Baseball: UMaine gets a walk-off win

Fran Whitten (Westborough, Mass.) hit a walk-off three run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and give Maine a 5-2 win over Northeastern on Tuesday afternoon at Goodall Park in Sanford, Maine. The Black Bears extend their winning streak to eight games with the win.

Maine improves to 23-21 on the season, while Northeastern falls to 15-29.

Maine got on the board in the top of the third inning. Taylor Lewis (Montville, Conn.) started a two-out rally with a single to center. Michael Fransoso (Portsmouth, N.H.) followed and was hit. Joey Martin (Portland, Maine) then singled to center, sending Lewis home from first base for his team-leading 34th RBI of the season.

It looked as if Northeastern's Jon Leroux would have an extra base hit in the top of the fourth inning, but a spectacular diving catch by Ian Leisenheimer (Middle Village, N.Y.) sent the Huskies down in order.

Northeastern tied the game in the top of the fifth inning. Connor Lyons drew a walk and then stole second base. He moved to third when Jeff Dunlap grounded out and scored on an error.

The Huskies took their first lead of the game in the top of the sixth inning. Aaron Barbosa reached on a bunt single and the stole both second and third base. He scored on a Matt Miller sacrifice fly to right field.

Maine tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Fransoso singled to shortstop. He advanced to second on an error and scored when Martin singled to center field.

In the bottom of the ninth, Ian Leisenheimer drew a walk and Troy Black (Mississauga, Ontario) was hit before Whitten belted his home run. For Whitten, it was his fourth home run of the season.

Kevin Scanlan (Sudbury, Mass.) got the start on the mound and had his best outing of the season. He went five innings and allowed two runs, just one of which was earned, on a pair of hits. He struck out four batters. He was replaced by A.J. Bazdanes (Nashua, N.H.) who pitched three innings without allowing a hit. Bazdanes struck out five batters. Jonathan Balentina (Willemstad, Curacao) pitched a perfect ninth inning to pick up the win. He improves to 3-1 on the season.

Kevin Ferguson got the start for the Huskies and went four innings. He allowed one run on four hits while striking out three. He was replaced by Matt Cook. Cook went 3.2 innings and allowed one run on three hits. He was replaced by Sean Lyons who went a third of an inning and allowed three runs on one hit. He picks up the loss and falls to 0-1 on the season.

The Black Bears return to action on Saturday, May 14 when the Black Bears host Hartford for a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3 PM.