MacDonald, Laganiere get UM to finals Bats awaken for Black Bears

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ORONO – With the prospect of elimination looming Friday, there was little margin for error for the University of Maine baseball team during the second day of the America East Baseball Championship.

The Black Bears didn’t make any and UMaine rode the outstanding pitching of Mike MacDonald and Rich Laganiere into the championship round of the tournament with victories over Vermont and Stony Brook.

UMaine beat Vermont 8-2 in the first game of the day behind MacDonald’s nine-hitter, then Laganiere spaced four hits through seven innings as the Bears downed the Seawolves 9-3.

The late game was delayed 40 minutes by rain in the bottom of the eighth, but reliever Scott Robinson, who came on to record an out before the delay, got the final two outs of the inning when play resumed and retired the side in the ninth.

Coach Paul Kostacopoulos’ top-seeded Bears, 38-15, take on No. 3 Northeastern (29-20) today at noon. UMaine, making its first appearance in the championship round since 1993, must win twice to take the league title and earn the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Fourth-seeded Stony Brook, which had beaten UMaine three straight times, wound up 27-24 after losing 10-5 to Northeastern in Friday’s winners’ bracket contest. The Huskies are 2-0 in the double-elimination tourney. Vermont, the No. 2 seed, ended the season at 27-22.

“We came with a bigger appetite to beat these guys (Stony Brook), since they clobbered us (Thursday), and we did the same thing to them today,” said UMaine catcher Alain Picard. “We hit the crap out of the ball tonight. We kept scoring every inning, kept demoralizing them.”

Freshman righthander Paul Bruder (3-1) will get the start today for the Bears.

Laganiere’s performance was critical in keeping UMaine alive. The sophomore lefthander (7-4) had been lifted from a May 11 start against Stony Brook with a “dead” arm and hadn’t pitched since.

But he was up to the challenge.

“It was pretty much on my shoulders and I knew that coming into the game, but come game time, everybody tries to block that out,” Laganiere said. “I was thinking maybe four or five innings out of me today and I was able to go seven. The intensity of the game really took my mind off the pain and what was going on with my arm.”

Laganiere struck out six and walked six, but never let things get out of hand.

“What Rich did tonight was absolutely incredible,” Kostacopoulos said. “He’s only thrown about three innings in two weeks and he goes out there and gives us that kind of performance.”

The Bears showed resilience Friday after suffering a 16-4 pounding in Thursday night’s opener against Stony Brook.

“We really didn’t make too many mistakes today,” said Kostacopoulos, whose Bears did not commit an error Friday. “Our kids played great. They showed a lot of heart.”

UMaine hit the ball well all day, collecting 13 hits against Vermont then posting 14 in the nightcap. Picard set the tone in the late game with two RBI singles and a double, while Mike Ross had two singles and two RBIs. Aaron Young and Aaron Izaryk each singled twice.

Trailing 2-1 in the late game, the Bears went ahead for good with two runs in the fourth. Joe Drapeau walked with one out, Izaryk lined a single to right-center and Drapeau scored on a looping single to shallow center by Ross.

However, Izaryk was thrown out trying to take third and Ross moved to second. Carlton cashed in, lining a single to center, giving the Bears a 3-2 edge.

UMaine built more momentum in the fifth, scoring twice. Mike Livulpi roped a leadoff double to right field, Young followed by beating out an infield hit and Livulpi scored when the throw from second glanced off the glove of first baseman R.J. Etzel.

Picard then chopped a double past first base and Young scored with a nifty headfirst slide on Drapeau’s sacrifice fly to right. The Bears led 5-2.

UMaine kept the pressure on by scoring four big runs in the seventh. Picard, Izaryk and Ross each stroked opposite-field RBI singles to left and the fourth run scored when Ross’ hit got by the left fielder.

Brett Ouellette’s line double to left and a single through the middle by Picard had given the Bears a 1-0 lead in the first, but the Seawolves pulled in front 2-1 in the second.

Aided by a double steal, Ed Kull’s sacrifice fly and a two-out RBI single by Andrew Larsen put Stony Brook back on top.

In the first game of the day, sophomore righthander MacDonald of Camden matched a career high with 10 strikeouts in leading the Bears to victory. The America East Pitcher of the Year (7-2) came through with a solid performance that included no walks.

UMaine staked MacDonald to an early 3-0 lead, then let him and the defense (no errors) take care of the rest.

“We dug ourselves a hole (Thursday) night and we’ve just got to take it inning by inning from here on in,” said junior captain Jesse Carlton, who singled twice. “It obviously made our road to winning this a little bit harder, but somebody’s got to come out of the losers’ bracket.”

MacDonald, who threw 128 pitches, mixed his fastball, curveball and changeup, not allowing the Catamounts to string any hits together.

“We just came in the locker room today knowing that we had to take one game at a time, come out here and try to win each inning, and we succeeded today,” MacDonald said.

Drapeau and Izaryk each rapped a double and a single to spark UMaine. Mike Ferriggi chipped in with two singles Ross launched a two-run home run to highlight a three-run fifth.

Scoring early and getting the bats going were provided the Bears with a big lift.

“You could sense the excitement. We got right off to a good start in the first inning,” Kostacopoulos said. “We took advantage of some of their mistakes and got ourselves going.”

UMaine jumped on top 1-0 in the first when Mike Ross walked with the bases loaded. The Bears made it 3-0 on Ouellette’s RBI single and an Picard run-scoring groundout.

UMaine extended the lead to 5-0 with three runs in the fifth on Ross’ two-run shot and consecutive singles by Simon Williams, Carlton and Ferriggi.

The Bears tallied two more in the sixth on consecutive doubles by Picard, Drapeau and Izaryk.

Vermont, which committed six errors, had trouble putting hits together.

In the winners’ bracket game, Northeastern put itself in great position to reach the NCAA Tournament by beating Stony Brook.

Righthander Jordan Thomson (6-4), spread out 10 hits in 8 1/3 innings and was backed by 12 hits by hits teammates. He struck out six, walked two and hit a batter.

Justin Hedrick got the final two outs, leaving Northeastern with plenty of pitching experience for Saturday’s championship round.

Catcher Luke Carlin was the Huskies’ offensive catalyst, lining a solo homer in the first, an RBI single in the fifth, a double in the seventh and a run-scoring single in the eighth. Carlos Pena doubled and singled, driving in two runs, and Jeff Heriot added a double and two RBIs.

Northeastern trailed 2-1 when it broke loose for five runs in the fifth. Stony Brook starter Anthony Stutz (6-4) hit the first two batters, although home plate umpire initially Stephen Ricciarini ruled the second batter, Mike Steinberg, had not been hit.

After NU coach Neil McPhee was ejected for arguing the call, the umpires convened and decided Steinberg had been hit on the hand. After a sacrifice bunt, Pena and Carlin stroked RBI singles and Heriot added a run-scoring double to give the Huskies the lead for good at 7-2.

Friday’s Second Game)

HUSKIES 10, SEAWOLVES 5

Stony Brook (27-23) 100 100 102 – 5 11 0

Northeastern (29-20) 110 050 12x – 10 12 3

Stutz, Blumberg (5), Zimmerman (8) and Kull; Thomson, Redrick (9) and Carlin

BLACK BEARS 9, SEAWOLVES 3

(Friday’s Third Game)

Maine (38-15) Stony Brook (27-24)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Young, rf 4 1 2 0 Graham, 2b 3 0 0

Ouellette, 2b 5 1 2 0 Whitaker, lf 3 0

Picard, c 5 1 3 2 Devins, ss 4 0 1

Drapeau, 3b 1 2 0 1 Sandora, 3b 4 1 0

Izaryk, dh 5 1 2 1 Lipschutz, rf 3 1 0

Ross, lf 5 1 2 2 Kull, c 2 0 0 1

Carlton, 1b 5 0 1 1 Taormina, dh 4 0 0

Ferriggi, ss 4 0 0 0 Larsen, cf 2 0 1

Livulpi, cf 3 2 2 0 Etzel, 1b 3 0 0

Totals 37 9 14 7 Totals 28 3 4 3

Maine 100 220 400 ? 9

Stony Brook 020 000 010 ? 3

E?Whitaker (1), Etzel (4); LOB?Maine 7; Stony Brook 6; 2B?Ouellette, Picard, Livulpi; Devins; DP?Carlton unassisted; S?Young; Etzel; SF?Drapeau; Kull; SB?Picard 2 (14); Sandora (9), Lipschutz (12), Whitaker (9)

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Laganiere (W, 7-4) 7 4 3 3 6 6

Robinson 2 0 0 0 0 1

Stony Brook IP H R ER BB SO

Willi (L, 3-7) 4 1/3 8 5 5 1 3

Mischo 2 1/3 2 3 3 1 2

Abel 2/3 2 1 0 1 0

Blumberg 1 2/3 2 0 0 1 1

HBP?Gillis; PB?Picard; T?2:55; ATT?591

BLACK BEARS 8, CATAMOUNTS 2

(Friday’s First Game)

Maine (37-15) Vermont (27-22)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Young, cf 6 0 1 0 Tewksbary, ss 4 0 0

Ouellette, 2b 3 0 1 1 Carey, lf 4 2

Picard, c 6 2 1 1 Barry, cf 4 0 0

Drapeau, 3b 5 1 2 1 Chamberland, 1b 4 0 0

Izaryk, dh 5 1 2 1 Tarigo, c 4 0 0

Ross, rf 4 1 1 3 Montanez, 2b 4 0 0

Williams, lf 5 1 1 0 Roberts, dh 4 1 0

Carlton, 1b 5 1 3 0 Root, rf 4 0 0

Perriggi, ss 5 1 2 1 Clough, 3b 1 0 0

Mapes, 3b 3 1 2 0

Totals 44 6 13 8 Totals 36 2 9 2

Maine 120 032 000 ? 8

Vermont 000 000 200 ? 2

E? Tewksbary 2 (15), Montanez 2 (17), Root (5), Mapes (7); LOB? Maine 13, Vermont 7; 2B? Picard, Drapeau, Izaryk; Carey Montanez; 3; HR? Ross (9); DP? Tewksbary-Montanez-Chamberland;

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

MacDonald (W, 7-2) 9 9 2 2 0 10

Vermont IP H R ER BB SO

Kumming (L, 6-2) 4 2/3 8 6 1 1 3

Bissonnette 2 1/3 3 2 2 1 2

Merchant 2 2 0 0 1 1

HBP? Ouellette by Kumming; T? 3:00;