AUBURNDALE, Fla. – University of Maine at Farmington (4-1) senior outfielderSean Cabaniss (Vassalboro, Maine/Erskine Academy) hit a combined 7-for-9 in a doubleheader sweep of Crown University (2-2) on Tuesday afternoon at the RussMatt Invitational.
The Beavers won the first game, 17-9, and then came back to win, 8-4, in the final contest of the afternoon.
In game one, the game was scoreless until the Beavers broke through in the bottom of the second inning. UMF kept the line moving with three straight RBI hits from Jordan Croteau (South Paris, Maine/Oxford), Jimmy Parks (Springvale, Maine/Sanford), and Trevor Hisler (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan). Cabaniss followed with a two-run double to right field as the Beavers marked six runs on six hits in the frame.
Leading 7-0 headed into the bottom of the fifth, UMF added four more runs to the scorebook. The Beavers came through with two runs before Crown recorded the first out of the inning and then two more with two outs in the innings.
Crown crawled back into the game with six runs in the top of the sixth inning but Farmington answered with their own rally in the bottom of the frame. With two outs, Parks came through with a single and then Dustin McCrossin (Yarmouth, Maine/Yarmouth) hustled out an RBI infield single on the following play to push the lead to 15-6. Ben Keene (Livermore, Maine/Spruce Mountain) stepped up and crushed a two-run triple to centerfield, extending the lead to 17-6.
Mark Leahy (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding) earned the win after pitching 5 2/3 innings and striking out five Knights.
In game two, Crown jumped out to 1-0 lead after the first inning but the UMF offense responded in the third inning with six runs on four hits. Cabaniss led the inning off with a triple and then McCrossin reached on an error, plating Cabainss from third. Later in the inning, Farmington scored on a passed ball. Hisler and Cabaniss came through again with RBI singles.
The Knights came back with two more runs in the fifth inning to trim UMF's lead down to 6-3.
In the sixth inning, Keene scored on a wild pitch and then Hisler smacked a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh.
Tom Grady (Whitefield, Maine/Erskine Academy) picked up the win on the hill by dueling five innings and fanned six Crown hitters.
UMaine-Farmington returns to the diamond on Wednesday morning to play Eastern Connecticut State in the RussMatt Invitational.