Maine Baseball drops series opener against Rider

AJ Bazdanes (Photo GoBlackBears.com)

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. -- The University of Maine baseball team dropped a 3-2 decision at Rider University on Friday afternoon in the opener of a four-game series. Maine dips to 5-13 on the season, while Rider improves to 6-7. Joey Martin (Portland, Maine), Taylor Lewis (Montville, Conn.) and Eric White (Brewer, Maine) each had a pair of hits in the game for the Black Bears.

Rider jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Brandon Cotten singled to left field and advanced to both second and third on wild pitches. He scored when A.J. Albee doubled to left field. The Broncs added a run to their lead in the bottom of the third inning. Karl Johnston walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He scored when Albee singled up the middle.

Maine got on the board with a run in the top of the sixth inning. Fran Whitten (Westborough, Mass.) walked and Alex Calbick (Burnaby, British Columbia) followed with a single up the middle. Both runners advanced a base on a Tyler Patzalek (Burlington, Ontario) sacrifice bunt. Eric White then singled to left field scoring Whitten.

The Black Bears tied the game in the top of the seventh inning. Michael Fransoso (Portsmouth, N.H.) singled to left center field and scored when Taylor Lewis tripled to right center.

Rider, however, regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. John Ralston doubled to left field and advanced to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a Johnston sacrifice fly.

Maine threatened in the top of the ninth inning when Joey Martin advanced to third base with just one out, but he was stranded there.

A.J. Bazdanes (Nashua, N.H.) got the start for the Black Bears on the mound. He went 5.2 inning and allowed two runs on six hits. He struck out six batters in the game. He was replaced by Kevin Scanlan (Sudbury, Mass.) who went .2 of an inning. He allowed one run on one hit and picks up the loss. He falls to 0-1 on the season. Shaun Coughlin (Northfield, Conn.) pitched 1.2 of an inning and allowed just one hit while striking out three.

Mike Thomas went 6.1 innings on the mound for Rider. He allowed two runs on nine hits while striking out three. Chris Taylor went one inning and did not allow a hit. He picks up the victory and improves to 2-1 on the season. Tyler Smith earned his fourth save of the season in the game by allowing just one hit over 1.2 innings.

Maine and Rider will play a douleheader tomorrow in Lawrenceville, N.J. starting at 12 noon.