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Maine Rally Falls Short In 11-10 Loss To Oklahoma
June 5, 2005 OXFORD, MS-- The University of Maine baseball team rallied from a 10-4 deficit in the eighth inning to tie the game at 10-10, but in the end fell just short, falling to Oklahoma 11-10 in the Oxford Regional of the NCAA Tournament in front of 4,168 fans in Oxford, MS. The Black Bears, who won their first NCAA Tournament game since the 1991 season, finish the campaign 35-19. Trailing 10-4, Curt Smith (Curacao, Netherlands) led off the eighth inning with a triple to center field. Matt McGraw (Burlington, Ontario) followed with a walk. Ray Vallee reached on an error scoring Smith. Greg Creek (Manchester, Maine) tripled to right field scoring both McGraw and Vallee. Joel Barrett (Brewer, Maine) singled scoring Creek. Ryan Quintal (Manchester, N.H.) singled to right field to continue the rally. Aaron Izaryk (Markham, Ontario) also singled to right scoring Barrett. Smith recorded his second hit of the inning and drove home Quintal to tie the game. The Sooners scored the winning run in the top of the ninth inning. Chuckie Caufield doubled and Freddy Rodriguez singled up the middle to plate the winning run. Maine had the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning with just one out, but were unable to push across the game-tying run. Oklahoma jumped out a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Eric Thronton walked and scored when Jackson Williams doubled to right center field. The Sooners grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Thornton hit a bloop single to left field and scored when Kevin Smith doubled to right center field.
Maine got on the board with a run in the bottom of the third inning. Joe Hough (West Roxbury, Mass.) led off the inning with a single to left field. Joel Barrett (Brewer, Maine) followed with a double just inside the third base bag. Ryan Quintal (Manchester, N.H.) drove home Hough when he grounded out to second base. For Quintal, it was his team-leading 48th RBI of the season. The Black Bears scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Ray Vallee (Augusta, Maine) and Hough drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. Greg Creek reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Barrett tied the game when he grounded out to first base. Quintal gave Maine its first lead of the game when he grounded out to second base scoring Hough. Aaron Izaryk singled to left field scoring Creek and giving Maine a 4-2 lead. The Sooners tied the game in the top of the sixth inning. Jackson Williams singled and Kody Kaiser hit a home run to left center field to knot the score at 4-4. The Sooners regained the lead in the top of the seventh inning. Ryan Rohlinger was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Thornton followed with a single to shallow center field and Rohlinger advanced to third base and scored when Kevin Smith grounded into a double play. Oklahoma added to its lead in the top of the eighth inning. Scott Rooker led off the inning with a triple to center field. Chuckie Caufield was hit by a pitch and Kody Kaiser drew a walk. Freddy Rodriguez hit a single to left field scoring Rooker. Rohlinger then hit a grand slam to put the Sooners up 10-4 in the eighth inning before the Maine comeback. Barrett led Maine at the plate as he went 3-for-6 with a run scored and two RBI. Creek, Quintal and Izaryk all had three RBI in the game. Troy Martin (Dover, N.H.) went 6.2 innings and allowed five runs on seven hits. Ryan Brown (Milford, Maine) replaced Martin in the seventh inning. Brown finished the seventh inning and faced four batters in the eighth inning. He allowed four runs. Jason Weymouth (Charleston, Maine) went 1.2 innings and allowed two runs on three hits. He picks up the loss and falls to 2-3 on the season. Robinson pitched the final out for the Black Bears. |
