BINGHAMTON - Maine baseball beat No. 2 UMBC 3-1 on Friday afternoon to punch their ticket to Saturday's America East championship game.

Caleb Leys tossed eight innings, striking out eight and allowing one earned run. The top-seeded Black Bears fell behind 1-0 early to the Retrievers, but a sacrifice fly from Quinn McDaniel in the bottom of the third scores Jake Marquez and tied the game.

In the sixth, McDaniel drew a walk on a 3-2 count, and Jeremiah Jenkins sent a two-run home run over the right field fence in the ensuing at-bat.

Leys stranded a runner in the eighth to complete his outing, and Justin Baeyens set the Retrievers down in order in the ninth to clinch the victory. Maine will play for a conference title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at 1 p.m. against the winner of UMBC and No. 3 Binghamton.

Sports Director

Tyler Krusz joined the ABC7 and Fox 22 team in October of 2021 and is looking forward to telling all of our local athletes’ stories! Tyler, a native Rhode Islander, graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2020 with degrees in Journalism and Political Science. During his time there, he enjoyed covering all of the D1 sports the University had to offer, including a few football games against the University of Maine! Tyler worked with the school’s radio station and newspaper, while interning with sports radio host Andy Gresh and the sports department at Fox Providence. After college, Tyler worked as a news anchor and a sports anchor for WBKB11 News in Alpena, Michigan and is excited to come back to New England -- just hours away from his family. When he’s not talking about sports, Tyler enjoys golfing and playing softball (because his baseball days have passed). He also loves to fish, cook, and spend time outdoors any way he can. Feel free to contact Tyler at tkrusz@wvii.com or follow him on Twitter @TylerKruszTV.

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