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Maine Baseball Splits With Vermont
April 30, 2005 ORONO, Maine-- The University of Maine baseball team split a pair of America East games with Vermont on Saturday afternoon. The Black Bears earned an 11-5 victory in the first game before Vermont took the nightcap 13-4. Maine is 24-12 on the season and 7-4 in America East play, while the Catamounts are 19-12-1, 8-3 in conference play after the games. In the first game, Maine scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to turn a tight 4-3 lead into an 11-3 lead. Mark Ostrander (Hopkinton, Mass.) led off the inning with a single to left field. Joel Barrett (Brewer, Maine) singled to center field and Ryan Quintal (Manchester, N.H.) reached on an error on a sacrifice bunt to load the bases. Joe Hough (West Roxbury, Mass.) hit a grand slam on the first pitch that he saw to give Maine the 8-3 lead. For Hough, it was his fourth home run of the season. Aaron Izaryk (Markham, Ontario) singled to center field and Steve Gambale (Medford, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice before Greg Creek (Manchester, Maine) hit a three-run home run, his sixth of the season. Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning, Maine cut the deficit in half when Quintal doubled down the right field line and scored when Curt Smith (Curacao, Netherlands) doubled to right field. Maine pulled to within one run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Izaryk doubled to center field and scored when Creek singled. Maine tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Barrett led off the inning with a double to left field. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when Hough grounded out. Smith followed with his first collegiate home run to give Maine a lead it would never relinquish.
Vermont added a pair of runs in the top of the eighth inning but would get no closer. Hough drove in five runs in the game, while Creek drove home four. Steve Richard (Billerica, Mass.) pitched seven inning for the Black Bears and allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on six hits. He struck out seven batters and improves to 6-0 on the season. Troy Martin (Dover, N.H.) pitched the final two innings for Maine and allowed two runs on two hits. In the second game, Vermont scored a run in the top of the first inning, but Maine answered with three in the bottom of the frame. Barrett homered to left field to tie the game. For Barrett, it was his sixth home run of the season which ties Creek for the team-lead. Quintal walked and Hough followed with a double scoring Quintal. Hough gave Maine a 3-1 lead when Curt Smith singled him home. Vermont tied the game in the top of the third inning with a pair of runs. The Catamounts added six runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 9-3 lead. Maine got a run back in the bottom of the fifth when Smith hit a sacrifice fly scoring Barrett who had singled. The Black Bears left the bases loaded in the inning, but were only able to push across one run. Vermont capped the scoring with four runs in the top of the seventh inning. Jason Carey led the Catamount offense with three hits, three runs scored and four RBI, while Jay Iannoni drove home a team-high four runs. Jason Weymouth (Charleston, Maine) got the start for the Black Bears and went 3.1 innings and allowed six runs on seven hits. He falls to 1-2 on the season. Ryan Brown (Milford, Maine) pitched .2 of an inning and allowed three runs, none of which were earned, on three hits. Josh Zyskowski (Grand Rapids, Mich.) pitched the final three innings for the Black Bears and allowed four runs on four hits, while striking out five. Maine and Vermont finish their America East series on Sunday, May 1 with a single game starting at noon at Mahaney Diamond. -U-M- |
