GORHAM, Maine -- The University of Southern Maine Huskies scored
a pair of runs in the top of the ninth inning to break an 8-8 tie
and went on to defeat the St. Joseph's College Monks 10-8 in a
non-conference game played Thursday in Gorham. The game was
originally scheduled to be a night game at St. Joseph's, but was
moved to USM due to all the rain. Southern Maine improved to 19-9
overall with the win. St. Joseph's drops to 23-9.
In the ninth inning, the Huskies put runners at the corners on a
walk to sophomore DH Joe McGhee (Walpole, Mass.)
and a single by senior 1B Brandon Brewer
(Cumberland, Maine). Sophomore C Max Arsenault
(Boothbay, Maine) beat out an infield single to bring in
McGhee. After a hit batter loaded the bases,
freshman OF Eddie Skeffington (Everett, Mass.)
lifted a sacrifice fly to score Brewer.
The Huskies appeared to be in command of the game, taking an 8-4
lead in the seventh on an RBI triple by Arsenault
and a squeeze bunt by junior OF Brent Lemieux
(Cumberland, Maine).
St. Joseph's pulled within one with three in the bottom of the
seventh on an RBI single by junior 3B Nick Arno
(Windham, Maine), an infield error and an RBI fielder's choice by
senior OF Andy Exley (Portland, Maine).
The Monks tied the game in the eighth inning when junior DH
Aaron Cieslak (Windham, Maine) drove in senior OF
Derek McIntosh (Auburn, Maine) from third with a
fielder's choice.
Southern Maine opened the game with a run in the first inning on
Brewer's RBI single. The Monks came back in their
half of the inning to take a 2-1 lead on an RBI groundout by
freshman 1B Charlie Furbush (South Portland,
Maine) and a bases loaded walk to senior C Jake
Rodden (Somersworth, N.H.).
The Monks extended their advantage to 3-1 in the fourth on
Exley's RBI single.
A sacrifice fly by sophomore OF Ryan Bourque
(Sanford, Maine) and an RBI single by McGhee tied
the game for USM in the fifth. The Huskies took their first lead of
the game with three runs in the sixth. Skeffington
hit a two-run homer, and sophomore SS Nick Vardaro
(Norwood, Mass.) scored before Bourque was put out
on a double-steal attempt.
Sophomore Josh Armandi (Jay, Maine), the fourth of
four pitchers for USM, picked up his fourth win of the season with
1.2 innings of relief work. Senior Jack Hughes
(Dudley, Mass.), the last of four St. Joseph's hurlers, was tagged
with the loss.
St. Joseph's will be at home on Friday at 2 PM for a non-conference
game against Rivier College.
At Gorham, Maine 123 456 789 R H E
Southern Maine (19-9) 100 023 202 10 10 3
St. Joseph's (Me.) (23-9) 200 101 310 8 10 2
