Maine Evens Series Behind Solid Pitching and a Four-Hit Day from Stevens

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Saturday afternoon at LeLacheur Park was almost identical to the action that took place on the same field a day earlier, only this time it was the Maine Black Bears who dictated the terms. Led by a strong performance from their top starter, Gianni Gambardello, Maine evened the series with a 9-5 victory over the UMass Lowell River Hawks. Gambardello earned the win to move to 2-3 on the season, tossing seven innings and allowing five hits and four earned runs while striking out four. His only major mistake was a one-out solo home run to River Hawks catcher Nickolas Solorzano in the second inning, but the Black Bears’ offense ensured he had plenty of cushion. Right fielder JuJu Stevens, who was dropped to the fifth spot in the order after leading off the day prior, responded with a perfect 4-for-4 afternoon, collecting an RBI and two runs scored.

For the River Hawks, the loss put a spotlight on the struggling Brian Foley, whose spot in the rotation may be in jeopardy following several difficult outings. While Foley started strong by striking out the side in the first, it proved to be his only clean inning of the day. Maine got to him in the second behind an RBI triple from Stevens and a sacrifice fly by Rex Hauser to take a 2-0 lead. After Solorzano cut the deficit with a towering fly ball just inside the right-field foul pole for his third home run of the year, Maine immediately punched back. In the third, a walk to Shane Andrus and a Stevens single set the stage for an error by third baseman Joseph DeLanzo, whose misplay on a ground ball allowed Andrus to score and pushed the lead to 3-1.

The Black Bears chased Foley in the fourth, scoring three more runs to end his day with a final line of 3.1 innings, seven hits, and six runs (five earned). Facing a 6-1 deficit, UMass Lowell struggled to find an answer for Gambardello, who remained in cruise control through the middle innings. Maine added insurance in the seventh against reliever Nolan Geisler when Stevens led off with his fourth hit and eventually scored on a double by Hunter St. Denis. St. Denis then crossed the plate on a base hit by Drew Reynolds to make it 8-1. The River Hawks finally showed signs of life in the eighth, scoring a run on a double steal where Brayden Cali took home, followed by an RBI single from Carlos Martinez that finally ended Gambardello’s outing. Sebastian Holt entered from the Maine bullpen and allowed an inherited runner to score on a DeLanzo base hit, cutting the lead to 8-4.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth, UMass Lowell had a golden opportunity to break the game open. Head coach Nick Barresse elected to let Cali bat rather than go to the bench, but the move didn’t pay off as Cali flew out to left field to end the threat. After the game, Barresse admitted he considered a pinch hitter but noted he lacked a left-handed bat for that specific matchup. Both teams traded runs in the ninth, with a Nic Pepe sacrifice bunt scoring Maine’s ninth run before Sean O’Leary blasted his third home run of the season for the River Hawks. Barresse credited Gambardello for a “fantastic” performance but lamented his own team’s lack of clutch hitting, which had been the hallmark of their Friday win. The two teams will meet Sunday afternoon for the rubber game, with Jacob Jette set to take the mound for UMass Lowell against a Maine starter yet to be announced.