Maine misses Barrett’s offensive production

ORONO – The University of Maine was without freshman first baseman Joel Barrett in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Stony Brook in the championship round of the America East Tournament.

Barrett, who hit third in the lineup, pulled a hamstring muscle running out a ground ball in the fourth inning of Friday night’s 11-5 win over Albany.

Brewer’s Barrett was second on the team in hitting at .359 with a homer and 35 runs batted in.

That prompted Greg Creek to move from third to first and Mark Reichley to come off the bench and play third.

Sophomore right fielder Joe Hough was elevated from fifth to third in the lineup.

“You can’t replace a guy like Joel. He surprised all of us [with his hitting] this season,” said junior second baseman Mike Ferriggi. “That really hurt us today.”

“You can’t make up for losing a guy like Joel although Mark did a hell of a job for us,” Hough said. “He got some huge hits Friday night and got a rally going with a hit today. But we just couldn’t put anything together.”

Hough said fatigue was a bit of a factor since Maine played until midnight Friday due to a rain delay and the fact the Bears lost the winners’ bracket game to Stony Brook.

“We hung in there and tried our best. We had a 12-hour day on Friday and we had to play three games [in a row]. We were a little tired,” said Hough.

But he was also quick to credit the performance of Stony Brook lefty Matt Restivo, who four-hit Maine on Saturday with 10 strikeouts.

“He was getting the outside corner on us. He was dropping in some real nice sliders,” said Hough.

Seawolves go 5-1 at Mahaney

Mahaney Diamond was like a home away from home for Stony Brook.

The Seawolves went 5-1 in Orono this season, taking two of three from Maine during the regular season and going 3-0 in the America East Tournament.

The Stony Brook players said they enjoyed playing in Orono and the tournament.

“I love playing here,” said Stony Brook senior right fielder Kevin Solano. “The fans are great, the field is great and the atmosphere is great. It was a great experience.”

“I loved it,” said junior third baseman Nick Theoharis. “There was a big turnout every day and there are nice people here. Everyone came to play. All the teams were hard-nosed. It was a great tournament.”