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Baseball Drops Doubleheader to Stony Brook
April 26, 2008
ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine baseball team dropped a doubleheader to Stony Brook on Saturday afternoon at Mahaney Diamond. Maine dropped the first game 5-4 and fell in the second one 4-2. The Black Bears dip to 16-20-1 on the season with the losses and 4-7 in America East play. Stony Brook improves to 23-16 overall and 10-5 in conference play. In the first game, Stony Brook jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Michael Stephan reached on a fielder's choice and Jeremy Nowak followed with a home run to left field. Maine pulled to within a run in the bottom of the first inning. Jarrett Lukas (Old Town, Maine), who extended his hitting streak to a team-high 11 games on the day, double to right field and scored when Curt Smith (Willemstad, Curacao) singled up the middle. The game remained 2-1 until Maine tied it in the bottom of the fifth inning. Joe Mercurio (Brewster, N.Y.) was hit-by-a-pitch. Matt Howard (Weston, Mass.) walked and Mercurio advanced to second. Billy Cather (Worcester, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice and Mercurio advanced to third base. The Black Bears then executed a double steal to knot the game at 2-2. Cather took off from first and Stony Brook catcher Nick Thode threw to second. Mercurio then took off from third, beating the throw to the plate. The game remained tied until the Seawolves took a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth. Nowak walked and scored when Keith Fier singled through the left side. Stony Book extended their lead to 5-4 in the top of the seventh. Brian Witkowski doubled to right field to lead off the inning. Chad Marshall followed with a RBI single. Marshall scored when Fier singled to shortstop. Maine rallied to pull to within one run in the bottom of the seventh. Danny Menendez (Miami, Fla.), who walked three times in the two games, drew a walk. Billy Cather followed with a single and Menendez advanced to third. Lukas followed with a single through the right side scoring Menendez. Smith reached on a fielder's choice and Cather advanced to third base. Myckie Lugbauer (Mahopac, N.Y.) singled to right field plating Cather to pull Maine to within one run. The Black Bears, however, would leave Smith as the tying run at third base.
Matt Jebb (Toronto, Ontario) went 5.2 innings on the mound for the Black Bears and allowed three runs on five hits while striking out five. He falls to 2-3 on the season. Jimmy Cox (Bangor, Maine) went 0.1 inning and allowed one run on three hits. Justin Latta (Lubbock, Texas) pitched the final inning and allowed one run on three hits. Gary Novakowski went 6.1 innings for Stony Brook in the opener and allowed four runs on five hits while striking out three. He earns the win and improves to 5-3 on the season. Nowak earned his seventh save on the season. In the second game, Stony Brook jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Rob Dyer doubled to right center field and Steven Mazzurco drew a walk. Both runners advanced on a passed ball. Stephen Marino followed with a two-run single to center field to give the Seawolves the early 2-0 edge. Maine pulled to within one run in the bottom of the third inning. Joey Martin (Portland, Maine) singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Menendez. He advanced to third when Cather grounded out and scored when Lukas singled to left field. Stony Brook extended its lead to 3-1 in the top of the sixth. Brian Witkowski was hit-by-a-pitch and scored when Marshall singled to center field. The Black Bears, however, got the run right back in the bottom of the frame. Smith walked and scored when Tony Patane (New Milford, Conn.) reached on a fielder's choice. Stony Brook added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning. Dyer singled to right center field and scored when Marino doubled to left center. Maine had a great chance in the bottom of the seventh inning when it loaded the bases with nobody out, but was unable to capitalize. Kevin Scanlan (Sudbury, Mass.) went six innings for Maine. He allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on eight hits. He struck out eight batters on the game. He falls to 2-3 on the season. Justin Latta pitched the seventh and allowed one run on a pair of hits. Mike Errigo went 5.1 innings for Stony Brook. He allowed two runs on five hits while striking out three. He improves to 3-4 on the season. Jordan Purington pitched the final 1.2 innings to earn his fourth save of the season. He allowed two hits. Maine will attempt to even the series on Sunday afternoon at Mahaney Diamond in the series finale. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. -U-M- |
