ORONO, Maine - Home runs were the order the day as the Huskies edged Maine 11-10 in eight innings, in America East baseball action Friday night at Mahaney Diamond in Orono, Maine.
The Black Bears fall to 33-13 overall with the loss, 17-8 in America East. The Huskies, who stay alive in the race for the fourth and final slot in the upcoming America East Tournament, improve to 18-27, 11-14. UMaine nosed into a slim lead early on in the contest, thanks to solo home runs by Jon Hambelton in the first inning and Joe Drapeau in the second. Northeastern knotted the game at 2-2 in the fourth inning when Coley O'Donnell reached on a double down the right field line, and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Brad Czarnowski plated another Husky run in the with a double to left field.
NU expanded blew the game open in the fifth inning. The Huskies managed to load up the bases with a Luke Carlin double, and HBPs to Todd Korchin and O'Donnell. Omar Pena cleared them with a grand slam homer off the Mahaney Diamond scoreboard in left field.
Hambelton provided the Black Bear response in the bottom of the frame, when he also hit a grand slam to tie the game at 6-6. Simon Williams, Matt Reynolds, and Mike Livulpi all reached on walks, setting the table for Hambelton's second jack of the game.
Northeastern posted two runs in the top of the sixth on three singles, aided by a throwing error by third baseman Drapeau. However UMaine retook the lead with three runs in the bottom of the inning, including two runs on Livulpi's triple to right center field. Livulpi eventually came home as the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Husky hurler Chris Walsh.
Black Bear reliever Matt Truman was unable to bar the door on the Huskies, as they rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh. NU tied the game on a lead-off homer to right field by O'Donnell, and took the lead on Czarnowski's sacrifice bunt that scored Omar Pena from third.
Livulpi singled home Quin Peel as the game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh, but Pat Tobin, who was trying to score from second on the play, was thrown out at home plate.
The Huskies eventually scored the game-winner in the top of the eighth when Korchin singled to right field, scoring Carlin from second base. Truman took the loss for UMaine, falling to 1-4. Walsh picked up the win for Northeastern, posting his first win of the season. Black Bear starter Rusty Tucker matched a season-high by fanning 10 Husky batters, but he also allowed a season-high eight earned runs on eight hits in five innings of work.
NU and UMaine will continue the series tomorrow with a doubleheader at Mahaney Diamond beginning at 1 p.m. The two teams will conclude the series on Sunday, May 13, with a single game beginning at noon.
Northeastern 11 (18-27,11-14)
Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A
Hernan Guerrero ss........ 4 1 2 1 1 1 0 1
Luke Carlin c............. 4 2 2 0 0 0 11 2
Ben Beck lf............... 5 0 0 0 0 5 2 1
Todd Korchin rf........... 4 1 2 2 0 2 3 0
Pedro Pena dh............. 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Jordan Thomson dh......... 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Coley O'Donnell 1b........ 3 3 2 1 0 0 4 2
Omar Pena 2b.............. 4 3 2 4 0 0 1 0
Nick Graves 3b............ 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 3
Brad Czarnowski cf........ 3 1 2 2 0 0 0 0
Jason Gillespie p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Chris Walsh p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals.................... 36 11 12 10 1 14 24 10
Maine 10 (33-13,17-8)
Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A
Mike Livulpi cf........... 3 2 2 3 1 0 1 0
Aaron Young rf............ 5 0 1 0 0 3 1 0
Jon Hambelton 1b.......... 2 2 2 5 3 0 7 1
Pete Saunders pr.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Alain Picard dh........... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Keith Genest dh........... 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Quin Peel 2b/ss........... 4 1 1 0 1 1 1 3
Joe Drapeau 3b............ 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Pat Tobin c............... 3 1 1 0 1 2 12 2
Simon Williams lf......... 1 2 0 0 2 1 0 0
Mike Ross ph/lf........... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Mark Reichley ss.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Matt Reynolds ph/2b....... 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 1
Rusty Tucker p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Adam Labelle p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Matt Truman p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Eric Johnson p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals.................... 29 10 8 9 10 11 24 8
Score by innings: R H E
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Northeastern 000 242 21 - 11 12 0
Maine 110 043 10 - 10 8 3
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E - Drapeau 3.
DP - Maine 1. LOB - Northeastern 6; Maine 7.
2B - Guerrero; Carlin; O'Donnell; Czarnowski. 3B - Livulpi.
HR - O'Donnell(5); O. Pena(2); Hambelton 2(13); Drapeau(12).
SB - Guerrero. CS - Livulpi.
SH - Czarnowski; Reynolds.
Northeastern IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
Jason Gillespie..... 4.2 5 6 6 4 8 18 23
Chris Walsh......... 3.1 3 4 4 6 3 11 18
Maine IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
Rusty Tucker........ 5.0 8 8 8 1 10 24 28
Adam Labelle........ 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 4 4
Matt Truman......... 1.1 3 3 2 0 2 7 8
Eric Johnson........ 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Win - Walsh 1-7. Loss - Tucker 0-1. Save - None.
WP - Walsh; Tucker 2; Truman.
HBP - by Tucker (Carlin); by Gillespie (Livulpi);
by Tucker (Korchin); by Tucker (O'Donnell).
Start: 7 pm Time: 3:08 Attendance: 637
Tucker faced 2 batters in the 6th.
Play-by-Play
Northeastern inning 1
Guerrero doubled to center field. Carlin grounded out to 2b; Guerrero
advanced to third. Beck struck out swinging. Korchin struck out swinging.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Maine inning 1
Livulpi flied out to lf. Young struck out, out at first c to 1b. Hambelton
homered to right field, RBI. Picard out at first 1b to p. 1 run, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern inning 2
P. Pena struck out looking. O'Donnell lined out to 2b. O. Pena reached on
an error by 3b, advanced to second. N. Graves struck out looking. 0 runs,
0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Maine inning 2
Peel flied out to rf. Drapeau homered to center field, RBI. Tobin struck
out swinging. Williams struck out looking. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern inning 3
Czarnowski out at first 1b to p. Guerrero walked. Carlin hit by pitch;
Guerrero advanced to second. Beck struck out swinging. Korchin struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Maine inning 3
Reichley flied out to rf. Livulpi hit by pitch. Young singled to third
base, bunt; Livulpi advanced to second. Young advanced to second; Livulpi
out at third c to 3b, caught stealing. Hambelton walked. Picard struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northeastern inning 4
P. Pena struck out looking. O'Donnell doubled down the rf line. O. Pena
singled; O'Donnell advanced to third. O. Pena advanced to second on a wild
pitch; O'Donnell scored. N. Graves struck out swinging. O. Pena advanced
to third on a wild pitch. Czarnowski doubled to left field, RBI; O. Pena
scored. Guerrero popped up to 1b. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Maine inning 4
Peel struck out swinging. Drapeau grounded out to p. Tobin struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern inning 5
Carlin doubled to center field. Beck struck out swinging. Korchin hit by
pitch. Thomson to dh for P. Pena. Thomson struck out swinging. O'Donnell
hit by pitch; Korchin advanced to second; Carlin advanced to third. O. Pena
homered to left field, 4 RBI; O'Donnell scored; Korchin scored; Carlin
scored. N. Graves flied out to cf. 4 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Maine inning 5
Williams walked. Reynolds pinch hit for Reichley. Reynolds walked;
Williams advanced to second. Livulpi walked; Reynolds advanced to second;
Williams advanced to third. Young struck out swinging. Hambelton homered
to right field, 4 RBI; Livulpi scored; Reynolds scored; Williams scored.
Genest to dh for Picard. Genest struck out looking. Peel singled to right
field. Walsh to p for Gillespie. Drapeau grounded out to 3b. 4 runs, 2
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northeastern inning 6
Peel to ss. Reynolds to 2b. Czarnowski singled to third base, advanced to
second on an error by 3b. Guerrero singled to right center, RBI; Czarnowski
scored. Labelle to p for Tucker. Carlin flied out to rf. Guerrero stole
second. Beck struck out swinging. Korchin singled to shortstop, RBI;
Guerrero scored. Thomson struck out looking. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1
LOB.
Maine inning 6
Tobin walked. Williams walked; Tobin advanced to second. Reynolds grounded
out to 3b, SAC, bunt; Williams advanced to second; Tobin advanced to third.
Livulpi tripled to right center, 2 RBI; Williams scored; Tobin scored.
Young struck out swinging. Hambelton intentionally walked. Hambelton
advanced to second on a wild pitch; Livulpi scored. Genest struck out
swinging. 3 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northeastern inning 7
Truman to p for Labelle. O'Donnell homered to right field, RBI. O. Pena
reached on an error by 3b, advanced to third. N. Graves grounded out to ss.
Czarnowski grounded out to p, SAC, bunt, RBI; O. Pena scored, unearned.
Guerrero struck out, out at first c to 1b. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Maine inning 7
Peel walked. Drapeau flied out to rf. Tobin singled to right field; Peel
advanced to second. Ross pinch hit for Williams. Ross struck out swinging.
Reynolds walked; Tobin advanced to second; Peel advanced to third. Livulpi
singled to left field, RBI; Reynolds advanced to second; Tobin advanced to
third, out at home lf to 3b to c; Peel scored. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Northeastern inning 8
Ross to lf. Carlin singled to right field. Carlin advanced to second on a
wild pitch. Beck struck out, out at first c to 1b. Korchin singled to
right field, RBI; Carlin scored. Johnson to p for Truman. Thomson grounded
into double play ss to 2b to 1b; Korchin out on the play. 1 run, 2 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Maine inning 8
Young out at first 1b to p. Hambelton walked. Genest flied out to lf.
Saunders pinch ran for Hambelton. Peel reached on a fielder's choice;
Saunders out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
