Box Score GORHAM, Maine -- The University of Southern Maine Huskies scored six runs in the sixth inning to take an 11-4 lead, then had to withstand two rallies by the Colby College Mules to hang on for an 11-10 win in a non-conference game Thursday afternoon at the USM Baseball Stadium.
The win snapped a four-game losing skid for the Huskies who improved to 12-10 overall. The Mules had their four-game winning streak stopped to slip to 10-11.
Seniors Mike Eaton (Sabattus, Maine/Oak Hill) and Josh Mackey (Danvers, Mass.) and junior David Ricker (Winthrop, Maine) paced the Huskies' 15-hit attack with three hits apiece. Rookie left-handed pitcher Logan Carman [Newfields, N.H./Laurel Springs (Calif.)] went the first five innings to pick up his second win of the season.
Despite getting only seven hits, Colby benefitted from six USM errors, four walks and four hit batsmen. Junior Nikolas Atsalis (West Hyannis Port, Mass.) was the lone Colby player with two hits. Freshman starter Greg Ladd (Danvers, Mass.) was saddled with the loss.
Southern Maine sent 12 batters to the plate in the sixth to score half a dozen times. Mackey drove in the first two runs with a single through the right side. Sophomore Tucker White (Deerfield, N.H./Coe-Brown Northwood) followed with a two-run triple down the right field line. Rookie Forrest Chadwick (Gardiner, Maine) drove in White with a single, and later scored on Ricker's RBI single to make it 11-4.
Colby came back in the seventh to score four runs. Senior John Lerner (Canton, Mass.) drove in a run with a single, Atsalis brought home the second with a single, and the final two came around on a two-out infield throwing error.
In the ninth, the Mules went down kicking scoring twice and leaving the bases loaded. The first run came home on the Huskies sixth error of the day, and junior Rob Arndt (Yarmouth, Maine) walked with the bases loaded. USM freshman Matt Powers (Portland, Maine/Deering) finally got the final out to complete a two-inning save.
The Huskies return to the USM Baseball Stadium tomorrow to play Endicott College in a rescheduled game from April 5. The Mules begin a three-game home series against NESCAC rival Tufts University with a single game Friday (4:00 p.m.).
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