GORHAM, ME - Southern Maine (23-3) defeated Saint Joseph's
(21-10, 9-1 GNAC), 21-3, in a non-conference nine inning baseball
game on Thursday afternoon. The Monks mustered just four hits in
the loss, two of which were home runs by Ian
Lee '11 (Hampden, ME) and Michael
Burdin '10 (Gardiner, ME).
The win is the 11th straight for the Huskies, ranked fifth in
latest national poll, and the loss for the Monks halts a five game
winning streak.
Lee's solo blast off the scoreboard in left came
in the top of the first with two out, giving the Monks an early 1-0
lead. All the momentum gained by Lee's long ball was lost in the
bottom of the inning, however, as the Huskies managed to score
seven two-out runs to take control of the game.
Burdin hit his fourth tater of the season, a deep
shot to the power alley in left, came with one out in the third and
cut the USM lead to 8-2. Southern Maine answered with four runs in
the bottom of the frame to gain a 12-2 advantage.
SJC catcher Travis Adams '10
(Saco, ME) helped the Monks tack on their final run with an RBI
single in the fourth, scoring Eric
LaBatte '11 (Rochester, NH), who reached on an
error by Huskies second baseman Anthony Pisani '12 (Cheshire,
CT).
Southern Maine went on to score nine unanswered runs to collect the
victory. Saint Joseph's hasn't suffered a loss by such a large
deficit, or allowed more than 20 runs in a game, in more than four
seasons.
SJC starter Mason Roberge '11
(Franklin, NH) (0-2) lasted just 2/3 of an inning, allowing seven
runs, three earned, four hits and two walks to suffer the loss.
Andrew Keirstead '10 (Westbrook,
ME), Shawn Hall '10 (West
Newfield, ME), Chris Dion '11
(Lawrence, MA), Chris Nanof '10
(Clinton, MA) and Andrew Pooler
'09 (Southwest Harbor, ME) all worked in relief.
Nanof proved to be the most effective, with two
strikeouts and one earned run off four hits in two innings.
USM starter Ryan Yates '12 (Norway, ME) plunked
Ian Lee in the fifth inning,
marking the 45th time a Monks batter has been hit by a pitch this
season, which ties the program team single-season record, first
achieved in 2007.
Huskies outfielder Ryan Pike '09 (Saco, ME) enjoyed a career day in
the triumph. The senior slugger went 5-6 with three runs, nine RBI,
two home runs and a double. The nine runs batted in ties a program
single-season record. Josh Mackey '10 (Danvers, MA) was 3-5 with
three runs, three RBI and was a long ball shy of posting a cycle.
Starter Yates earned his first collegiate victory after allowing
three runs, two earned, four hits and five walks while fanning
three in 5 1/3 innings on the hill.
Saint Joseph's will host Emerson College on Saturday in a GNAC twin
bill at 2:00 PM. USM will play at Plymouth State on Friday at 3:30
PM.