Sports

Baseball stands strong in New Jersey

Black Bears win 3 of 4 over weekend

Posted on March 27, 2011, at 10:05 p.m.

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University of Maine junior pitcher Keith Bilodeau and the Black Bears split the first day of the Fairleigh Dickinson Invitational.

In their last weekend before returning home, the University of Maine baseball team took three out of four from two New Jersey opponents, St. Peter’s College and Fairleigh Dickinson University.

The Black Bears split the two games with the Peacocks and swept the Knights, improving their record to 9-16.

In the weekend’s opening game against the Peacocks, the Black Bears grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, manufacturing a small-ball run starting with a walk by sophomore left fielder Pat Thibodeau.

That was the only lead the Black Bears would have, as the Peacocks ripped off seven unanswered runs in the next six innings, starting with two in the bottom of the first and three in the third. A solo homerun in the bottom of the fourth by sophomore first baseman Chris Grimes and two extra base hits in the bottom of the sixth capped off the scoring for the Peacocks.

The Black Bears mounted a rally in the late innings, but it was too little, too late. After one run in the top of the seventh, freshman center fielder Colin Gay drove in two with a double in the eighth.

Down three in the top of the ninth, the Black Bears managed to load the bases after three straight singles, but only gained one run off another single by sophomore left fielder Robbie Trask.

Junior Keith Bilodeau picked up the loss for the Black Bears, his second of the season. He went 5.1 innings, giving up seven runs, five of which were earned on nine hits, while striking out nine. Junior Jonathan Balentina replaced him and pitched 2.2 hitless innings, striking out six.

The second game of Saturday, against the Knights, saw the Black Bears pick up a 4-1 victory.

After giving up a run in the fourth, junior A.J. Bazdanes pitched the next five scoreless innings while allowing just one hit. In all, Bazdanes finished with one run off three hits in eight innings, with seven strikeouts.

The Black Bears’ bats erupted in the bottom of the fifth, with four runs off four hits, starting with a double by freshman infielder Troy Black and a double by senior first baseman Joey Martin. After a walk by junior center fielder Taylor Lewis, junior Ian Leisenheimer drove them all home with a bases-clearing triple, later scoring on a sacrifice fly by freshman infielder Alex Calbick.

The second day, the Black Bears put together their first winning streak of the season, sweeping the finale against both the Peacocks and the Knights by identical 5-1 scores.

The first game Sunday against Fairleigh Dickinson saw little action through the first four innings.

Each team traded a run in the fifth, with freshman second baseman Eric White driving in fellow freshman, shortstop Mike Connolly, while the Knights countered with an RBI single by junior second baseman Matt Holsman.

The Black Bears opened the game up in the next half-inning, scoring the final four runs on four hits, including two triples, to earn the victory.

Martin led off with a triple, followed by another by junior first baseman Justin Leisenheimer. Calbick singled in Leisenheimer, while Connolly drove in Calbick and scored on a wild pitch.

Sophomore Stephen Perakslis went seven innings, allowing one run on seven hits with three strikeouts. Balentina came on and pitched two scoreless innings for the save.

Similar to the first game on Sunday, the scoring started in the top of the fourth, this time for the Peacocks, as junior catcher Russ Stupienski scored on a fielder’s choice.

The Black Bears countered to take the lead in the bottom-half of the inning off a two-RBI single by Calbick.

The Black Bears added two more in the bottom of the fifth, off a sacrifice fly by Black, and capped off the scoring in the eighth with an RBI-single by sophomore catcher Tyler Patzalek, scoring Lewis.

Freshman Shaun Coughlin went all nine innings, allowing one run on five hits and eight strikeouts en route to his first victory.

The Black Bears return for their first home series of the year against Bryant College. First game is scheduled for April 1 at 3:30 p.m.

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