Thomas College’s Rett Adams tags out University of Maine at Farmington’s Trevor Hisler during Game 2 of a doubleheader at Hippach Field in Farmington on Thursday.
FARMINGTON — The University of Maine at Farmington and Thomas College took advantage of timely hitting and solid pitching to turn the tables on each other in a North Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader at Hippach Field on a warm and cloudy Thursday afternoon.
The Beavers (4-21, 4-12 NAC) handily took Game 1 with a 10-6 victory, but sputtered in the second game, falling to the Terriers, 2-0.
UMF was forced to make pitching changes in Game 1.
“Mark Leahy didn’t have his best stuff,” UMF head baseball coach Chris Bessey said. “He is one our starting pitchers, one of our seniors, and warming up he kind of tweaked his back a little bit and you could tell on the mound they were hitting him pretty hard.
“So we made the move to take him out in the second or third inning. I know it was early. He is usually a bulldog on the mound. So you could tell he was hurting.
“And the relief guys that came in did great. But Brett Elliott, who was the first guy, is actually coming back from an ACL injury, which is pretty fresh, and that was his first outing. He tweaked it on that bunt that was over his head, so we had to take him out. So Ryan Pratt, who is only freshman, came in and pitched great the last part of the game to get the win.”
In the opener, the Beavers demonstrated their resilience by bouncing back after Thomas (4-30-1, 4-16 NAC) got a jump on them with a 3-0 lead in the first inning.
UMF rattled off five runs in the bottom of the second inning to take command. The scoring started when, with two men on, Jimmy Parks doubled to left center and picked up an RBI when Nick Attaliades-Ryan scored and Tyler Flayhan moved to third base. Trevor Hisler singled to third base, sending Parks and Flayhan home with two runs.
The scoring continued when Derek Bowen rapped a two-run homer that brought Hisler home, too.
Not to be outdone, the Terriers scored three more runs in the top of third inning.
Thomas’s Isaiah Arana singled and scored Tristan Pena, who was already on base. Arana came home on Grant Corbett’s two-run homer.
The Beavers erupted for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, thanks in part to Hisler’s two-run homer and a two-run single from Taylor Lockhart.
Pratt got the win on the mound after pitching 3 2/3 innings, giving up just one hit. The Terriers’ Matt Rutherford was tagged with the loss. UMF outhit Thomas, 10-6, and each team had two errors.
Game 2 was a different story, and it ended up coming down to dueling pitchers and timely hitting on the Terriers’ part.
The game was scoreless for three full innings. UMF starting pitcher Gavin Arsenault (5 1/3 innings pitched) was holding up on the mound — likewise for Thomas freshman pitcher Cody Cousins, who went the distance and eventually earned the win.
“I thought we could have done better,” Bessey said. “The pitcher that they had threw strikes. Right now, we are young and inexperienced and winning two games in a day has been a battle for us.”
Thomas finally got to Arsenault and scored a run in the fourth and fifth innings.
In the fourth, Kyle Fletcher, a Monmouth Academy graduate, got on with a hit, and Rett Adams singled up the middle, scoring Fletcher. The Terriers got one more run in the fifth. Pena came home a sacrifice fly to center field by Corbett.
Arsenault was relieved by Chase Malloy in the fifth, and he kept the Terriers at bay the rest of the way.
“That’s quality pitching right there,” Thomas coach Greg said. “(Cousins) pitched well enough to keep us in the ball game. ?
“We didn’t pound the ball, but we took advantage of timely hits. He is going to be an outstanding pitcher for us. It is good to see freshmen leadership and pitching like he is capable of pitching. It was good to see.”
University of Maine at Farmington senior catcher Jordan Croatia catches a routine fly ball during Game 2 of a doubleheader against Thomas College at Hippach Field in Farmington on Thursday.
Thomas College’s Kyle Fletcher tries to reach second, but UMF senior second baseman Trevor Hisler lobs the ball to junior shortstop Jimmy Parks in time for the out during Game 2 of a doubleheader at Hippach Field in Farmington on Thursday.University of Maine at Farmington freshman pitcher Gavin Arsenault goes into a windup during Game 2 of a doubleheader against Thomas College at Hippach Field in Farmington on Thursday.The University of Maine at Farmington head coach Chris Bessey watches the action from the dugout during a doubleheader against Thomas College at Hippach Field in Farmington on Thursday.
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