Box Score

ORONO, Maine - Chris Greiner went 7.1 strong innings for the Hartford baseball team on Sunday, but the Hawks could not take advantage as they fell in their series finale at Maine, 4-3. Hartford was swept in three games against the Black Bears. Victor Santana doubled and scored a run, and Andy Drexel and Bobby Gorski each had an RBI on the day.

Maine got on the board first, scoring twice in the bottom of the third inning. After that, Greiner settled down and kept the potent Black Bear offense at bay. Maine came into the game atop the America East in most offensive categories, including average, on-base percentage, runs scored and home runs. After their two-run third, however, the Black Bears managed just two hits over the next four innings.

Meanwhile, Hartford got on the board in the sixth inning. Victor Santana, who led the offensive output for the Hawks on Saturday, got things going again when he roped a one-out double to left field. With Mike Amendola at the plate, Santana scampered up to third base on a passed ball charged to the Maine catcher. After Amendola walked, Drexel plated Santana with a deep fly ball to left field.

The Hawks evened the game up in the seventh inning. Rodger Wilmot led things off with what should have been a simple comebacker, but the Black Bear pitcher, Jeffrey Gibbs, threw the ball away trying to throw out the speedy Wilmot. The junior moved all the way around to third base, and scored on an RBI groundout from Gorski.

With Greiner continuing to shut down Maine, Hartford took a brief 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning. Amendola led off with a single to center, and moved to second on a wild pitch from Gibbs. With one out, Mike Aldrich sent a grounder to third base that the Black Bears once again misplayed into an error, allowing Amendola to come around to score and Aldrich to advance to second base.

Despite another error when the next batter, Wilmot, hit a grounder to third, Hartford could not push across another run in the inning, settling for a one run lead. That would prove costly in the bottom of the inning when Maine finally got to Greiner. A leadoff double and a one-out RBI single forced the junior from the game, and second baseman Michael Fransoso rolled an infield single up the middle to plate the go-ahead run. Brian Rice got out of the inning without any further damage, but Hartford could not push across a run in the ninth and fell for the third straight time in Orono.

The Hawks are back home on Tuesday, welcoming Dartmouth to Fiondella Field for a single game at 3 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling 860-768-HAWK or by purchasing them at the gate.