Trevor Dugan
Star infielder Brad Malm made history, breaking the school home run record, but it was not enough as the Great Danes were swept this weekend in a high-scoring series with the conference-leading Maine Black Bears.
The first game of the three-game set was played on Saturday afternoon. Maine was up 4-0 after the top of the first thanks to a grand slam by Scout Knotts. In the bottom half, Michael Whalen hit a three-run shot to cut the lead to one.
However, Maine would tack on eight more runs over the next five innings. And despite a furious comeback attempt, Albany was defeated 12-10. Whalen had five RBI and two runs scored on the day, while Malm went 3-6 with three runs scored.
Ray Weber took the loss on the mound.
Games two and three were played as part of a doubleheader on Easter Sunday. Albany dropped game two by a score of 8-6. Great Dane Starter Cregg Sherrer struggled in the loss. In the second frame, Maine scored on a wild pitch, an error, and a three-run triple.
In the following inning, Maine added two more runs when two batters were hit by Scherrer with the bases loaded. After Maine’s lead reached 8-1 Albany would score five unanswered runs, but it wasn’t enough as Maine clinched a series victory.
In game three, Malm finally had the moment he had been working towards. After Maine went up 1-0, Malm tied things up with his 14th home run of the season in the third inning. With that, he became the sole owner of the University’s single-season home run record, and with 17 games remaining, he will surely expand on it.
After the sixth inning, the game was tied at 3 however Maine scored twice in both the seventh and eighth innings. The Great Danes made two errors in the eighth which allowed Maine to score. Whalen and Will Binder drove in three runs combined in the eighth to make it a one-run game, but Maine went on to win 7-6.
Albany head coach Jon Mueller was unhappy with the sloppy play this weekend.
"I think we've gotten away from what our identity was earlier in the year where we were playing such great defense,” Mueller said. “In the last few weekends, we've struggled defensively as a team.”
Albany’s record now sits at 15-16, and 5-10 in conference play. They are 1-7 at home. They return to action on Friday when they begin a three-game set at Hartford.
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