Curry leads way for Owls in victory
The University of Maine at Presque Isle baseball team takes a 6-19 record into its final four games of the season this weekend.
The Owls will take on Lesley University of Cambridge, Mass. for a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. and another twinbill Sunday beginning at noon at the University of Maine at Orono.
UMPI split its final two games with Newbury College Sunday afternoon, taking game one, 6-5, in exciting, walk-off fashion before dropping the finale, 15-5. The games were played at UM-Orono.
Matt Curry of Caribou was the winning pitcher in the opener and made it possible by driving in the tie-breaking run with single in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Down 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh, the Owls mounted their finest comeback of the season. Matt Cauchon was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a slow roller to short by Adam Begos. A passed ball moved Cauchon to third before Mitch Thayer singled up the middle to tie the game. Austin Bernier pinch ran for Thayer and stole second before Curry drove a ball into the left-center field gap to plate Bernier for the game-winning run.
Curry showed plenty of moxie on the mound by getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning and only allowing one run in a precarious sixth inning that saw the Nighthawks smack a pair of doubles. Begos and Soloman Fast each collected two hits in the game for UMPI.
In game two, Newbury bounced back by racking up 14 hits and taking advantage of six Owl errors in the easy victory.
Begos and Fast again were the hitting leaders for UMPI with two hits and an RBI each. Saul Nunez of Mapleton was tagged with the loss on the mound as he failed to get out of the second inning.
The previous day, Owl starters Andrew Bartlett and Ghaz Sailors pitched well, but errors and a punchless offensive attack allowed the visiting Newbury Nighthawks to sweep the two games by scores of 8-1 and 9-0.
Newbury put seven runs on the board in the first inning to cruise in the opener. The Owls started poorly, with three first-inning infield errors allowing the Nighthawks to score multiple unearned runs. After the Newbury fireworks had ended in the first, Bartlett pitched extremely well by allowing only three hits to the remaining 22 hitters he faced.
The Owls had seven hits in the game, but just could not pressure the Nighthawk defense. The lone Owl run on the day was scored as the result of a Jesus Garcia two-out double, followed by an RBI single by Fast, who went 3 for 3 on the day. Cauchon added two hits and a stolen base.
Sailors, UMPI’s lone senior who was celebrated on this Senior Day, was masterful on the mound early, keeping the Newbury hitters off balance with a variety of off-speed pitches and the use of a well-commanded fastball. When Newbury made contact, it was on the ground and usually to second baseman Begos, who recorded putouts or assists on seven of the first 12 outs.
Newbury used a leadoff single and a two-out triple to open game two’s scoring in the fourth inning. Newbury tacked on another run in the fifth to take a 3-0 advantage.
Newbury starter Ryan Sinclair was effectively wild, holding the Owls to only four hits with three of those four Owl baserunners left in scoring position.
The Nighthawks did a majority of their damage in the last inning, scoring six times during a rally that was started by the leadoff hitter getting on via error and the visitors smacking seven consecutive hits, six of which were singles.
Last Wednesday, UMPI split a doubleheader with Plymouth State, losing game one 7-6 and winning the second game, 4-3.
The Owls jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opener as Brady Rowe led off the first inning with a single to right. Garcia followed with a hard double to center and both scored on Cauchon’s single to left. Nunez and Bartlett added RBI singles to cap the rally.
Garcia added to the Owl lead with another RBI double, scoring Bartlett in the fourth inning after Bartlett had driven in Curry to give Presque Isle a commanding 6-2 lead going into the Panthers’ half of the fifth inning.
Curry, the Owl starter, had experienced smooth sailing through his first four innings of work, giving up just two runs on only three hits. However, Curry gave up three runs on four hits in the fifth as Plymouth State cut the deficit to 6-5.
The Panthers put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth to move ahead and the Owls went down quietly in the top of the seventh to end the game.
Curry took the loss, going all six innings, striking out four and walking one. Garcia led the hit parade with two doubles and Bartlett had two RBI for the Owls.
UMPI came back to win the second game thanks to a three-run second inning spearheaded by hits from Cauchon, Curry and Nunez.
Garcia started for UMPI and scattered eight hits in his four-plus innings of work. Bartlett followed on the mound and held Plymouth State to just a single hit in his 2-1/3 innings of scoreless relief to take the Owls into extra innings with the game tied 3-3.
In the top of the eighth inning, Garcia smacked a double down the left-field line and advanced to third on a Begos shot that was dropped by the Panther right fielder. Cauchon then registered the eventual game-winning hit with a single up the middle to score Garcia.
Nunez pitched the eighth and benefited from a superb relay started by Garcia in right field to gun down a Plymouth State baserunner trying to stretch a double into a triple. He retired the other two batters to earn the save.