LYNN, Massachusetts — The UMPI Owls baseball team lost a pair of games over the weekend, falling to SUNY Canton and Northern Vermont-Lydon.
Against SUNY Canton Saturday, the Owls were tied 3-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning in a well played ballgame, but ultimately fell 6-3.
The Owls also lost starting pitcher Braydon Kennedy (freshman, Titusville, Florida) in the eighth inning, when he was on the receiving end of a line drive back at the mound that struck him in the face.
Kennedy was treated on the field and later taken to a local hospital.
SUNY Canton scored three times when Brian Santana crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Jesse Iacovetta go give the Roos the lead. Brandon Bautista followed with a single to centerfield plating a run and 2 outs later Ben Miller had an RBI-single to bring in Bautista and a 6-3 advantage over the Owls.
UMPI got on the board first when Jacob Moreno (freshman, Bourne, Massachusetts) ripped a double to the fence in right field and Richard Coulston (freshman, Bullhead City, Arizona) drilled an RBI-single to score Moreno for a 1-0 Owls lead in the second inning.
In the top of the sixth, the Owls led off with three straight singles by Will Stinson (freshman. Norridgewock), Justin Mason (senior, Stamford, Connecticut) and Ryan Sanderson (senior, Cow Bay, Nova Scotia). Stinson scored on an infield groundout by Braydon Kennedy and Mason crossed the plate on a sac fly by Moreno to put UMPI back on top 3-2.
SUNY-Canton knotted the game at 3-3 in the seventh before using a three-run eighth inning for the final margin of victory 6 to 3.
Kennedy pitched 7 plus innings before his injury, allowing only four hits and a walk, with five strikeouts. Ryan Sanderson and Roberto De La Pena (Jr. Porterville, CA) both came on in relief in the 8th inning for the Owls.
Will Stinson and Richard Coulston were repeat hitters with two singles each as the Owls had eight hits on the game. Kennedy, Moreno and Coulston each recorded an RBI. Brett Hoberman was the only repeat hitter for SUNY Canton with 2 base hits.
In the nightcap of Saturday’s Clemente Cup, Northern Vermont-Lyndon (2-11) opened up a 1-1 game when it exploded for a nine-run third inning. The wheels fell off defensively for UMPI as the team committed 3 errors in the frame.
Jason Doris, Tucker Root and Caleb LaRoche each had RBI singles knocking in unearned runs for the Hornets in the big inning.
Jacob Moreno had an RBI double to right field scoring Justin Mason in the first inning to give the Owls an early 1-0 lead. Moreno added an RBI single in the top of the sixth inning for the other UMPI run.
Colby Spencer (sophomore, Swan Quarter, North Carolina) started on the hill for UMPI followed by Austin Colson (sophomore, Bullhead City, Arizona). Moreno had a single and double and Mason stroked a double for the Owls.
