 
|
Nine Run Seventh Inning Lifts Maine Past Stony Brook 10-8
April 25, 2008
ORONO, Maine -- Curt Smith (Willemstad, Curacao) hit a two-run go ahead home run to cap a nine-run seventh inning as the University of Maine baseball team came-from-behind to defeat Stony Brook 10-8 on Friday afternoon at Mahaney Diamond in Orono, Maine. The Black Bears overcame an 8-1 deficit in the game. Maine improves to 16-18-1 on the season with the win and 4-5 in America East play, while Stony Brook falls to 21-16 overall and 8-5 in conference play. Stony Brook jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a run in the top of the first inning. Brian Witkowski singled to center field and scored when Jeremy Nowak singled to center field. Maine tied the game in the bottom of the second inning. Kevin McAvoy (Brewer, Maine) walked and advanced to second when Joe Mercurio (Brewster, N.Y.) singled. McAvoy scored when Billy Cather (Worcester, Mass.) singled and advanced on an error. The Seawolves got a pair of runs in the top of the third inning. Chad Marshall reached on an error and scored when Michael Stephan homered. Stony Brook extended its lead to 7-1 in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, Chad Rebecca singled up the middle. Steve Marino followed with a single through the left side. Justin Echevarria doubled down the left field line scoring Rebecca. Witkowski followed and hit a three-run home run to left field. The Seawolves made it an 8-1 lead when Nowak doubled and scored when Rob Dyer singled up the middle in the top of the seventh inning. Maine, however, refused to give up. Danny Menendez (Miami, Fla.) started the Maine comeback with a single up the middle to lead off the seventh inning. Curt Smith drew a base on balls. Myckie Lugbauer (Mahopac, N.Y.) had a two-run double to right center field scoring both Menendez and Smith. Lugbauer advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch to bring Maine to within four runs. Tony Patane (New Milford, Conn.) walked and Jarrett Lukas (Old Town, Maine) singled to left field. Kevin McAvoy walked to load the bases. All three runners advanced a base with Patane scoring on a wild pitch. Cather singled and advanced to second on an error. Both McAvoy and Lukas scored on the play and the Black Bears trailed by just one run. Menendez followed with an infield single. Cather scored on an error on the play to knot the game at 8-8. With Menendez standing on second base, Curt Smith blasted the first pitch that he saw over the left field fence, giving Maine a 10-8 lead. For Smith, it was his 10th home run of the season.
Maine sent Stony Brook down in order in the eighth inning and allowed just one base runner in the ninth to earn the 10-8 lead. Joel Thorney (Toronto, Ontario) got the start for Maine and went 5.2 innings. He allowed seven runs, five of which were earned, on nine hits. He struck out a pair of batters. Jonathan Balentina (Willemstad, Curacao) pitched one inning and allowed one run on two hits. Will Carroll (Boothbay, Maine) replaced Balentina and pitched 0.1 inning. He got the final out of the seventh inning for Maine and thus earned the victory. Carroll improves to 1-3 on the season. Kyle Benoit (Brampton, Ontario) pitched the final two innings for the Black Bears and struck out five without allowing a hit. He earns his first career save. Ton Koehler went six innings for Stony Brook. He allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on six hits. He walked seven and struck out five. Matt Harloff went 0.1 inning and allowed two runs on two hits. Devin Will also pitched 0.1 inning and allowed three runs on two hits. Jordan Purington went 1.1 innings for Stony Brook and allowed two runs on three hits. He picks up the loss and falls to 3-1 on the season. The Black Bears and Seawolves continue their America East series on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m. -U-M- |
