AUBURNDALE, Florida - The University of Maine at Farmington baseball team earned a split in Monday's doubleheader against SUNY Poly at the RussMatt invitational. The Beavers dropped game one 10-5 before responding in a big way, taking down the Wildcats 15-4 in game two.

Game One

Freshman starter Jameson Bloch (Attleboro, Mass.) made his first collegiate appearance, pitching three-plus innings, allowing four hits, three earned, walking four, and striking out one. In the top of the 1st inning, Wildcat leadoff hitter James Lynch reach on an error and then Bloch hit two of the next three batters to load the bases for Paul Barber. Barber laced a single that scored two runs and gave the Wildcats an early 2-0 lead. Bloch worked out of a bases-loaded jam to keep the Wildcats lead at two.

The Beavers were able to get a run back in the bottom of the 1st on an unusual play. Nate Coombs (Thomaston, Maine) drew a one-out walk and advanced to 2nd on wild pitch. Hunter LaBossiere (Oxford, Maine) reached on an error that Coombs moved up to 3rd base on. Ryan Sargent (Windham, Maine) grounded a ball to 1st base that 1st baseman Ethan Walker who tagged the bag and threw to second base where LaBossiere was tagged out for an inning ending double play. But Coombs tagged home before LaBossiere was tagged so the run counted.

The Wildcats built a seven-run lead as they scored two in the 3rd, one in the 4th, and three in the 5th. The Beavers battled back in the bottom half of the 5th. Coombs and LaBossiere led of the inning by drawing a pair of walks. Sam Parsell (Newington, Conn.) ripped a one-out single that chased home Coombs to make it an 8-2 game. Will Cauchon (Kingston, Mass.) drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Jacob Kateley (Deep River, Conn.) was hit by a pitch to score LaBossiere. Parsell then scored on a balk. Sam Peterson (South Berwick, Maine) followed with a SAC fly that scored Cauchon and made it an 8-5 game.

The Wildcats added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the 6th inning on a Ryan Pelton 2-run home run and finish of the scoring in game one. 

The Beaver recorded five hits in the game and got a scoreless inning of relief from Sam Wrigley (Farmington, Maine).

Game Two

The second game of the doubleheader was an extremely interesting game and delay filled game. The Beavers opened up the scoring in the top of the 2nd inning when Cal Tibbitts (Bath, Maine) crushed a deep fly ball to dead center field that one hopped the fence and drove home Cauchon, giving the Beavers a 1-0 lead. After grabbing a 1-0 lead, the game was delayed for the 1st time due to lightning. The delay lasted roughly 40 minutes. 

Following the delay, Danny Terhune (South Burlington, Vermont) ripped the 1st pitch that he saw to center field, driving in Tibbitts to give the Beavers a 2-0.

The Wildcats got both runs back in the bottom half of the 2nd inning. Don Vento stole 2nd base with runners on 1st and 3rd allowing Paul Barber to scoot home on the throw. Christopher Martin then singled home Vento to knot up the game. 

The game remained scoreless until the top of the 5th inning. Cauchon ripped a two RBI single over the head of the 3rd baseman that scored Sargent and LaBossiere to give the Beavers the lead for good. Tibbitts followed up Cauchon with an RBI single that scored Parsell and kept the line moving for the Beavers. Terhune came through once again later on in the inning, executing a beautiful hit and run that scored Cauchon and allowed Tibbitts to move up to 3rd base. The next batter was Coombs who crushed a ball to dead center that hit the warning track right in front of the 405 sign. Coombs raced to 3rd and recorded 2 RBIs as Terhune and Tibbitts both scored.

The game was once again delayed as it headed into the bottom of the 5th, once again due to lightning. Similarly to the first delay, it lasted about 40 minutes. Chris Albert (Bradley, Maine) recorded a 1-2-3 5th after the delay. The Beavers added to their lead in the top of the 6th adding six runs on four runs. Cauchon delivered a big double to left center in the inning. 

The Wildcats tacked on two runs in the bottom of the 6th to make it 15-4 but the game was called due to mercy after six innings. 

Ky Morris (East Wenatchee, Mass.) started on the mound, going four innings, giving up just two earned and striking out a pair. Cauchon and Tibbitts lead the way at the plate, each going 3-3 as the Beavers wracked up 15 hits. 

UP NEXT

The Beavers will be off on Tuesday and be back in action on Wednesday taking on SUNY Oneonta in a doubleheader. Game one's first pitch is set for 2:45 PM.