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It took only 33 games into the season, but the University of Maine baseball team finally welcomed Mahaney Diamond to some 2011 baseball, and did so with a victory.
The Black Bears took care of Division III Colby College with the score of 4-2 on a sunny Tuesday afternoon.
The Black Bears improve to 13-20, while the White Mules fall to 10-15.
UMaine only mustered eight hits compared to Colby’s 10, but head coach Steve Trimper wasn’t worried about the contact.
“We barreled up a lot of balls but we just hit them right at guys,” Trimper said. “We lost at Hartford [on Sunday] the same way.”
Senior right fielder Joey Martin echoed the coach’s thoughts.
“Baseball’s a weird game sometimes. You can hit the ball hard and not produce,” Martin said. “We did get guys on base but we weren’t always able to get them in, which is something we want to work on.”
After a scare in the top of the first, when Colby threatened with a runner at third, the Black Bears grabbed a 3-0 lead after the first inning.
Sophomore shortstop Michael Fransoso got things started with a single past the second baseman. After back-to-back bunt singles by junior center fielder Taylor Lewis and Martin, junior designated hitter Justin Leisenheimer was pegged, bringing in the first run. A sacrifice fly by freshman catcher Fran Whitten scored the second run, and a double steal attempt brought in Leisenheimer for the third.
“Scoring first is huge,” Martin said. “We always try and make a statement in the game. Once we get guys on base it opens up what we can do.”
“We got the chance to move guys around in that first inning and played some team baseball,” Trimper said. “Our offense has always been built around moving guys anyway, whether a hit-and-run or a bunt.”
The White Mules grabbed their first run in the third inning when senior right fielder Richard Newton scored off junior catcher Brendan Gallagher’s double.
Colby had another chance to score after junior first baseman Robb Arndt ripped a double and advanced to third on a balk, but UMaine junior pitcher Jonathon Balentina was able to retire the side without additional harm.
UMaine sophomore pitcher Stephen Perakslis came on in the fifth, but got into some trouble in the top of the sixth, when the White Mules put runners on the corners with no outs. Perakslis managed to strike out the next two batters and popped up the Colby batter for the third out, protecting the Black Bears’ two-run lead.
“We walked a leadoff guy and that guy scored, and we’re trying to cut down on leadoff walks,” Trimper said. “We had a couple 0-2 hits, where our guys tried to be a little too fine. But what happened is we came back and got big strikeouts when they had guys in scoring position.”
The Black Bears managed to grab an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning, resorting back to the small ball that was successful in the first. Fransoso led off the inning with a bunt-single, advancing to second on a steal. Lewis followed him with a sacrifice bunt, moving the Portsmouth, N.H. native to third. Martin picked up his team-leading 19th RBI, with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Martin has turned things around this past week, after struggling against Stony Brook University two weeks ago.
“I looked at some tape and found a few things I had changed unknowingly,” Martin said. “I went back to my old stance and old swing and it worked.”
After coming to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, freshman Shaun Coughlin ran into a jam in the top of the ninth, allowing a lead-off single to freshman left fielder Nathan Ellis, which followed by a walk to junior shortstop Brandon Nieuw, with a passed ball moving them both into scoring position.
After fanning senior right fielder Richard Newton, UMaine freshman D.J. Voisine came on to replace Coughlin, allowing an RBI-single to junior center fielder Nikolas Atsalis, Whitten defused the pressure by gunning down Atsalis as he tried to steal second base. Voisine got Gallagher to fly out to end the game, picking up his second save of the season.
Balentina picked up his first win on the season, giving up a run on four hits with seven strikeouts in four innings.
“He was only going to go three, but we decided to go one more with him,” Trimper said. “We had to get work for all the guys.”
“I wanted to go nine, but [coach] gave me four and I appreciate that,” Balentina said. “It was good to get out there. We didn’t get a lot of playing time [at Hartford] because of the three-game series. It was great to get a couple of innings.”
The Black Bears will return to the diamond Saturday for a double-header against America East Conference foe the University of Albany. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
