds, the nation’s
ttop hitting team with a .363 average entering the tourney, got two
mmore in the fourth on consecutive doubles by Rob Leary and Sal
CConti and Durso’s RBI single.
D’Andrea gave up five hits through the first four innings but
ssettled down to pitch three-hit, one-run ball the rest of the way
tto tie the school record for wins in a season with 10. The
ssophomore righty from Portland, 10-3, struck out five and walked
ffour while throwing 134 pitches, 76 of which were strikes.
Seguin, DeLucia, and Taylor had two hits each as did LIU’s
DDurso.
BBlack Bears 11, Blackbirds 4
MAINE LONG ISLAND
Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi Knox, 3b 4 1 1 2 Ambrosio, ss 5 0 1 0 Seguin, ss 5 0 2 3 Goldberg, dh 3 0 0 0 Sweeney, cf 5 0 1 0 Ru’cchio,3b-p 4 0 0 0 Hartung, dh 3 1 1 0 Leary, lf 4 1 1 0 Ender, c 3 1 1 0 Conti, cf 3 2 1 1 Scott, 2b 5 1 1 1 Ciuffo, rf 4 0 1 0 Taylor, rf 3 3 2 0 Rubino, 1b 3 1 1 1 DeLucia, 1b 3 3 2 1 Durso, c 3 0 2 2 White, lf 4 1 1 2 Bagley, 2b 3 0 0 0
Vernagallo, 3b 1 0 0 0
a-Casazza, ph 0 0 0 0
b-Bello, ph 0 0 0 0 Totals 35 11 12 9 Totals 33 4 7 4 a – walked for Durso in 9th inning b – walked for Bagley in 9th inning
Maine 000 025 031 – 11
Long Island University 010 201 000 – 4
EE – Ambrosio 2
22B – Rubino, Leary, Conti, Durso, Sweeney, Scott, White, DeLucia
33B – Knox, Hartung
LLOB -Maine 7, LIU 7
DDP – Ambrosio to Bagley to Rubino (2)
SSB – Taylor (8)
SS – Goldberg, Ender, White
SSF – Knox
Pitching Summary
PPITCHER IP H R BB SO D’Andrea (W,10-3) 9 7 4 4 5 Keely (L, 6-2) 5 1/3 5 7 6 3 DiStefano 2 1/3 4 3 0 1 Ruocchio 1 1/3 3 1 1 1
WWP – Keely 2, Ruocchio
TTIME -2:58
F
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