Willimott and Kubiak Pitch UAlbany to America East Baseball Doubleheader Sweep of Maine

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Bangor, Maine – Junior Josh Willimott and freshman David Kubiak recorded victories on the mound to lead UAlbany to a doubleheader sweep of Maine in America East Conference baseball action on Saturday, April 12 at the Winkin Complex at Husson College. The Great Danes topped the Black Bears, 5-2, in seven innings in the opener and rallied for an 8-3 victory in the nightcap.

In game one, Maine (11-16-1, AE 1-3) got on the board first in the second inning. With one out, Tony Patane reached on catcher’s interference and moved to second on a groundout. Jarrett Lukas followed with a single to right to advance Patane to third and allow him to score on an error by the catcher.

UAlbany (8-24-1, AE 4-4) went ahead in the third with a pair of runs and scored twice more in the fourth and once in the fifth. Sophomore Brendan Rowland and junior Sean Donovan each singled to lead off the third. Following a successful sacrifice bunt by junior Zac Halloran to advance the runs up a base, junior catcher Ryan Gugel singled to center to knock in Rowland and Donovan. In the fourth, Tom Zink singled and Gary Pitcheralle walked around a strikeout to open the frame. Freshman second baseman Kyle Crean then followed with a two-run double to right field for the eventual game winning runs. The Great Danes plated their final run of the contest in the fifth as Gugel and Mike Konstanty each walked at the start of the inning. After a strikeout and a wild pitch that moved Gugel to third, sophomore Pete Eichner singled to center to plate Gugel.

The Black Bears scored once in the bottom of the sixth, but could not cut further into the Great Danes’ lead. Curt Smith singled to right and Myckie Lugbauer walked to open the inning against Willimott. Junior Sean Gregory was then summoned from the bullpen to close out the inning. After a fly out moved Smith to third, Joey Martin singled to right field to score Smith. Lugbauer advanced to third on a passed ball, but Gregory recorded a strikeout and a fly out to end the inning.

In the nightcap, Rowland walked and Gugel was hit by a pitch with two outs in the first inning. Konstanty then followed with a single to right center to get the Great Danes on the board. Maine answered back in the second inning with a pair of runs, the first two earned runs Kubiak has allowed in 14 innings over three starts. With one out, Danny Menendez lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Martin, who reached on a walk to open the inning and advanced on a hit batsman and a sacrifice bunt. Joe Mercurio then singled to knock in Patane, who reached by being hit by a pitch.

The Great Danes evened the score at two with a run in the sixth. Gugel started the inning with a double to right. He scored three batters later on a single to left by Pitcheralle. UAlbany scored four times in the seventh, without getting the ball out of the infield, to take a 6-2 lead. The Great Danes loaded the bases on a hit batsman and three consecutive fielder’s choices. With one out, Konstanty was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game to force home Donovan. Eichner then drove in Rowland with a groundout to second. Gugel and Konstanty both scored on a wild pitch to Pitcheralle.

Maine got one run back in the bottom of the eighth, but the Great Danes scored twice in the ninth to deliver the final score. Smith opened the eighth frame with a double to left field and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After a walk to Lugbauer and a sac bunt, Martin singled to shortstop to plate Smith. Junior Dave Noble then induced a fly out and Lugbauer advanced too far around third on a single and was thrown out by Zink to end the inning. In the ninth, Rowland followed a Donovan leadoff single with his fifth homer of the season.

Willimott improves to 4-1 on the season, yielding just two runs (one earned) on four hits over five innings. Gregory allowed just two hits over the final two innings. Kyle Benoit took the loss for the Black Bears, giving up four runs on five hits in four innings. Kubiak recorded his first career win in the nightcap, striking out six over seven innings, while allowing three runs on three hits. Matt Jebb suffered the loss, giving up six runs (two earned) on six hits in seven innings.

The Great Danes return to action on Tuesday, April 15 at 3:30 p.m. as they host Manhattan.

-agate-
Game One
UAlbany (7-24-1, AE 3-4) 002 210 0 - 5 6 2
Maine (11-15-1, AE 1-2) 010 001 0 - 2 6 1

UAlbany: Josh Willimott (W, 4-1), Sean Gregory (6) and Ryan Gugel.
Maine: Kyle Benoit (L, 2-1), Jim Cox (5) and Myckie Lugbauer.

Game Two
UAlbany (8-24-1, AE 4-4) 100 001 402 - 8 8 0
Maine (11-16-1, AE 1-3) 020 000 010 - 3 5 2

UAlbany: David Kubiak (W, 1-0), Dave Noble (8) and Ryan Gugel.
Maine: Matt Jebb (L, 2-2), Jonathan Balentina (8) and Joe Mercurio.