Maine (0-4) fell to Texas Tech (4-0) 4-2 on Friday afternoon at Rip Griffin Stadium. The Black Bears couldn’t overcome a three-run third inning by the Red Raiders, who were powered by a bases clearing single by third-year outfielder Cody Farhat. Farhat’s hit gave Texas Tech a 2-0 lead. Second-year outfielder Grant Little followed with a double off the top of the right field wall to score Farhat and extend the teams lead to three.
Maine clawed back with a run in the top of the fifth on a hit to second by third-year infielder Jeremy Pena, but Texas Tech answered when second-year outfielder Josh Jung hit an opposite field home run to right field. Jung finished the afternoon a triple short of hitting for the cycle.
Trailing 4-1 in the eighth Pena drew a walk and quickly took second on a wild pitch. He would score two batters later on a fielder’s choice by second-year Hernen Sardinas. The run would be the last of the contest for the Black Bears.
Overall, it was third-year infielder Danny Casals leading the way with two hits, while fourth-years Brandon Vicens and Christopher Bec added in hits of their own.
Fourth-year pitcher Justin Courtney went four innings, giving up three runs on six hits, while notching six strikeouts as well. For Texas Tech, it was third-year Pitcher Davis Martin getting the opening start for the second straight year. The Texas native yielded three hits and one run in five innings of work while punching out four.
Maine loses both games of Saturday Doubleheader at Texas Tech
It was a rough go for the Black Bears Saturday afternoon, who fell by scores of 12-1 and 12-5 to the Red Raiders.
The second inning is where things got going for Texas Tech. They got a run on a double by Little, another on a double play, and then Farhat tripled to add a third. The team would tack on another run in the home half of the third, giving them a 4-0 lead. In the fifth Maine cut into the lead. Danny Casals once again led the way. He reached first on a walk and eventually scored Maine’s lone run when he was singled in by Vicens. Second-year Cody Pasic drew two walks and added in his first hit of the season for the team as well.
The Red Raiders would answer with runs in the sixth and seventh and then exploded for five in the eighth. Jung kicked things off in the inning by blasting a two-run homerun to give the them a 9-1 lead. The team would earn another on a double play ball, and first-year KC Simonich drove two more runs in with on a single to right to round out the offensive explosion for the Red Raiders.
The team was backed by good pitching efforts from fourth-year left-handed pitcher Dylan Dusek, who went two and two third innings on the mound, surrendering one run and three hits while fanning two batters. Third-year righty Ty Harpenau tossed three scoreless frames, racking up three strikeouts. First-year Nick Candelari finished off the game with a scoreless ninth, striking out his final batter.
For Maine, third-year left-hander Eddie Emerson took the loss on the mound. Emerson yielded four runs on five hits while giving up six free passes on the day.
In game two, things went downhill fast for the Black Bears. After plating a run in the top of the first, the Red Raiders responded with nine of their own in the bottom half of the same inning. First-year infielder Gabe Holt set the tone right off the bat, hitting his first home run of his college career over the right field fence. Holt finished a triple shy of the cycle, becoming the second player of the series to bid for the cycle.
Overall the team would add three more homeruns in the inning, giving them four total, the most the team has hit since 1997 when they played Missouri and hit three straight home runs to start the game.
The other longballs in the inning came from Little (two-run home run), third-year Cameron Warren (solo home run) and fourth-year Michael Davis.
The Red Raiders added two more runs in the fourth and another in the seventh, capping off another 12-run output.
On the mound for Texas Tech, was second-year hurler Josh McMillon, who was making his first start of his collegiate career. His debut proved to be a solid one. He finished with a line of five innings, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out four.
For Maine, the standout was Pena, who tallied three hits on the afternoon, including his first home run of the season. Pena also scored three runs.
Maine split pitching duties between four different players which included third-year Nick Silva and second-years Trevor Delaite, Matthew Pushard and Cody Lawyerson.
To find out whether or not the Black Bears were able to salvage the series, read the online update.
*Black Bears swept by Texas Tech*
The University of Maine baseball team wrapped up their opening series against the No. 3 Texas Tech Red Raiders by falling 21-6 at Rip Griffin Park on Sunday Feb. 18.
Texas Tech started the scoring in the first inning when first-year second baseman Gabe Holt tripled down the right field line, coming around to score on a throwing error by second-year right fielder Hernen Sardinas.
The flood gates opened for the Red Raiders in the second. Davis led off the inning with a double. After a hit by pitch, Holt singled to right, plating Davis. Jung drove in two more with a single to run the score to 4-0. Maine turned a double play, and could have limited the damage, but the Texas Tech offense kept rolling. Fourth-year outfielder Connor Beck brought home another run with a fielder’s choice that the Black Bears failed to record an out on. Davis then brought in two more runs with a single to left. Farhat extended the lead to 8-0 with an RBI double, and Holt would end the scoring with a two-run single to right.
Maine would respond in a big way in the top of the third. Third-year second baseman Caleb Kerbs roped a one-out double down the left field. Second-year left fielder Kevin Doody reached on an error by Davis, allowing Kerbs to score. Back-to-back walks brought in another run, and third-year outfielder Colin Ridley, pinch hitting for Sardinas, roped another double to plate two more, running the score to 10-4 Red Raiders. Fourth-year catcher Jonathan Bennett would bring in two more with a single up the middle, and that would be the end of the day for Texas Tech’s starter, third-year lefty Erikson Lanning. Fourth-year right-hander Jose Quezada stopped the bleeding with a strikeout to end the inning.
For the Black Bears, third-year right-hander John Arel would come in to replace redshirt third-year right-hander Chris Murphy, who gave up 10 earned runs in two innings of work with nine hits, two walks, and three hit batsmen.
The Red Raiders would continue the theme of getting on base by getting hit with pitches, as Jung began the inning by taking one. He would come around to score on a fly out to center for the only run of the inning, making the score 11-6.
Texas Tech would pick up another run in the fifth, when second-year designated hitter Brian Klein led off with a double, then came in on a triple by second-year catcher Clay Koelzer to make the score 12-6.
The Red Raiders would score nine more runs in the final two frames of the game, with three of them coming off of a home run by Jung, his third of the season, to blow it wide open.
Maine will look for that elusive first win as they take on the University of Ohio for four games next weekend, Feb. 23 through Feb. 25, in Emerson, Georgia. Texas Tech will have a Tuesday matinee against New Mexico State, before heading to San Antonio to take on the University of Texas San Antonio over the weekend.
*Editor’s note: Original article has been edited to include the results of game played on Feb. 19*
