Sports

Baseball team takes three of four from Hartford

By Ryan Waning

Posted on April 14, 2003, at 12:00 a.m.

The University of Maine baseball team continued its domination over the University of Hartford Saturday, sweeping the first doubleheader of the series at Ray McKenna Field in East Hartford, Conn., with scores of 3-1 and 6-1.

The Black Bears managed one of two on Sunday, but still came away with a successful weekend.

UMaine improved its record to 19-7, 3-1 in America East Conference play, while the Hawks dropped to 2-18, 1-3.

The Black Bears dropped the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader 6-5. Greg Norton dropped his first game of the season on the mound, but a costly error by Brett Ouellette led to four unearned runs. Ryan Quintal went deep for the Black Bears.

Hartford hurler Tony Cerovsky tossed the complete game, scattering six hits and five runs, though only three of those were earned. Ron Acebro belted a home run for the Hawks and was 3-3 with a pair of RBI in the win.

UMaine got revenge in the nightcap Sunday, but not without a late rally from Hartford. The Black Bears led 8-3 heading to the seventh inning before the host team reeled off four runs in the inning. Adam Labelle replaced Greg Creek on the mound for the Black Bears and squashed the Hawks’ rally to pick up his third save of the year.

Simon Williams and Joe Drapeau left the ballpark for UMaine and each had a pair of hits in the late game Sunday.

Creek picked up the win while Hartford’s John Manning suffered the loss.

In the first game of the twin bill, Williams hit a two-out three-run home run in the top of the fifth inning scoring all of the Black Bears runs. Junior Mike MacDonald (4-2) pitched a complete game (his second) tossing all seven innings and striking out six for the victory.

America East Pitcher of the Week Mike Collar (4-2) matched MacDonald’s performance in the nightcap, going the distance and striking out nine against only eight Hartford hits in the win.

The Black Bears got on the board quickly, scoring two in the second inning on Aaron Izaryk’s first home run of the season, a two-run home run that scored senior Jesse Carlton.

Senior Alain Picard crossed the plate in the fourth on freshman Joe Hough’s two-out RBI single-extending UMaine’s lead to 3-0.

Things went from bad to worse for the Hawks when the Black Bears went to the plate in the fifth. Three batters after senior Mike Livulpi led off the inning with his third home run of the season, Picard drove in his team leading 27th and 28th runs of the season, plating both Williams and Ouellette via a one-out triple, pushing UMaine out to a 6-0 lead.

Hartford’s Matt Denorfia tagged a solo home run in the sixth inning for the Hawks’ lone run of the game.

The Black Bears have a doubleheader scheduled Wednesday in Providence, R.I., against Brown University.

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