ORONO – As they have in all their home games so far this season, the Lumberjacks got on the scoreboard first, but the Elmira Pioneers had the last laugh on a chilly and breezy Monday night.

Elmira starter Brian Edmondson allowed six hits and no walks in eight innings while notching seven strikeouts, and his Pioneers scored just enough to give him the victory as they edged Bangor 3-2 at the University of Maine’s Mahaney Diamond.

“We’ve got to have more than one hit an inning,” said Bangor manager Kash Beauchamp. “We didn’t take advantage of our chances.”

The Lumberjacks, now 2-4 in the Northeast League, stranded just four runners, but two were at third and one was at second.

Bangor made it 1-0 in the bottom of the second. Juan Silvestre led off with a single down the third-base line and advanced to second on a throwing error. A groundout later, Donnie Ross scored Silvestre from third with a single through the right infield gap.

The 6-4 Pioneers tied it and pushed across a go-ahead run in the fourth, courtesy of a leadoff single by Brian Jones, a two-out walk to Alex Marconi, and a two-out, two-run double by No. 9 hitter Ryan Webb.

“It was a tough day to score runs. Even in BP [batting practice], it didn’t seem the ball was jumping today,” Webb said. “But we did enough to win and we’re starting to put it together with three wins in a row now.”

The Pioneers made it 3-1 in the fifth with what would prove to be an insurance run they would later cash in. Rafael Alvarez hit a one-out single, went to second on a balk, and cruised into third on a Mike Valdez single. A fielder’s choice grounder by Brian Jones erased Valdez at second, but scored Alvarez.

“We didn’t play yesterday so we weren’t that sharp, but we fought our butts off,” said Jones, who had two singles. “You know, ironically the rainout [Sunday] might have helped us, since we got to leave early and get some rest before today.”

Bangor got one run back in the fifth when Ross led off with a single, Brad Hargreaves reached on a bunt, and Mo Blakeney sacrificed them both to third and second. Ross then scored on a wild pitch by Edmondson, but Hargreaves was stranded at third as Edmondon sandwiched a hit batter with two strikeouts.

Bangor had a chance to tie the game with one out in the eighth after Mitsuru Kobayashihit a single and stole second. A groundout moved him to third, but that’s as far as he’d get as Lorenzo de la Cruz closed the inning with a 5-3 groundout.

Another chance went by the wayside in the ninth as Juan Silvestri led off with a single, but was cut down on a 1-6-3 double play. Donnie Ross then came with three feet of tying the game with a mammoth shot down the right-field line, but the 1-0 fastball was just foul and Ross ended up striking out to end the game.

GAME NOTES – Bangor starting pitcher Jeff Sparks left the game in the top of the third with what appeared to be shoulder stiffness. After stopping his warmups and dropping his shoulders in obvious discomfort, Beauchamp and pitching coach Kevin Pincavitch talked to him before replacing him with Danny Miller, who took the loss.

PIONEERS 3, LUMBERJACKS 2

(Monday Night)

Elmira (6-4) Bangor (2-4)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Rosario, 2b 5 0 1 0 Miura, ss 4 0 0

Davidson, ss 5 0 1 0 Kobayashi, 2b 3 0 0

Alvarez, lf 4 1 2 0 Voltz, 1b 4 0 0

Morton, rf 1 0 0 0 de la Cruz, rf 4 0 0

Valdez, rf 4 0 1 0 Sylvestre, lf 4 1 0

Jones, c 4 1 2 1 a-King 0 0 0 0

Hunter, 1b 4 0 2 0 Brock, 3b 4 0 0

Lehr, 3b 4 0 0 0 Ross, dh 4 1 1

Marconi, dh 1 1 0 0 Hargreaves, c 3 0 0

Webb, cf 2 0 1 2 Blakeney, cf 2 0 0

Totals 34 3 10 3 Totals 32 2 8 1

a-ran for Sylvestre in 9th

Elmira 000 210 000 ? 3

Bangor 010 010 000 ? 2

E?Jones, Lehr; Brock, Edmondson; LOB?Elmira 11; Bangor 5; 2B?Alvarez, Hunter, Webb; 3B?Hunter; DP?Keelin-Davidson-Hunter, Davidson-Rosario; Hargreaves-Kobayashi; S?Blakeney, Hargreaves; SB?Rosario 2; Kobayashi

Elmira IP H R ER BB SO

Edmondson (W,2-0) 8 7 2 2 0 8

Keelin (S,4) 1 1 0 0 0 1

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Sparks 2 2 0 0 3 4

Miller (L,0-1) 3 4 3 3 1 2

Bowe 1 2/3 1 0 0 1 1

Thomas 1 1 0 0 0 2

Debold 1 1 0 0 1 1

Kalinowski 1/3 1 0 0 0 0

HBP?Webb by Sparks; Kobayashi by Edmonson; WP?Edmondson; Miller; BK?Miller; T?2:53; ATT?684