CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - With a 13-7 extra-inning win at Binghamton, the University of Maine baseball team captured its first America East baseball regular-season title since 2002 on Sunday evening.
The Black Bears scored eight runs in the top of the 10th inning against the Bearcats after entering extra frames tied at five. Mike Connolly started the scoring with a double that scored Fran Whitten. Sam Balzano followed with a single to score Scott Heath, and Connolly crossed the plate with what proved to be the game-winning run on a Troy Black single to center field. Michael Fransoso and Alex Calbrick drew bases-loaded walks to score two more runs. Eric White drove in a pair with a double to center, and Whitten finished the scoring with a single that scored both Calbrick and White.
Maine has lost just one conference series this season en route to the team's third regular-season championship in program history.
Also on Sunday, Both Albany and Binghamton clinched spots in the America East Championship with the two teams playing each other to determine seeding in the final series of the season. Stony Brook and Hartford will play for the last playoff spot in a three-game series beginning on May 17.
The 2013 America East Baseball Championship will be held May 22-24 at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Mass. with the top-four teams in the conference participating in a double-elimination tournament.