Sports

Baseball swept in first 4

UNLV bats come alive to sweep opening series in Sin City

Amy Brooks

Junior outfielder Justin Leisenheimer scored three runs onthe weekend as the Black Bears dropped all four games to the Runnin' Rebels.

By Jesse Scardina

Posted on Feb. 20, 2011, at 10:05 p.m.

The University of Maine baseball team was swept in their season opener by the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

The opening game on Friday night saw the Runnin’ Rebels run away to a 12-4 victory.

The Rebels took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when junior first baseman Trent Cook doubled in a run and senior outfielder Rance Roundy drove one in with a single to right field off sophomore pitcher Jeffrey Gibbs. The Rebels doubled their score in the bottom of the second.

The Black Bears scored their first run of the season in the third inning on some small ball. Freshman outfielder Colin Gay singled and junior outfielder Taylor Lewis walked. Both players advanced on a double-steal, with Gay scoring on a passed ball.

No scoring occurred in the fourth, but the Rebels added two more in the fifth when Roundy blasted a two-run homerun. The Rebels took a commanding 8-1 lead after two more runs in the bottom of the sixth.

The Rebels continued to excel against the Black Bears’ pitching staff, scoring four more runs in the seventh inning as the Black Bears sent out three arms to try to slow down the Rebels.

The Black Bears scored three runs in the eighth with a string of singles. Sophomore outfielder Pat Thibodeau and junior outfielder Justin Leisenheimer grabbed a one-bagger of his own.

Each runner advanced on a passed ball and Thibodeau scored when freshman infielder Mike Connolly had to be thrown out at first after a strike out. Leisenheimer scored when his brother, junior outfielder Ian Leisenheimer singled him in. Ian Leisenheimer scored off a Lewis single.

Gibbs grabbed the lost, giving up four runs on six hits in three innings, while sophomore Tanner Peters got the win after five innings of work, allowing one unearned run on three hits.

The next day, the Black Bears dropped both games in the double-header, losing 15-14 in the first and 16-11 in the latter.

The Rebels jumped out to another 2-0 lead after the first, and extended it to four after two runs in the third inning.

The Black Bears’ bats woke up in the fourth as they took the lead. The Black Bears loaded the bases with singles by freshman infielder Alex Calbick, sophomore infielder Robbie Trask and Justin Leisenheimer. Connolly drove in Calbick and Justin Leisenheimer with a double, and freshman infielder Eric White tied things up with a RBI-single scoring Trask and Connolly.

Lewis gave the Black Bears the lead with a single scoring White. The Black Bears expanded their lead in the fifth when Trask singled to score Calbick.

The Rebels tied it in the fifth after a solo-shot by freshman outfielder Brandon Bayardi and an RBI-single by senior infielder Richie Jimenez.

UMaine regained the lead in the sixth, but left a lot of runs on base. With the bases loaded, Lewis scored on a wild-pitch, but the Black Bears couldn’t get anything out of the inning.

The Rebels tied it in the bottom of the sixth off a home run by Roundy and retook the lead in the seventh, 8-7 after Jiminez singled in Cook.

The Black Bears took a 9-8 lead in their half of the eighth after a two-run home run by senior first baseman Joey Martin.

Roundy and the Rebels retook the lead off his second home run of the game. The Rebels grabbed six runs total in the inning to take a 14-9 lead into the final frame.

The Black Bears were able to tie the game in the top of the ninth. After loading the bases, Lewis singled in Thibodeau, Gay was hit by a pitch, Ian Leisenheimer scored on a fielder choice and Martin doubled in Lewis and Gay to tie the score.

The Rebels won it in the ninth on a walk-off single by Cook.

The Black Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the second game when Calbick scored on a wild pitch.

After the Rebels tied things up in the bottom of the second, the Black Bears took the lead when freshman catcher Matt Verrier singled in Calbick.

The Rebels scored four runs in the sixth to take the 5-2 lead, but the Black Bears countered with three runs in the seventh.

It looked like the Black Bears were going to run away with their first victory after scoring six runs in the eighth to take a five-run lead at 11-6.

An offensive display by the Rebels saw 10 runs scored in the bottom of the eighth, as the Rebels stole the 16-11 victory.

The series finale on Sunday saw the Rebels jump out to a 4-1 lead after the first inning. After the Black Bears added a second run in the top of the fourth, the Rebels countered with two more in the bottom of the fourth and the bottom of the eighth for the series sweep of the Black Bears.

UMaine returns to the diamond Feb. 26 when they travel to Florida to take on Stetson University in a four-game series.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 20th, 2011, 10:05 pm. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.