The University of Maine’s injury-ravaged baseball team lost two games and four players to injury in its best-of-three America East series against UMass Lowell at LeLacheur Park in Lowell over the weekend.
UMaine won Friday’s opener 5-2 but squandered a 10-4 lead in an 11-10 loss on Saturday and a 6-4 lead in a 14-9 loss on Sunday.
The Black Bears haven’t had 2023 All-America East first team pitcher Colin Fitzgerald (hip) and 2022 All-AE Rookie team pitcher Caleb Leys (arm) due to off-season surgeries and they were without ace and 2023 AE first team pitcher Gianni Gambardella over the weekend due to a triceps injury, according to UMaine coach Nick Derba.
Gambardella pitched six innings of one-hit scoreless ball in an 8-0 win over the New Jersey Institute of Technology last Sunday.
On Saturday, UMaine lost starting catcher Dean O’Neill to a concussion and, on Sunday, starting second baseman Myles Sargent, the team’s leading hitter at .324, and starting left fielder Mike White had to leave the game with a hand injury and separated shoulder, respectively, said Derba.
White homered on Friday and Saturday and is second on the team in runs batted in with 24 and is tied for second in homers.
In addition, infielder Jeph Hadson-Taylor, who came in after Sargent left, had to leave the game with back spasms.
The coach added that reliever Colton Carson was also unavailable due to an oblique strain.
“It’s a crazy amount of injuries,” said Derba.
UMaine is now 8-22 overall and 4-7 in the conference while UMass Lowell is 14-9 and 6-5, respectively.
In Sunday’s game, the River Hawks erased a 6-4 deficit with an eight-run uprising in the seventh inning despite getting only two hits in the inning.
Relievers Gabe Gifford, Noah Lewis, Owen Wheeler and Blaine Cockburn combined to issue six walks and hit two batters in the inning.
”When we throw strikes, we win. It’s as simple as that,” said Derba.
Carlos Martinez belted a two-run homer in the inning and Fritz Genther had a two-run double.
Genther knocked in four runs with two doubles and a single and Martinez also had three hits with a double and a single to accompany his fourth homer of the season. Brandon Fish and Conor Kelly each had a double and a single. Fish drove in three runs.
Jeremiah Jenkins hit his 13th homer of the season for UMaine and he also had two doubles. He drove in two runs. Colin Plante and Zach Martin each had a double and a single and Plante had two RBIs. Jack Friend singled twice.
The Black Bears came one out away from making it two straight wins over the River Hawks on Saturday but two-out, run-scoring singles in the bottom of the ninth inning by Trey Brown and Alex Luccini gave the River Hawks their 11-10 win.
UMaine had scored 10 unanswered runs to erase a 4-0 deficit but the Black Bear pitching staff couldn’t hold the lead and UMaine was held scoreless over the final five innings by relievers Kevin Zarnoch, Andres Hulfachor and Zach Fortuna.
UMaine was clinging to a 10-9 lead entering the ninth and reliever Ryan Scott retired the first hitter he faced.
But Fish singled and, after a fielder’s choice moved him to second with two outs, Brown singled to left to tie the game.
Scott uncorked a wild pitch and Marshall Smaracko came on to replace Scott.
He walked the first hitter before Luccini singled to center for his fourth hit of the game to decide it.
Luccini had a sacrifice fly to go with his four singles and he drove in four runs. Genther also had four singles and scored three times. Martinez had a two-run double in the sixth to cap a three-run rally and make it 10-8 before an unearned run in the seventh made it a one-run game.
Martinez also had a run-scoring single.
Brown had two singles and two RBIs.
White had a three-run homer in a seven-run fourth inning rally and he also had two singles in the game. It was his second homer of the season and second in as many games.
Sargent had three singles and Jenkins hit a pair of doubles and drove in four runs. Plante, Martin and O’Neill had two singles apiece.
Freshman Jason Krieger allowed 12 hits and eight earned runs in 5 ⅓ innings before Scott came on relief.
On Friday, the Black Bears rallied from a two-run deficit with a run in the seventh and four in the eighth.
Jenkins singled and eventually scored on O’Neill’s single in the seventh before Jenkins tied it in the eighth with a run-scoring base hit after Jake Marquez singled and Will Burns reached on a catcher’s error.
An outfield error on Jenkins’ base hit put runners on second and third and Friend’s sacrifice fly broke the 2-2 tie.
White followed with a two-run homer to right to give the Black Bears some important insurance runs.
White had a single to go with his homer while Jenkins and Marquez had two base hits apiece.
Freshman Wheeler earned his first collegiate win with two innings of shutout relief.
Senior reliever Geoff Mosseau made his first start for UMaine and allowed just one earned run in five innings of work with five strikeouts and four walks.
Smaracko pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Luc Lavigueur earned a save by pitching a scoreless ninth
Brown singled twice for UMass Lowell and Kelly and Ryan Proto had doubles.
