UMPI Baseball opened their series against the University of Maine at Augusta with a split on day one, dropping a tight game in the opener before battling back for a big offensive win in game two.

Game 1: 4-3 Moose

Game one was a close, back-and-forth battle that came down to a few key swings late. Augusta struck first in the opening inning and slowly built a 2-0 lead before the Owls responded in the 5th. Sammy Bay got UMPI on the board with an RBI single, cutting the deficit in half. After Augusta added another run on a solo homer, the Owls answered in a big way in the 6th. Mitchell Kley delivered the biggest swing of the game for UMPI, launching a two-run homer to right field to tie things up at 3. From there, it stayed tight until the 7th, when Augusta walked it off in the bottom of the 7^th. Kley led the offense with three hits and two RBIs, while Hector Perez added two hits. Matthew Pelletier went 6.1 innings on the mound, allowing four runs in a solid effort despite taking the loss.

Game 2: 13-12 Owls

Game two was a completely different story, an offensive rollercoaster that saw momentum swing multiple times before the Owls came out on top. UMPI jumped out early, taking advantage of defensive errors in the 1st to grab a 3-0 lead. But UMA answered right back, putting up a huge stretch from the 2^nd through the 3^rd innings to take an 8-3 lead. The Owls didn't fold. In the 4^th and especially the 5^th, UMPI's offense exploded. Mason Long delivered the biggest hit of the inning with a three-run homer that flipped the game, giving the Owls a 10-9 lead. It was Long's first career home run and couldn't have come in a bigger moment. Augusta answered again, reclaiming a 12-10 lead, but UMPI minimized it, thanks to a clutch relief performance from Mason Long. The decisive moment came in the 7^th, with the Owls down to their final strike but the bases loaded. Sammy Bay came through in the clutch with a bases-clearing triple to give the Owls a 13-12 lead in the most dramatic of ways.

From there, Mason Long shut things down on the mound, closing out the game and earning the win with 2.2 strong innings in relief. Long finished with a huge all-around performance, collecting two hits and three RBIs along with the win on the mound. Bay drove in three, while Kley, Toy, and Murphy all contributed in a balanced offensive effort.

Next Up:

UMPI sits at 7-16 on the year, matching their win total from a year ago. With a win on Monday, they could reach the most wins in a season since a 12 win year back in 2016. UMPI and UMA meet up again on the field today, for a noontime start on Patriots' day.