DELAND, Florida — Jeremy Pena walked, advanced on Brendan Geary’s sacrifice bunt and scored on an error while taking third on a ground ball by Danny Casals in the eighth inning on Wednesday night, helping the University of Maine eke out a 3-2 baseball victory over Long Island University Brooklyn at Melching Field.
Charlie Butler (1-2) worked four innings of hitless relief after taking over for starter Chris Murphy, then Logan Fullmer (third save) struck out the side in the ninth and stranded the potential tying run at second base.
Casals slammed his first collegiate home run in the bottom of the first for the Black Bears (4-8), who snapped a four-game losing streak.
In the fourth, Kevin Stypulkowski had stroked a run-scoring double to score Brett Chappell, who reached on a two-out fielding error.
LIU Brooklyn (3-7) had overcome a 1-0 deficit by scoring twice in the fourth on Dom Paiotti’s RBI infield single and Tommy Jakubowski’s run-scoring double.
Husson sweeps WPI
At Auburndale, Florida, Dan Whitney tossed a four-hitter and Zach Sugar belted a three-run homer as Husson beat Worcester Polytechnic Institute 8-3 to sweep their doubleheader in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
Husson rallied to win the opener 6-5.
Whitney struck out six and didn’t walk anybody during his complete-game stint. Sugar homered in the fourth inning to extend Husson’s lead to 5-1.
Ryan Rebar tripled and singled for 2-3 Husson while Andrew Curran doubled and singled (RBI) and Lewiston freshman Mike Wong singled twice.
Connor Kurtz homered and Vinny D’Ambrosio doubled for 2-4 WPI.
In the opener, Conor Maguire singled home Wong in the bottom of the seventh to supply Husson with the victory.
Sugar’s two-run homer in the sixth gave Husson a 5-4 lead but Nick Comei tied it with an RBI single in the top of the seventh.
Wong had a double and two singles (RBI) for Husson. Sugar had a single to go with his homer and J.T. Whitten doubled and singled with an RBI.
Brandon Reilly went the distance, allowing eight hits and four earned runs with a walk and six strikeouts.
Comei drove in four runs with a homer and two singles and Alex Venditti had an RBI double for WPI.
Softball
W. Michigan 8, Maine 5
At Clearwater, Florida, senior shortstop Sabrina Gamboa belted a grand slam in the fifth inning as Western Michigan rallied from a 5-1 deficit to beat Maine.
Gamboa’s slam off reliever Molly Flowers gave the Broncos a 6-5 lead and they tacked on two more in the sixth.
Gamboa also doubled and singled; Erin Binkowski homered and singled twice and Abby Stoner singled twice. Allyson Kus picked up the complete-game win, allowing eight hits and just two earned runs with two strikeouts and four walks.
Rachel Harvey had two singles and three runs batted in for Maine and Janelle Bouchard and Erika Leonard each singled twice. Bouchard had an RBI.
Husson loses two
At Kissimmee, Florida, Brianna Cox, Lacey Shifflett and Audra Koogler each drove in two runs as Bridgewater College of Virginia outslugged Husson 10-7 in the Rebel Spring Games tournament.
Bluffton University (Ohio) used a 13-hit attack to top Husson of Bangor 9-2 in the first game.
In the nightcap, Cox hit two singles, Shifflett had a two-run double and Koogler provided a two-run single for the 3-2 winners. Lindsey Talley posted three singles and an RBI.
Brooke Throckmorton had two singles and an RBI.
Lyndsay Merrill had three triples and three RBIs for 1-5 Husson and Kristen Chipman had three singles and an RBI. Olivia Smith had a run-scoring double.
In the opener, Brittany Huff belted a two-run homer, Josie McElroy homered, doubled twice and knocked in two runs and Jesse Madzia tossed a five-hitter for Bluffton (3-3).
Madzia, Abigail Blake (RBI) and Molly Haberman (RBI) each had two hits and Makenzie Schmidt contributed a two-run triple.
Brianna Bires had two singles for Husson and Chipman had a two-run double. Casey Heath also had a double.
Men’s Lacrosse
USM 11, Husson 3
At Gorham, Nate DelGiudice scored four goals, Seth Wing had three and Keegan Smith doled out four assists as the University of Southern Maine improved to 2-0 while spoiling Husson’s season opener.
Paul Leonardo netted two goals and Austin Watts and Drew Shan had the others for the Huskies, who outscored Husson 8-1 in the second half.
Zach Bessette made five saves on six shots for USM after starter John Bossi had made one on three shots.
Brooks Gay, Brett Martin and Vinny Visconti scored for Husson and freshman goalie Matt Martin made 10 saves on 21 shots.