Waterville, ME - UMaine Presque Isle and Thomas College had to go 10 innings to determine a winner in the first game of their scheduled doubleheader on a warm Saturday afternoon and the Terriers came through with a thrilling 2 to 1 victory. The North Atlantic Conference game was played before 200 fans at Colby College who were treated to a well-played ballgame by both teams and saw two strong pitching perfomances including a tremendous game by UMPI starter Braydon Kennedy (Fr. Titusville, FL). Kennedy was a tough luck loser on the mound after throwing 9.1 innings, allowing only 2 runs on 4 hits, walking only 1 and striking out 7 Thomas hitters.

The Owls scored the first run of the game in the top of the 4th inning when Kennedy led off with a single. With one out, Colby Spencer walked and Jordan Hanscom followed with a RBI single to left center to put UMPI up 1 to 0. 

In the bottom of the 5th inning Thomas would tie the game up after the Owls recorded outs on the Terriers first 2 hitters. Third baseman Dominic Esposito slapped a single to right field but it looked like Me-Presque Isle would close out the inning when Kennedy got a groundball on the infield but an error allowed runners to land on 1st and 3rd. Bradly Smith would then come through with a sharp single to score Esposito.

Thomas starting pitcher Dylan Copeland and Kennedy would keep the game at 1 to 1 until the bottom of the 10th inning. Kennedy induced a Terriers groundball back to the mound for the first out. Shane MacNeil appeared to make the 2nd out on an infield grounder but an errant throw pulled 1st baseman Jordan Hanscom off the base. Bradly Smith came up with another basehit to advance MacNeil to second base. Alexander Miller then came through with only the 4th hit of the game for Thomas College when he lofted a soft single just over the infield for the game winning hit.

UMPI's Jordan Hanscom (So. Lincoln, ME) was the game's only repeat hitter with 2 singles. Rightfielder Kyle Gleason of Thomas had a double for the only extra basehit of the game.

Game # 2: It came down to the last inning of the game and UMPI held a slim 3 to 2 lead, but unfortunately for the Owls, after getting the first Thomas hitter out in the bottom of the 7th inning the Terriers came up with back to back singles from Alexander Miller and Kyle Gleason. UMPI recorded the second out on a slow roller back to the mound before a fly ball was misplayed and Thomas would escape with a 4 to 3 win.

Thomas scored two runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning on RBI singles by Tyler Gee and Miller to take a 2 to 0 lead.

The score remained 2 to 0 until the top of the 6th when Justin Mason and Brad Patterson both walked for Me-Presque Isle. Will Stinson would follow suit to load the bases. Ryan Sanderson (Sr. Cow Bay, NS) would rip a single to center scoring Mason. First baseman Braydon Kennedy would follow with a double to left center to plate Patterson and Stinson and a 3 to 2 advantage for the Owls. 

UMPI pitcher Roberto De La Pena would come on in relief in the 5th inning for starter Richard Coulston. De La Pena pitched a clean 5th and left 2 runners stranded on the bases in the 6th inning while his teammates took the lead. Will Stinson was a also a tough luck loser on the hill for the Owls pitching the 7th inning and Darren Kelly picked up the win in relief for Thomas pitching two scoreless innings.

Next up: UMPI and Thomas play Games #3 and #4 of their weekend series Sunday with the first game now starting at 12:00 Noon. Both games will be played at Colby College.