Vikings' Rally Past Maine-Farmington

Jose Rodriguez '24, Staff Writer | Media & Communications

DAVENPORT, Fla.- Yabdriel Gonzalez (New Haven, Conn.) delivered a two-out, walk-off base hit in the bottom of the ninth to give Salem State a 3-2 victory over The University of Maine Farmington on Tuesday afternoon at Northeast Regional Park. The Vikings improved their record to 2-3 on the season, while the Beavers dropped to 2-6.

Jake Boucher (Wallingford, Conn.) came on in relief and earned the victory, pitching three scoreless innings and allowing two hits. Jameson Bolch (Attleboro, MA) took the loss, pitching 0.2 innings and giving up four hits and two earned runs.   

How Did It Happen?

• The game started off with Brock Pare (Lowell, Mass.) retiring the first 10 of 11 batters that he faced. However, things took a turn in the fourth when he delivered three consecutive walks, loading the bases. In the fourth inning, the Beavers scored the game's first run due to a wild pitch. Maine Farmington added another run to the scoreboard when Sam Peterson (South Berwick, ME) reached on an error, allowing them to secure their second run of the game. 
• The Vikings responded quickly in the bottom of the inning when Salem State had the bases loaded. Dylan Adamson (Lunenburg, Mass.) scored from third on Mark Smith's (East Haven, Conn.) sacrifice fly to right field, cutting the deficit in half.
• Two innings later the Beavers were in a promising position to score when they had  two runners on base. However, Pare, quickly regained control and retired the next three batters, preventing the Beavers from capitalizing.
• Boucher replaced  Pare in the seventh and pitched three scoreless innings, giving up two hits as the Vikings were still in the game down by one. The Vikings scored twice in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off victory, which included Smith leading off the inning with a game-tying home run.

NOTEWORTHY

•  Both starting pitchers put up solid efforts, but picked up no decisions. Pare pitched six innings, allowing only two hits and two runs, one of which was unearned, and walked four batters. Chris Albert (Bradley, ME), on the other hand, pitched six innings for the Beavers. He gave up four hits and allowed one run, while also giving up five walks.

• During the bottom of the ninth inning, with runners on the corners, Gonzalez stepped up to the plate with the game tied at 2-2, and hit a walk-off base hit to left field.

What's Next?

• Salem State will be back in action on Thursday, March 14, when they face SUNY-Canton (9:30 a.m.) and then Roger Williams (11:15 a.m.) in Auburndale, Florida.