THE BASICS:
 
RESULT:  Hartford 10, Maine 6
LOCATION: Mahaney Diamond (Orono, Maine)
RECORDS:  Hartford (8-16, 2-4 America East), Maine (9-16, 3-3 America East)
W: John Mormile (2-1) L: Nick Silva (1-2)
 

THE LEAD: 
After a quiet day at the plate on Saturday, the University of Hartford's bats came alive in the final game of the Hawks' series against Maine. Hartford (8-16, 2-4 America East) powered past the Black Bears, 10-6, at Mahaney Field on Sunday afternoon. Hartford tied its season-high with 15 hits, as five Hawks recorded multi-hit games.
 
After falling behind by as many as eight runs, the Black Bears managed to add some tension and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning. Trailing 10-6, shortstop Jeremy Pena came up with two outs and the bases loaded against Hartford's Billy DeVito, who got Pena to fly out to left to end the threat.
 
First baseman David MacKinnon and shortstop Ben Bengtson led the Hawks with three hits apiece, while catcher Erik Ostberg, center fielder Ashton Bardzell and second baseman each supplied two hits. Hartford reliever John Mormile (2-1) pitched one inning to pick up the win, while the Black Bears' Nick Silva (1-2) allowed three runs in 1.2 innings of work and took the loss.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Maine took an early lead with a two-out rally in the bottom of the first. Catcher Christopher Bec walked and came around to score on back-to-back singles from right fielder Tyler Schwanz and designated hitter Jonathan Bennett.
• The Hawks tied it at 1-1 in the second when shortstop Ben Bengtson singled, advanced on a walk and hit-by-pitch, and scored on a wild pitch.
• Center fielder Nick Campana gave Hartford a 2-1 lead with a leadoff home run to left in the third inning.
• First baseman David MacKinnon and catcher Erik Ostberg followed Campana's homer with consecutive singles and Bengtson extended the lead to 3-1 in the third with a single to left field.
• Hartford benefitted from some perfectly executed small ball in the fourth. Left fielder Chris Sullivan was hit by a pitch, third baseman TJ Ward walked and both runners advanced on a textbook sacrifice bunt from second baseman Dalton Ruch. Campana helped the Hawks push their advantage to 4-1 with a sac fly to center field, scoring Sullivan.
• The Hawks manufactured a run in the sixth when Ward walked, stole second, advanced on a single from Ruch and scored on a double-play ball off the bat of Campana.
• MacKinnon followed with a two-out infield single and made it 6-1 when he came all the way around on a double off the fence in right by Ostberg.
• Bardzell kept the rally going, driving in Ostberg with a single to right, giving the Hawks a 7-1 lead in the sixth.
• Maine first baseman Hernan Sardinas doubled and scored on a groundout by left fielder Colin Ridley to make it 7-2 in the bottom half of the sixth.
• Hartford put the game out of reach in the seventh. Ward got the rally started, hammering a double to left field and scoring Sullivan. Second baseman Dalton Ruch followed with an RBI single to left and MacKinnon pounded a double down the left field line, plating Ruch and giving the Hawks a 10-2 edge.
• Sardinas lofted a one-out home run over the right field wall in the eighth to cut the Black Bears' deficit to 10-3. Hartford reliever John LaRossa Ridley and gave up a single to second baseman Zach Hodges, before shortstop Jeremy Pena made it 10-5 with a two-run double to left.
• Maine scored one in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single from Ridley and managed to load the bases against DeVito, who worked out of the jam with the potential game-tying run at the plate.

 
 
BY THE NUMBERS:

• MacKinnon finished for 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. It was his 10^th multi-hit game and third three-hit game.
• MacKinnon also extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
• After starting the season 6-for-41 (.146), MacKinnon has gone 27-for-62 (.435) during the past 15 games, dating back to March 12, upping his season average to .320.
• After going 0-for-7 in the first two games against Maine, Bengtson went 3-for-5 Sunday. It was Bengtson's third game with at least three hits this season.
• Ruch continued to build momentum recording his fourth hit in the past four games.
• Hartford used five relievers who combined to throw six innings, allowing five runs on nine hits. Hawks starter Jake Regula allowed one run on two hits in three innings of work and took the no-decision.
• Sunday marked Hartford's 11^th game with at least 10 hits this season.
• The Hawks got the leadoff man on base in five innings, scoring in three of those innings.

 
 
NEXT UP:
Hartford will host Quinnipiac (10-15, 3-3 MAAC) in the first-ever game to be played at Dunkin' Donuts Park on Tuesday, April 11, at 7:15 p.m. The Hawks and Bobcats will play the inaugural game in the park, which will be home to the Hartford Yard Goats, the AA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.  The Yard Goats will play their first home game on Thursday, April 13.
 
Hartford is 10-8 all-time against the Bobcats. The teams split last year's series, with each side winning on the other's home field. Quinnipiac claimed a 7-5 victory in West Hartford and the Hawks returned the favor with an 11-5 win in Hamden on April 26, 2016. Hartford's longest winning streak in the series was four games, between 2008 and 2013, while the Bobcats have won consecutive games just twice in the history of the series, which dates back to 1999.