Southern Maine Holds Off Baseball for 12-8 Victory

Northboro, Mass. – The University of Southern Maine baseball team scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break open tie game as they defeated Framingham State University 12-8 this afternoon in non-conference action at the New England Baseball Complex.   

With the win, the Huskies improve to 15-6 on the year, while the Rams are now 14-9.

The Huskies batted around in the bottom of the first inning and plated five runs.  Junior Sam Dexter got Southern Maine on the board with a solo homerun to center and freshman Devin Warren followed with a sacrifice fly.  Sophomore Jake Welch capped the inning with a three run homer to right.

The Rams got three back in the top of fourth inning on a three run homerun from senior Ivan Colon (Waltham, Mass.).  Freshman Thomas Zarro pushed the lead back to three for the Huskies with his solo homer in the bottom of the fourth.

The Rams scored a single run in the top of fifth when junior Ryan Connelly (West Roxbury, Mass.) scored from third on a wild pitch and two more in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 6-6.  Senior Kevin Driscoll (Chelmsford, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice driving in the first run of the sixth and Colon scored from third on a failed pickoff attempt at first for the second run.

Southern Maine took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth on a two RBI double by sophomore Damon Wallace and RBI basehits from Warren and Brendon Joyce.  The Huskies added two more in the bottom of the seventh on a hit batter and an RBI single by Warren.

The Rams tacked on two in the top of the eight on an RBI double by senior John Gill (Hudson, Mass.) and an RBI ground out from classmate Matt Gerard (Milford, Mass.) to reach the final differential.

Senior Andrew Richards (South Portland, ME) earned the victory throwing four innings of relief for the Huskies. Richards allowed two earned runs on five hits with seven strikeouts.  Junior Dillon Corliss (Winterport, ME) suffered the loss for the Rams going five and a third allowing seven runs, three earned, on eight hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

The Rams are back in action Monday evening when they travel to Fisher College for a non-conference match up beginning at 7 p.m., while Huskies host UMass Boston on Tuesday at 3 p.m.