LOWELL, Massachusetts — The University of Maine baseball team went out with an unexpected whimper Friday afternoon.
The Hartford Hawks piled up 16 hits and received strong pitching from Sam McKay on the way to an 11-2 victory over the Black Bears in the elimination round of the America East Baseball Championship at LeLacheur Park.
Hartford (23-20) stays alive and plays the loser of Friday’s second game between No. 1 Stony Brook and No. 2 Maryland Baltimore County 1 p.m. Saturday.
Coach Steve Trimper’s UMaine ballclub (24-28) ends the season with a second straight two-and-barbecue effort in the postseason. Friday’s effort was not a memorable one.
“We played a terrible game. We played a bad game,” Trimper conceded. “Unfortunately, it was at a pivotal time. I don’t want it to take away from how much this team grinded and how much we worked with these guys.”
UMaine was not sharp across the board. Senior left-hander Scott Heath of Westbrook was hit hard in his four-inning stint and the Black Bears committed two errors while failing to make a couple of other plays.
UMaine also had three runners cut down on the basepaths, including two men who were picked off first base.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the guys’ effort,” Bears senior Luke Morrill of South Thomaston said. “Sometimes, it doesn’t go your way.”
Sam McKay (4-7) kept UMaine in check. The junior righty scattered 12 hits and gave up only two runs in 7⅔ innings, logging four strikeouts and three walks to earn his first win since March 15.
“I just spoke with the guys and told them how important I thought Sam McKay’s start was,” Hartford coach Justin Blood said.
Ben Bengston spearheaded the offense for Hartford with a triple, two singles and three RBIs. David MacKinnon knocked in two runs with three singles and scored three runs and Trey Stover contributed a double and two singles with three runs scored.
UMaine wasn’t able to make its 12 hits count. Morrill led the way with two doubles, a single and one RBI and Heath singled three times and Brian Doran added two hits.
Heath (6-4), one of six seniors making their final appearance for UMaine uniform, was in frequent trouble. He allowed nine hits and six runs, five of them earned, with five strikeouts, one walk and a hit batsman.
“I made a couple mistake pitches and they capitalized,” Heath said. “They also got some good hits that I made some pitches on. They hit the ball.”
UMaine was often its own worst enemy. In the first inning, Sam Balzano of Portland walked, stole second and took third on an errant throw with nobody out — only to be left stranded.
“At that point, contact scores a run to keep momentum, but we didn’t do that,” Trimper said. “That was a momentum-killer the other way.”
The Hawks responded by grabbing the lead in the bottom of the inning. Chris DelDebbio ignited the rally, lining a double over the head of right fielder Doran. He scored on an opposite-field single to left by Ryan Lukach.
“It could have gone their way and they get on the board first and, after yesterday, things can snowball in the game of baseball,” Blood offered. “For Sam [McKay] to work his way out of it was really big and for us to come back and score first was great on top of that.”
UMaine also took itself out of potential rallies in the second and third innings by having runners picked off at first base. Later, the Bears helped minimize a sixth-inning rally when three baserunners wound up between second and third base on a Morrill double with the bases loaded.
They scored two runs, but could have had more.
“It’s pretty evident we didn’t play our best and we didn’t play the way that we’ve been playing,” Trimper said. “It’s my job to get them prepared mentally, physically, emotional. We didn’t do our jobs.”
Up 1-0, Hartford added a run in the third on MacKinnon’s single, a sacrifice bunt, a throwing error and a groundout.
The Hawks broke it open in the fourth, batting around to score four runs. T.J. Ward beat out an infield single and advanced on a sacrifice bunt. Stover delivered him with a line-drive double to right-center.
DelDebbio followed with a run-scoring single to left, MacKinnon pulled a single to left and both moved up on a groundout. Campana walked, before Bengston bounced a two-run single through the left side to make it 6-0.
“After a little conversation in the dugout [after the first inning], I thought the guys did a great job the rest of the game and just put balls in play and found holes,” Blood said.
Hartford extended the lead to 8-0 in the fifth inning before UMaine scored twice in the sixth.
Balzano, Alex Cabrera and Heath posted consecutive singles to load the bases. One out later, Morrill’s liner down the right-field line one-hopped the fence. Balzano scored, but Cabrera had retreated toward second initially.
As a result, he was stopped at third, getting Heath and Morrill hung up between second and third. Cabrera scored in the ensuing rundown, but Doran grounded out.