The injury-plagued defending America East champion University of Maine baseball team is staring at the possibility of being the only one in the seven-team league to miss the tournament this spring after being swept by the University of Maryland Baltimore County this weekend.
After dropping a Thursday game in Baltimore 7-1 and a Friday afternoon game 15-1, the Black Bear bats again failed to deliver as the Retrievers capped the sweep with a 4-2 win on Friday night.
The Friday night game was supposed to be played Saturday night but due to potential inclement weather and the fact UMaine’s return flight was Sunday, which eliminated the chance for a make-up game, they played a doubleheader on Friday.
With the three losses, the Black Bears now find themselves in last place with a 6-11 conference record to go with an overall mark of 10-32.
They are a half-game behind Binghamton (7-11) and Albany (8-12), and two games behind the New Jersey Institute of Technology (8-9).
UMBC is now 11-7 in conference play and 21-19 overall.
After playing a non-conference contest at Dartmouth (N.H.) at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, UMaine finishes up with a three-game home series against league leader Bryant (14-4) next weekend and Albany the following weekend.
In Friday night’s late game, Danny Wyatt’s two-run triple capped a three-run first-inning rally, and Eddie Sargent and Sam Downs combined on a six-hitter as UMaine lost its fourth straight game.
Matt Ryan’s double drove in the initial run of the first inning for UMBC after Dawson Baracani drew a walk and Justin Taylor was hit by a pitch.
UMBC added another run in the second on Derek Paris’ single and Baracani’s triple.
UMaine scored a run in the fifth and another in the eighth.
In the fifth, freshman shortstop Jonathan Gonzalez doubled, went to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a wild pitch.
In the eighth, Dean O’Neill singled, Logan Burrill walked and Zach Martin singled O’Neill home.
Gonzalez was the game’s only repeat hitter with a single to go with his double.
Sargent allowed four hits and one run over 4 ⅓ innings, with six strikeouts and three walks. Downs, who picked up the win and is now 4-0, tossed 4 ⅔ innings of two-hit, one-run ball, with six strikeouts and five walks.
UMaine freshman lefty Gabe Gifford gave up four hits and four runs over five innings, with three walks and 10 strikeouts. The Old Town native, who is now 0-4, has struck out 18 hitters in just eight innings over his last two outings.
Senior lefty Geoff Mosseau threw three innings of one-hit scoreless ball with three strikeouts and three walks.
