FARMINGTON, ME
After Monday's back and forth contests that featured a lot of offense, Tuesday's games began on the polar opposite side of the spectrum. Game three of the series became an all-out pitchers' duel between UMPI's Jonah Baude and Farmington's Jameson Bloch. In game four, it was the Garrett Chadwick show on the mound, as the teams' best arms were on full display a day after the best bats were.
Game 1: (1-0 Beavers)
How it Happened:
Despite the pitchers' duel, UMF's lead-off batter Ike Wrigley doubled to lead off the game, a day after homering to lead it off. Baude got the next three guys out after that however, keeping things scoreless. The Owls added a double of their own from Hector Perez in the bottom half, but Bloch got the other three baters out much like Baude did.
The Beavers went down in order in the top of the 2nd, and the Owls got a couple baserunners on in their half but couldn't plate any.
Another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 3rd and the Owls got to the bottom half again. Sam Bay singled to lead off the inning, but once again the next three batters went down as both teams struggled to string any type of rally together.
In the bottom of the 4th, the Owls really threatened, beginning with a lead off single from Anthony Searels. The Owls bunted to get Searels over, before a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with one out. After that, Bloch came up with two of the most clutch strikeouts you can ask for, ending the threat.
Farmington used that momentum to carry a spark into the top of the 5th when a bunt single, followed by a seeing-eyes single and a fielders' choice made it second and third with two outs. Johnny Pruett delivered when the Beavers needed him to with a single to left field to score a run. Baude got the next batter to minimize it and leave it 1-0.
Teams went down in order the next two half innings, but in the bottom of the 6th, UMPI threatened again, getting Searels on via a walk, and bunted him over again. A strikeout and a hit by pitch made it two on and two out, before a fielder's choice up the middle ended the UMPI threat again as they stranded two more.
In the 7th, it was more great pitching by both starters, as the Baude set down the Beavers 1-2-3, before Jameson Bloch did the exact same thing, delivering Farmington the 1-0 win, and a 2-1 series lead.
At the Plate:
The Owls mustered just three hits though they had plenty of baserunners throughout. Sam Bay went 1-4, Hector Perez went 1-2 with a double in the first inning, and Anthony Searels went 1-2 with a walk. Ian Michaud walked and was hit by a pitch and also a Farmington error allowed the Owls to get nine men on base, but unfortunately, they'd strand all of them.
On the Mound:
It was another herculean effort out of Jonah Baude who threw the whole distance for UMPI. He finished the day on just 87 pitches throughout his 7 innings of work. He allowed five hits and one earned run, and fanned three hitters while not walking anyone. Despite this more-than-quality outing, Baude earned the loss, falling to 2-5 on the year.
Game 2: (8-1 Owls)
How it Happened:
UMPI headed into game four of the series with a very bad taste in their mouths, just a day removed from an offensive influx where they had 28 hits as a team across the doubleheader. After just three hits in the first game, the Owls were certain not to follow a similar fate.
Starter Garrett Chadwick made quick work of the Beavers in the Top of the 1st setting them down in order, before the Owls got to work in the bottom half. Sam Bay led things off with a single up the middle and a steal of second. A reached-on-error followed by a Hector Perez single, brought in the speedy Bay to make it 1-0 Owls. Chadwick helped out his own cause with an RBI single of his own, and then Ian Michaud singled to centerfield to bring in Garrett Chadwick. Yet another single, this one from Aiden Toy made it 4-0 UMPI as they singled five times in the inning.
In the 2nd, the Owls clocked in again with a leadoff single from Michael Langley. Then, three straight hit by pitches loaded up the bases, and forced Langley home, with nobody out. A wild pitch made it 6-0, and then an RBI single from Hector Perez made it 7-0. An RBI ground out the next batter, and it was 8-0. The Beavers did a lot to work out of that jam, keeping the Owls to 8-0 after just two innings.
Garrett Chadwick kept things in cruise control through the third inning as he faced only one more than the minimum through three and hadn't yet allowed a hit. That no-hit bid would be broken up in the top of the 4th however, as Ryan Sargent decisively homered to center field for the Beavers' first hit.
The Owls left the bases juiced in the bottom of the 4th, as it stayed 8-1 entering the 5th. After an eventful first two innings, the Owls wouldn't need any more runs as Garrett Chadwick absolutely dominated. Jameson Bloch had the only other hit for Farmington in the entire game.
Ultimately it would end up 8-1, with the Owls doing their damage early and riding Chadwick to the win, and a season-series split.
At the Plate:
The Owls made up for lost time in game two, managing 11 hits, but none were more impressive than Hector Perez who enjoyed a 4-4 game, with two RBI. Sam Bay did well in the lead-off spot again for UMPI, going 2-4 with a double and two runs scored. Five other hitters had a single, with Garrett Chadwick driving in two, and Dylan Geren, Ian Michaud, and Aiden Toy all picked up RBI as well.
On the Mound:
Garrett Chadwick had a career outing and one of the better outings of anybody in the conference all season long. He threw all seven innings and allowed just the one run and only two hits. Amazingly, he threw only 66 pitches the whole game, for an average of 9.4 pitches per inning. His efficient outing saw only three baserunners the whole time, while he struck out four batters. Chadwick becomes the first pitcher to throw a complete game, two-hitter for UMPI since 2012, when Jake Fillebrown ('13) did it in just a five-inning run-ruled shortened game. With this victory, Chadwick improves to 2-1 on the year with his ERA sitting at 4.41.
Next Up:
With this win, the Owls improve to 6-15 overall and have now won the most games as a program since the 2022 season. They are now 3-11 in conference play as well. The Owls will move on to face Thomas College on Thursday afternoon, down in Waterville for two conference games.
