ORONO – The University of Maine Black Bears needed a spark

aagainst crafty Long Island University sophomore righthander Brad

KKeely.

Sophomore shortstop Brian Seguin provided that spark with a

ttwo-out, two-run single in the fifth inning and the Bears erupted

ffor five sixth-inning runs in a come-from-behind, 11-4 victory to

eeliminate LIU in a wild affair at Mahaney Diamond.

Keely one-hit the Bears, now 40-16, over four innings and his

BBlackbirds, 27-13, built him a 3-0 nest.

A throwing error by shortstop Ciro Ambrosio, a walk, and Chad

WWhite’s sacrifice put runners on second and third before Shanan

KKnox struck out for the second out of the inning.

Seguin followed by poking a soft line single to right.

“I threw him a slider outside. I put it where I wanted to, but

hhe did a good job,” said Keely.

“It was a great pitch (for a pitcher),” said Seguin. “I just

ggot a little of the bat on it.”

Craig Ender started the decisive sixth-inning rally by drawing

aa one-out walk and Tim Scott followed with a long game-tying double

oover center fielder Sal Conti’s head.

Gary Taylor bounced a single to center and Mike DeLucia walked

tto load the bases.

White walloped an 0-2 pitch for a two-run double to

lleft-center field to give Maine the lead for good.

“It was supposed to be a fastball up and in, but I got it down

aa little bit,” said Keely, who added that he tired in the middle

iinnings and got his pitches up.

“I could tell by the way he was holding the ball that it was

ggoing to be a fastball,” said White. “He threw it right down the

mmiddle.”

“Brian’s hit was big and Chad’s hit was the killer,” said

MMaine captain DeLucia.

Knox’s sacrifice fly off reliever John DiStefano produced a

ssecond run when Ambrosio overthrew third on the relay.

LIU got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on a walk and

JJoe Durso’s RBI double, but the Bears put the game away with three

rruns in the eighth on Taylor’s single and stolen base, DeLucia’s

ddouble, Knox’s triple, and Seguin’s single. Maine got another in

tthe ninth on Andy Hartung’s triple and a wild pitch.

The game got off to an auspicious start when Mike Ciuffo

bbowled over Maine catcher Craig Ender as he tried to score on

DDurso’s grounder in the second inning. Maine pitcher Mike D’Andrea

sshoved Ciuffo and both benches emptied.

Home plate umpire Kevin McNulty and base umps Harold Siroka

aand Sandy Sulzyck originally decided to eject both Ciuffo and

DD’Andrea. But head coaches Frank Giannone of LIU and John Winkin of

MMaine and members of the ECAC Games Committee got involved and the

eejections were overturned. The three players involved shook hands

aand there were no further incidents.

A walk, Ciuffo’s single, and Matt Rubino’s double had produced

aa run just prior to the incident, and the Blackbirds, the nation’s

ttop hitting team with a .363 average entering the tourney, got two

mmore in the fourth on consecutive doubles by Rob Leary and Sal

CConti and Durso’s RBI single.

D’Andrea gave up five hits through the first four innings but

ssettled down to pitch three-hit, one-run ball the rest of the way

tto tie the school record for wins in a season with 10. The

ssophomore righty from Portland, 10-3, struck out five and walked

ffour while throwing 134 pitches, 76 of which were strikes.

Seguin, DeLucia, and Taylor had two hits each as did LIU’s

DDurso.

BBlack Bears 11, Blackbirds 4

MAINE LONG ISLAND

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi Knox, 3b 4 1 1 2 Ambrosio, ss 5 0 1 0 Seguin, ss 5 0 2 3 Goldberg, dh 3 0 0 0 Sweeney, cf 5 0 1 0 Ru’cchio,3b-p 4 0 0 0 Hartung, dh 3 1 1 0 Leary, lf 4 1 1 0 Ender, c 3 1 1 0 Conti, cf 3 2 1 1 Scott, 2b 5 1 1 1 Ciuffo, rf 4 0 1 0 Taylor, rf 3 3 2 0 Rubino, 1b 3 1 1 1 DeLucia, 1b 3 3 2 1 Durso, c 3 0 2 2 White, lf 4 1 1 2 Bagley, 2b 3 0 0 0

Vernagallo, 3b 1 0 0 0

a-Casazza, ph 0 0 0 0

b-Bello, ph 0 0 0 0 Totals 35 11 12 9 Totals 33 4 7 4 a – walked for Durso in 9th inning b – walked for Bagley in 9th inning

Maine 000 025 031 – 11

Long Island University 010 201 000 – 4

EE – Ambrosio 2

22B – Rubino, Leary, Conti, Durso, Sweeney, Scott, White, DeLucia

33B – Knox, Hartung

LLOB -Maine 7, LIU 7

DDP – Ambrosio to Bagley to Rubino (2)

SSB – Taylor (8)

SS – Goldberg, Ender, White

SSF – Knox

Pitching Summary

PPITCHER IP H R BB SO D’Andrea (W,10-3) 9 7 4 4 5 Keely (L, 6-2) 5 1/3 5 7 6 3 DiStefano 2 1/3 4 3 0 1 Ruocchio 1 1/3 3 1 1 1

WWP – Keely 2, Ruocchio

TTIME -2:58

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