Baseball Drops Tough Decision to Seton Hall, 6-4

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- The University of Maine baseball team fell to Seton Hall in game two of today's doubleheader, 6-4. The loss drops the Black Bears back to 6-10 on the season while the Pirates improve their record to 8-9 on the year. Nick Bernardo (Glenmont, N.Y.) hit a solid 2-for-3 at the plate on the game while scoring two runs and drawing a pair of walks.  

Maine jumped out ahead in the top of the second inning after Eric White (Brewer, Maine) doubled to right field, scoring Nick Bernardo who was on third. Bernardo had reached on a double of his own down the right field line. The Black Bears threatened with another run when Colin Gay (Franklin, Mass.) singled up the middle to advance White to third, however Michael Fransoso (Portsmouth, N.H.) flied out to left to end the inning.

D.J. Voisine (Plainville, Conn.) kept Seton Hall from starting anything in the bottom half of the inning after a 1-2-3 inning. He got Ryan Sullivan to line out to second, Giuseppe Papaccio to ground out to shortstop, and Tyler Boyd to strike out swinging.

The Black Bears struck again in the top of the fourth inning when Colin Gay drove Nick Bernardo in from second on a single to center field, giving them a 2-0 lead. Bernardo reached on a leadoff single to left and advanced to second with Eric White grounded out to short stop.

D.J. Voisine came up big again for the Black Bears in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs and Will Walsh threatening on third for the Pirates, Voisine  got the final out of the inning by getting Giuseppe Papaccio to strikeout looking, ending the inning with a 2-0 lead in tact.

Justin Leisenheimer (Middle Village, N.Y.) got in base with a one out double to right center in the top of the fifth inning. He was later driven in with two outs in the inning when Fran Whitten (Westborough, Mass.) laced a double to right field, giving Maine a 3-0 lead.

D.J. Voisine had surrendered only one hit through the first four innings of play until Seton Hall's Tyler Boyd hit a leadoff ground rule double in the bottom of the fifth inning. Boyd was then advanced to third after Chris Selden reached on a bunt single. Boyd then came around to score for the Pirates after Michael Betz hit a sacrifice bunt to third, advancing Selden to second base on the play. After reaching first base on a walk, Zack Granite and Selden executed a double steal to put runners at second and third with one out. Voisine got out of the jam after a groundout by Mike Genovese and a lineout by Will Walsh to end the inning. Maine still maintained the lead, 3-1.

Seton Hall scored two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game at 3-3. The first run came when Sal Annuziata, who had reached on a leadoff single, came home on a passed ball by relief pitched Fran Whitten. Annuziata had advanced to second when Ryan Sullivan singled through the left side. The pair advanced a base each after Giuseppe Papaccio laid down a sacrifice bunt. Sullivan would come around to score after Chris Selden hit a bunt single to third. At the end of the inning, the game was now tied 3-3.

Maine quickly broke the 3-3 stalemate in the next inning when Brian Doran (Ayr, Ontario) drove in Alex Calbick (Burnaby, British Columbia) on a fielding error by the Seton Hall shortstop. Calbick reached earlier in the inning on a leadoff single up the middle. He then took second on a fielding error by the Seton Hall shortstop and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With the run, Maine now led 4-3.

The Pirates retaliated in the bottom half of the inning and took a 5-4 lead after Ryan Sullivan hit a two out single to right field, driving in Will Walsh and Sal Annuziata. Walsh had reached after being hit by a pitch and advanced to second after Annuziata was hit by a pitch as well. The pair then advanced a base each on a wild pitch and then came home on Sullivan's single. Sullivan then moved onto second after completing a steal. Black Bear Luke Morrill then came in relief for Fran Whitten. Sullivan then came around to score after Giuseppe Papaccio singled to left field, giving the Pirates a 6-4 lead. Morrill was able to get the third out of the inning after getting Tyler Boyd to strikeout swinging. With seven innings in the books, Seton Hall now had a 6-4 lead.
 
Those three runs would be all Seton Hall needed to complete their comeback and defeat the University of Maine, 6-4.

Fran Whitten picked up the loss for the Black Bears after pitching 1.1 innings, giving up two hits and three earned runs. He also struck out a batter. Starter D.J. Voisine pitched a total of 5.1 innings, allowing five hits and three runs, two of which were earned. He also walked one and struck out two. Ryan Harvey was credited with the win for the Pirates after throwing four innings, giving up just one hit and one run which was unearned. He surrendered a walk and struck out four batters.

The Black Bears will conclude their four game weekend set tomorrow at 10 a.m. in a rematch of this morning's game against Fordham.