Bears defeat Rattlers on Izaryk RBI in 10th

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Freshman catcher Aaron Izaryk doubled with one out in the 10th inning Monday night to plate Simon Williams with the go-ahead run as the University of Maine pulled out a 9-8, extra-inning baseball victory over host Florida A&M at Moore-Kittles Field.

The Black Bears, who had squandered a four-run lead in the ninth inning, improved to 8-1 on their southern swing heading into today’s 2 p.m. game against Florida A&M, which had one six straight.

Izaryk, who was forced into action in the second inning when starting catcher Alain Picard suffered an injury to his left hamstring while hustling out an infield single, reached base four times. He walked once and was hit by a pitch twice.

Reliever Ryan Harris backed into the victory for UMaine after walking three batters and throwing two wild pitches in the Rattlers’ four-run ninth-inning rally. However, he retired three of the four batters he faced in the 10th.

“It was one of those things where the hardest thing is to get that 27th out,” UMaine coach Paul Kostacopoulos told WZON radio. “But we did come back. They tied it up 8-8 and we still won the game.”

Williams, a sophomore outfielder from Portland, paced the UMaine offense with three hits, including a solo home run in the third inning. He reached base five times in six plate appearances.

Junior captain Jesse Carlton provided an RBI single in the second and a two-run single in the third for the Bears, while Joe Drapeau of Biddeford cranked a solo homer in the seventh and also singled.

Freshman righthander Paul Bruder pitched a solid six innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs. However, he got UMaine into the seventh inning, when ace righthander Mike Collar of Scarborough came on for two hitless innings. He struck out four of the six batters he faced.

“He threw like 18 pitches. It wasn’t like he was overburdened,” Kostacopoulos said of Collar, who hadn’t pitched since last Thursday and is scheduled to start Thursday at No. 2 Clemson. “He was [throwing] 92-93 [mph] tonight.”

Nick Parker was the only repeat hitter for Florida A&M. He singled, doubled, and scored two runs. Chris Batsch added an RBI double.

UMaine committed three errors, including two by shortstop Mark Reichley that opened the door for Rattler runs.

The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the second when Picard led off with an infield hit and Izaryk eventually scored on a one-out single up the middle by Carlton.

FAMU went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the inning on a walk, a sacrifice bunt, Ben Morgan’s run-scoring triple, and an RBI single by Montrey Coleman. However, Bruder struck out the next two batters to avoid further trouble.

UMaine responded with a five-run uprising in the third. Reichley lined a two-run double and Carlton stroked a two-run single in the inning, and Williams smacked his third home run.

The hosts plated a run in the third on Batsch’s two-out RBI single, then cut the deficit to 6-4 with an unearned run in the fifth.

Drapeau helped the Bears keep the upper hand with a leadoff home run in the seventh, then UMaine made it 8-4 in the eighth without benefit of a hit.

FAMU tied it in the ninth when Harris came on and walked Morgan and Coleman. Pinch hitter Chris Branning hit an RBI single, then Harris sandwiched wild pitches around a walk to Frank Scott.

He struck out Parker, then induced a groundout on which the third run scored. The tying run crossed the plate when Reichley booted a Vince Palmer grounder.

Softball

Maine sweeps Bethune-Cookman

At Daytona Beach, Fla., Candace Jaegge and Jenna Merchant each turned in fine pitching performances to help Maine improve to 11-8 by earning a doubleheader sweep 2-1 and 1-0 in eight innings.

Jaegge scattered eight hits in the first game and improved to 5-3. Erica Sobel scored the winning run in the fourth inning on a wild pitch. She had started the inning with a single and Maine then loaded the bases on a single by Katherine Churchill and a walk to Cheryl White.

Jessica Brady’s RBI single plated Lindsay Tibbetts with Maine’s first run in the second inning.

Merchant allowed only five hits in eight innings to shut out the Wildcats in the second game. She is now 6-4.

Sobel drove in Aliesha Rautenberg with the winning run in the eighth inning when she singled over the shortstop’s head. Rautenberg had reached on a fielder’s choice.

BLACK BEARS 9, RATTLERS 8 (10 innings)

Maine (8-1) Florida A&M (10-15)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Livulpi, cf 4 0 0 0 Frank, cf 4 1 0

Young, cf 1 0 0 0 Parker, 2b 5 2 0

Williams, lf 4 2 3 1 Holmes, ss 4 0 1

Ross, rf 4 1 1 0 Palmer, 1b 5 0 0

Drapeau, 3b 6 2 2 1 b-Scott 0 0 0 0

Picard, c 1 0 1 0 Batsch, dh 4 1 1

Izaryk, c 2 2 1 1 Segui, 3b 4 0 0

Reynolds, dh-2b 4 1 0 1 Morgan, rf 4 2 1

Reichley, ss 5 1 1 2 Coleman, lf 3 1 1

Carlton, 1b 3 0 2 3 Von Dolteren, c 3 0 0

a-Saunders 0 0 0 0 Branning, c 2 1 1

Tobin, 1b 0 0 0 0

Ferriggi, 2b 4 0 0 0

Houston, dh 1 0 0 0

Totals 39 9 11 9 Totals 38 8 7 5

a-ran for Carlton in the ninth; b-ran for Palmer in the ninth

Maine 015 000 110 1 ? 9

Florida A&M 021 010 004 0 ? 8

E?Williams, Reichley 2; Parker; LOB?Maine 13, Florida A&M 7; 2B?Reichley, Izaryk; Palmer, Batsch, Parker; 3B?Morgan; HR?Williams (3), Drapeau (4); DP?Segui-Palmer, Holmes-Palmer; S?Segui; SB?Williams; Coleman, Morgan, Parker

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Bruder 6 6 4 3 2 5

Collar 2 0 0 0 0 4

Harris (W, 1-0) 2 1 4 3 4 1

Florida A&M IP H R ER BB SO

Sills 6 1/3 9 7 6 4 3

Harris 1 1/3 0 1 1 5 1

Castillo (L, 0-1) 2 2 1 1 1 2

Harris faced one batter in the ninth

HBP?Livulpi, Izaryk by Sills; Izaryk by Harris; WP?Bruder, Harris 2; BK?Bruder; T?3:30; ATT?111