Hartford, UMass Lowell, Maine Earn Wins on Day 2 of #AEBASE Championship
Orono, Maine – The top two seeds in the #AEBASE Championship earned wins on Thursday to set up a marquee matchup between No. 1 Hartford and No. 2 UMass Lowell on Friday. For the River Hawks, it was their first postseason win in the program’s infant Division I history. They will play the regular season champion Hawks on Friday with a chance to advance to the title game.
No. 1 Hartford 2, No. 4 Stony Brook 0
Drew DeMartino scored TJ Ward in the second inning with a two-out RBI single to get the Hawks started. Stony Brook loaded the bases on a pair of hit batters with two outs in the fifth but could not push the equalizer across. Ward tripled in the sixth and Jackson Olson sent him across for the Hawks’ second run of the game. The Seawolves got the leadoff hitter on base in the top of the ninth and sent two long fly balls to the warning track, but Seth Pinkerton shut the door for the save. Second Team All-Conference selection Nathan Florence collected the win, throwing 5.2 shutout innings with five strikeouts. Olson reached base four times behind a 3-for-3 day at the plate.
No 2. UMass Lowell 4, No. 6 Albany 0
In their #AEBASE postseason debut, UMass Lowell struck first when Joey Castellanos drove a single into left field that slipped past Patrick Lagravinese, allowing Cam Climo to score. It became a pitcher’s duel until the seventh when the River Hawks added a pair of insurance runs. Castellanos again drove in Climo, this time with a triple down the right field line. Ben Prada followed with an RBI single to score Castellanos. Climo added an RBI to the scoresheet in the bottom of the eighth, sending Steve Passatempo across the dish to make it 4-0. Andrew Ryan pitched a complete game shutout, striking out seven in the process. The First Team All-Conference selection and his counterpart, Jack McClure, both went the distance and hurled an eye-popping 137 and 138 pitches, respectively.
No. 5 Maine 6, No. 6 Albany 1
The two teams combined for only two hits through the first three and a half innings before Maine put up a three on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. The Black Bears loaded the bases for Kevin Doody, who singled to score Danny Casals. Albany recorded two outs before Jeremy Pena singled, knocking in Brandon Vicens and Jonathan Bennett. The Great Danes answered with one run in the top of the fifth, courtesy of a Josh Gurnack RBI single that scored Ryan Hernandez. The Black Bears tacked on one run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to conlcude the scoring. Nick Silva pitched six strong innings in the win and Chris Bec was a home run shy of the cycle. Eight Maine batters recorded a hit.
First pitch between No. 1 Hartford and No. 2 UMass Lowell will be at 11 a.m. on Friday followed by a rematch between No. 4 Stony Brook and No. 5 Maine in an elimination game at 2:30 p.m. A second elimination game between the loser of the former and winner of the latter will be played at 6:00 p.m. to determine the championship game matchup. All games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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