BANGOR, Maine – University of Maine at Farmington baseball (8-3, 1-1) split a North Atlantic Conference doubleheader with Husson University (6-6, 1-1) on Wednesday afternoon at Winkin Sports Complex. The Beavers snapped a winless drought against the Eagles, dating back to 2011, with a 6-3 win in the second game, but fell 5-0 in the first game of the afternoon.
UMF used a six-run sixth inning in the second game to upset Husson. The Beavers trailed 2-0 heading into the top of the sixth inning, but used a passed ball to get on the scoreboard and thenJimmy Neal (Farmington, Maine/Mt. Blue) lined an RBI double to tie the game. Mark Leahy(Rochester, N.H./Spaulding) and Jimmy Parks (Springvale, Maine/Sanford) came through with a pair of RBI singles later in the inning. Parks later scored on a passed ball and then Sean Cabaniss(Vassalboro, Maine/Erskine Academy) lined an RBI single to right field to cap off the big inning.
Riley Chickering (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford) shut down the Eagles' offense with six innings on the hill and surrendered three earned runs.
The Beavers were held in check in the first game but had their opportunities early. In the top of the third, Parks singled to lead off the inning and moved to third base after two groundouts, but UMF could not produce a clutch two-out hit to drive Parks the extra 90 feet. Farmington had a runner in scoring position in five separate innings.
Nate Pushard (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) pitched a complete game and fanned four Husson hitters.
Parks finished the afternoon 2-for-5 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI.
UMaine-Farmington travels to Colby on Thursday for a nine inning showdown.