Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 KEENE, N.H.--The University of Southern Maine banged out 31 hits over two games in taking a Little East Conference doubleheader over host Keene State College, 13-1 and 8-3, on Friday at Owl Athletic Complex.
Southern Maine improves to 26-8, and 11-1 in the LEC, while Keene State drops to 8-18, and 2-10 in the LEC. The loss eliminates the Owls from contention for the Little East Conference tournament.
Game One
The Huskies scored early in the opener, as Sam Dexter hit a single and moved to third on a pair of wild pitches by KSC starter Shawn Egan. A KSC error plated Dexter for an early 1-0 lead. Southern Maine added two more in the top of the third inning. Nick DiBiase led off with a single through the left side, but was retired on a 5-4-3 double-play as the Owls looked to close out the inning, but John Carey and Dexter hit back-to-back solo home runs for a 3-0 USM lead.
The lead increased for the Huskies, with three runs in the fifth inning, two in the sixth, and five in the seventh. KSC got their lone run in the bottom of the seventh. Andrew Gummow led off with a walk, and moved to second, then third, on two wild pitches. After Brett Dootson struck out, Vinny Parilla lofted a single to right field to break up the shutout.
Tyler Leavitt picked up the win for USM, striking out four and walking three in 6.1 innings of work, scattering two hits. Egan took the loss, allowing six runs (five earned) and eight hits in five innings. Jeff Lunn, Drew Carter, and Kyle DiCesare all saw time out of the pen for the Owls.
Game Two
Again it was the Huskies who jumped out to a quick lead. A single from John Carey, followed by a double from Dexter and a walk Forrest Chadwick loaded the bases with one out. Chris Bernard's sacrifice fly to right got the Huskies on the board, and Matt Verrier had the first of his two doubles to center field to bring in two runs. Jake Glauser made it 4-0 with a single to right field.
The score stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth, as Parilla hit a one-out single, and moved to third on Trevor Chapin's double to right-center. Tanner Chase got the Owls' first run in with a sacrifice fly to right field and moved Chapin to third, and he scored on Joe Libby's double to right-center. Matt Boulay brought the Owls within 4-3 with a single that brought in Libby and chase USM starter Shyler Scates. Reliever Andrew Richards struck out Nick Vita to end the rally.
Verrier continued to be a thorn in KSC's side, doubling in Chris Bernard in the sixth inning, and hitting his fifth homer of the year over the trees in left center that made it 7-3. Troy Thibodeau singled in Glauser to complete the scoring.
Cody Dube tossed 7.2 innings, striking out four and taking the loss for KSC. Eddie Dionne allowed three hits in 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Libby, Boulay, Parilla, and Chapin each had two hits for the Owls.
Richards notched his third win of the year with 4.1 innings of two hit relief. Scates went the first 4.2 innings, allowing three runs. Verrier finished 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run, two runs scored, and five RBI.
The Owls will take on Daniel Webster College in a single game on Sunday at 2 p.m. Southern Maine will play Bowdoin at 4 pm on April 29.
$website.include("FBHTML")
