Maine rallies past Albany; in final today Bears need two wins for title

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ORONO – When your season, or your career, appears to be slipping away, it is easy to panic. The resilient University of Maine baseball team demonstrated the value of patience and persistence Friday night during the America East Championship.

The Black Bears overcame a three-run deficit, rallying for four runs in the seventh inning and five in the eighth while staying alive with an 11-5 victory over Albany at chilly, soggy Mahaney Diamond.

“We said we were going to play all nine innings and we weren’t going to give up and just go all-out for three hours,” said sophomore Joe Hough, whose two-run triple in the eighth helped UMaine break the game open.

Coach Paul Kostacopoulos’ second-seeded Bears (34-20) must beat No. 4 Stony Brook twice today to win the championship. The Seawolves (28-25) can earn the automatic NCAA Tournament berth win one victory.

Today’s first game starts at noon, with a 3:30 game if necessary.

Stony Brook advanced with a 6-3 victory over UMaine earlier Friday. Albany (37-14) had beaten top-seeded Northeastern 8-1 in Friday’s first game.

In Friday’s finale, the Bears simply outlasted the Great Danes, refusing to let their season end.

“I think we did what we always do when we win, we bunched hits together,” Kostacopoulos said. “I think overall we gutted out an 11-5 win.”

Trailing 5-2, UMaine posted four runs in the seventh to regain the lead. Senior Mark Reichley, who entered the game in the fourth when Joel Barrett was injured running out a grounder, led off with a single. He took third on Greg Creek’s line double to left.

Joe Hough walked, setting up Pete Saunders’ two-run single to center that chased reliever Scott McGovern. Matt McGraw moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt and Jason Harvey came up with a big, two-out RBI single to left.

“Another big hit for Pete Saunders. I think the lower part of the order all day today were our most productive players today, generally speaking,” Kostacopoulos said.

In the Albany seventh, Brad Daniels was hit by a pitch and moved up on Joe Lamb’s sacrifice bunt, but reliever Scott Robinson struck out the next two batters.

“I knew going out there, picking up Harry [Ryan Harris], if I could get out of that inning, the guys were going to put forth a good effort,” Robinson said. “I could see it in their eyes that they really wanted to get back to the plate.”

UMaine put the game out of reach in the eighth against Albany closer Shawn Ryan. Hough roped a two-run triple, McGraw laced an RBI double and Ferriggi clouted a two-run home run to push the lead to 11-5.

“Hitting’s contagious and everyone just kind of picked their hole, got guys over, got guys in,” Hough said.

Robinson, featuring his sweeping overhand curve, earned the win with 3 2/3 innings of three-hit shutout relief.

“We go out there and we try to pick up each other and that’s how we win as a team,” Robinson said.

UMaine broke a scoreless tie by taking advantage of its collective patience against starter Ethan Vaiana in the fourth inning. Hough opened with a fly-ball double to left, then McGraw walked with one out.

After Dan Schoomaker robbed Ferriggi with a diving stab of a line drive for the second out, Harvey walked and Vaiana hit Simon Williams and walked Aaron Izaryk to force in two runs.

The Great Danes answered with two runs in the fourth. Brad Daniels beat out a bunt single, then back-to-back singles to center by Lamb and Steve Wyland plated a run. Jason Martin added a two-out RBI single to tie it.

Albany seized the momentum in the sixth inning when Harris sandwiched hit batters around a sacrifice bunt. Schoonmaker delivered a two-run triple to center, then Martin followed with a run-scoring double to make it 5-2.

In Friday’s second game, junior Jon Lewis scattered seven hits and was backed by errorless defense as the Seawolves earned their second straight trip into the championship round.

Stony Brook beat UMaine for the third time in four meetings this season and for the third straight time in the postseason. The Bears were unable to solve Lewis (7-6), a crafty righthander who kept them guessing while striking out eight and walking two.

“They’re a very good hitting team, I have a lot of respect for them and I just went at them with all the respect they deserve,” said Lewis, who has beaten UMaine three straight times dating back to last season’s tournament in Vermont and is 4-1 lifetime against the Bears.

And while UMaine’s offense lacked punch, the hosts also had some struggles in the field. The Bears committed three errors which contributed to five unearned runs.

UMaine led 2-1 in the third when Matt Devins reached on a one-out fielding miscue by shortstop Harvey. Isidro Fortuna followed with a hit-and-run single and Nick Theoharis singled home the first run.

One out later, Dave Mischo launched a towering three-run home run to right field to give the Seawolves the lead for good.

Bears starter Troy Martin settled down and allowed only three hits and an unearned run over the final five innings, but UMaine scratched out only one more run against Lewis. Martin (5-2), struck out five, walked two and hit a batter.

Stony Brook took a 1-0 lead in the first when Devins was hit by a pitch and scored on Fortuna’s double to center field.

UMaine countered in the third with two runs.

BLACK BEARS 11, GREAT DANES 5

(Friday’s Third Game)

Maine (34-20) Albany ()

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Williams, cf 5 0 0 1 Lamb, ss 5 1 0

Izaryk, c 5 1 2 1 Wyland, 2b 3 1 1

Barrett, 1b 3 0 1 0 Schoonnaker, 3b 5 1 2

Reichley, 3b 3 1 2 0 Martin, c 5 0 2

Creek, 3b-1b 6 2 2 0 Degrazio, 1b 3 0 0

Hough, rf 4 2 2 2 Chiavaro, dh 3 0 0

Saunders, lf 5 1 1 2 Vallone, dh 0 0 0

McGraw, dh 3 2 2 1 Northrup, ph 1 0 0

Ferriggi, 2b 3 2 1 2 Meagher, rf 4 0 0

Harvey, ss 4 0 1 1 Farley, lf 5 0 0

Dantels, cf 2 2 2 0

Totals 41 11 14 10 Totals 36 5 12 5

Maine 000 200 450 ? 11

Albany 000 203 000 ? 5

LOB?Maine 11, Albany 14; 2B?Creek, Hough, McGraw; Martin, Meagher; 3B?Hough; Schoonmaker; HR?Ferriggi (1); DP?Maine; S?Lamb; SB?Daniels

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Richard 3 2/3 7 2 2 4 6

Harris 1 2/3 2 3 3 2 0

Robinson (W, 4-0) 3 2/3 3 0 0 0 2

Albany IP H R ER BB SO

Vaiana 3 2/3 3 2 2 5 3

McGovern (L, 1-1) 2 1/3 4 4 2 1 3

Suchowiecki 1 1 0 0 0 1

Ryan 2/3 5 5 5 0 0

Dubiel 1 1 0 0 0 0

Fuda 1/3 0 0 0 0 0

HBP?Williams (by Vaiana), Hough (by McGovern), Wyland (by Harris), Daniels (by Harris); WP?Robinson; Vaiana, Suchowiecki; PB?Martin; T?3:30; ATT?279

SEAWOLVES 6, BLACK BEARS 3

(Friday’s First Game)

Maine (33-20) Stony Brook (28-25)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Williams, cf 4 0 1 0 Larsen, cf 5 0 0

Izaryk, c 3 0 1 1 Devins, ss 2 2 0

Barrett, 1b 4 0 0 0 Fortuna, lf 4 1 1

Creek, 3b 4 0 1 0 Theoharris, 3b 4 1 1

Hough, rf 4 0 0 0 Solano, rf 4 1 0

Quintal, lf 3 0 0 0 Mischo, 1b 4 1 4

McGraw, ph 1 0 0 0 Cicatelli, c 4 0 0

Houser, lf 0 0 0 0 Sipp, 2b 4 0 0

Saunders, dh 3 1 0 0 Didsbury, dh 3 0 0

Ferriggi, 2b 4 2 2 0

Harvey, ss 4 0 2 1

Totals 34 3 7 2 Totals 34 6 8 6

Maine 002 000 100 ? 3

Stony Brook 104 010 00x ? 0

E?Creek, Harvey, Martin; LOB?Maine 6, Stony Brook 7; 2B?Creek; Fortuna, Cicatelli; HR?Mischo (9)

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Martin (L,5-2) 8 8 6 1 2 5

Stony Brook IP H R ER BB SO

Lewis (W,7-6) 9 7 3 3 2 8

HBP?Devins (by Martin); WP?Lewis; T?2:04; ATT?not reported