Maine defeats Thomas

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ORONO – The University of Maine baseball team struggled at the plate against America East rival Stony Brook last weekend, hitting .200 and scoring only seven runs in three games while going 2-1 against the Seawolves.

The Black Bears broke out of their mini-slump Tuesday, collecting 14 hits en route to a 13-1 nonleague victory over Division III Thomas College of Waterville at Mahaney Diamond.

Junior catcher Matt McGraw, who was 1-for-7 against Stony Brook, paced the attack with three singles in three at-bats.

Senior left fielder Ryan Quintal, sophomore shortstop Curt Smith, sophomore second baseman Moises Rivera and freshman center fielder Billy Cather each went 2-for-4 with Quintal and Smith driving in three runs each.

Smith belted a two-run homer and Mark Ostrander hit a solo shot, the first of his career for the 20-10-1 Bears.

“We didn’t swing the bats too well against Stony Brook. They threw some good pitchers at us. So we wanted to have a good game today, we wanted to have some good at-bats and score more runs to get our confidence up for this weekend [against the New York Institute of Technology],” said Quintal, who went 0-for-9 against the Seawolves.

McGraw said it was good “in a timing sense” and noted a lot of the Bears have been working on “staying the other way and seeing the ball a little deeper.”

Maine coach Steve Trimper said all they did in practice Monday was focus on hitting the ball to the opposite field.

“I sat on a bucket and soft-tossed the ball to them,” said Trimper.

McGraw said it was nice to see something they worked on during practice “translate into hits during the game.”

Freshman lefthander Jose Mendoza from Miami went five innings for his first collegiate win, overcoming a shaky start to retire the last seven men he faced. He allowed six hits and one run while striking out four and not walking anybody. He threw 40 strikes among his 66 pitches.

“It was tough. I hadn’t pitched in a month,” said Mendoza. “But I felt great. I’ve been working on my slider and circle changeup [with the coaches]. I’ve also been working on a two-seam fastball and my location.

“I was definitely happy with my performance today,” added Mendoza.

Thomas senior right fielder Jerry Randall said Mendoza “located his pitches well and had a good curve.”

McGraw said, “when you can throw three pitches over the plate, you’re going to have success.”

Randall gave the 11-14 Terriers a short-lived 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the second.

But Maine scored two unearned runs in the second to take the lead for good and expanded it to 9-1 with four in the third and three in the fourth.

A dropped fly ball in the bottom of the second proved costly when Bobby Brown’s sacrifice fly and Moises Rivera’s RBI single gave Maine a 2-1 lead.

Cather’s sharp single to left triggered the third-inning rally and McGraw reached on a perfectly-placed bunt single.

One out later, Quintal rifled a two-run double to right-center off freshman starter and loser Taylor Helberg.

“That felt good. I was looking for a fastball. With men in scoring position, you’re looking for the first good pitch to drive,” said Quintal.

A walk, Kevin McAvoy’s run-scoring single and Brown’s RBI fielder’s choice made it 6-1.

Cather’s leadoff triple in the fourth and consecutive singles by McGraw (RBI), Joel Barrett, Quintal (RBI) and Smith (RBI) accounted for the three runs.

The hits by Quintal and Smith came off reliever Ryan Rulman.

Smith and Ostrander homered off Steven Brown.

A.J. Balsinde, Pat Moran, Mitchell Clegg and Nolan Boike each pitched a hitless inning in relief.

BLACK BEARS 13, TERRIERS 1

Thomas (11-14) Maine (20-10-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Pavlis, lf 4 0 0 0 Cather, cf 4 3 0

Pierce, ss 4 0 1 0 McGraw, c 3 2 1

Mercier, dh 4 0 1 0 Parker, c 2 0 0

Connors, 1b 4 0 1 0 Barrett, 1b 5 1 0

Sands, c 4 0 0 0 Quintal, lf 4 1 3

McDonald, 3b 4 1 1 0 Kabatznick, lf 0 1 0

Chamard, cf 3 0 1 0 Smith, ss 4 3 3

Beckwith, 2b 3 0 0 0 McAvoy, dh 4 1 1

Randall, rf 3 0 1 1 Brown, rf 2 0 2

Ostrander, rf 1 1 1 1

Rivera, 2b 4 0 2 1

Hackett, 3b 4 0 0 0

Totals 33 1 6 1 Totals 37 13 14 12

Thomas 010 000 000 – 1

Maine 024 300 13x – 13

E-Pierce, Chamard; Smith; LOB-Thomas 5, Maine 5; 2B-Quintal; 3B-Cather; HR-Smith (3), Ostrander (1); DP-Hackett-Rivera-Barrett; McDonald-Connors; SF-Brown; SB-Cather 2

Thomas IP H R ER BB SO

Helberg (L,0-2) 3 1/3 9 9 7 2 0

Rulman 2 2/3 2 0 0 0 2

Brown 2 3 4 4 2 0

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Mendoza (W,1-0) 5 6 1 1 0 4

Balsinde 1 0 0 0 0 1

Moran 1 0 0 0 0 0

Clegg 1 0 0 0 0 0

Boike 1 0 0 0 0 1

WP-Brown; PB-Sands; T-2:14; ATT-163