ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine baseball team simply isn’t making enough plays to win games lately.
That was the Black Bears’ mantra Sunday afternoon after the University of Hartford swept an America East doubleheader at Mahaney Diamond.
The Hawks won the first game 6-4 in 11 innings, then took the nightcap 2-1.
“It comes down to one play a game that we are not executing,” said UMaine coach Steve Trimper.
The Black Bears came up short, plagued by walks and a misplayed popup in the opener, then a failure to get a clutch hit in the second game.
“We’re not a bad team,” Trimper said. “We’re a talented team that’s not executing the plays that we have to to win in the conference right now.”
The Hawks (15-10, 5-2 AE) hold second place in the conference standings, while the Black Bears (9-18, 1-4 AE) dropped to the cellar with their fourth straight league loss.
The losses were a bitter pill to swallow for UMaine, which did not play last weekend’s series against UMass Lowell because of poor field conditions.
“It sucks, we’ve been waiting so long to get on the field and then (we lose) two pretty hard games. It’s hard on the team,” said senior Shaun Coughlin.
The teams wrap up the series with a nine-inning game Monday at 3 p.m.
In the nightcap, Hartford’s Brian Hunter pitched a one-hitter. The senior right-hander (1-5) allowed only a fourth-inning infield single by Troy Black. He walked five and hit a batter, but struck out three and pitched out of trouble in four different innings.
Hunter induced inning-ending, double-play grounders in the fourth and the fifth and pitched around a two-out error in the seventh.
“That Hartford team has a lot of good arms. Hunter threw real well,” Black said.
Coughlin (2-3) absorbed a tough loss as he spaced five hits while striking out three and walking one.
The Hawks scored both runs in the first. Trey Stover singled through the middle and moved up on Adam Touhey’s sacrifice bunt.
After Coughlin walked Brady Sheetz, Ryan Lukatch delivered an RBI single to right and James Alfonso followed with a sacrifice fly.
Coughlin eventually ended the game by retiring 17 of the last 18 men he faced.
“I just had a little bit of a rough first inning, just kind of had to feel for it a little bit, then I settled in,” Coughlin said. “I thought I threw really well.”
UMaine also scored its run in the first. Sam Balzano walked, raced to third on an errant pickoff throw by Hunter, and came home on a Colin Gay groundout.
The Bears had runners in scoring position four other times, only to come up empty.
In Game 1, UMaine pitchers issued seven walks and five of those runners scored.
UMaine rallied from a 4-1 deficit against Hartford ace lefty Sean Newcomb, scoring three times in the sixth inning, but was stymied by the Hawks’ bullpen.
Kyle Gauthier (3-0) pitched 3⅔ innings of one-hit shutout relief to earn the win, while Alex Gouin worked a scoreless 11th to post his sixth save.
Aaron Wilson singled twice among only six singles for Hartford.
Scott Heath of Westbrook and Brian Doran each singled twice for UMaine.
UMaine senior Tommy Lawrence allowed five hits in nine innings. He struck out nine, but issued six walks and hit a batter, throwing 146 pitches.
Newcomb, who went into the game not having allowed an earned run in 39⅔ innings, gave up four. He scattered six singles, struck out eight and walked three.
Hartford’s game-winning rally began when Charlie Butler (1-3) walked leadoff man Joe Alberti, who advanced when catcher Jonathan Salcedo threw wide of second base on a bunt by Brian Estevez.
Dalton Ruch moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt, then Stover and Touey plated runs with fielder’s choice grounders.
UMaine erased a three-run deficit in the sixth. Heath and Alex Calbick singled and Doran worked a walk to load the bases.
Jake Osborne plated a run with a groundout and, one out later, Salcedo looped a two-run single to left to make it 4-4.
Hartford had scored three times in the fourth, during which Lawrence walked four The third and fourth runs came across when second baseman Black failed to field an infield popup.
“I tried to go back on it. He didn’t hit it as hard as I thought he did and right as I tried to go in, I just tripped over my feet,” said Black, who called it a freak accident.
“It happened at the exact wrong time.”