Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 (With contributions from Plymouth State Sports Information)
PLYMOUTH, N.H. -- Sophomore left-hander Nick Douglass (Poland, Maine/Poland Regional) tossed a five-hit, seven-inning shutout as the University of Southern Maine blanked Plymouth State University, 12-0, in the second game of the teams Little East Conference doubleheader Friday afternoon at Panther Park. Plymouth State won its fourth straight game coming from behind to take a 10-7 decision in the opening game.
The split leaves USM 15-14 overall and 4-6 in conference play. Plymouth State is now 9-20 overall and 3-7 in LEC games. The doubleheader, originally scheduled for Saturday, was moved up a day in response to the bad weather forecasted for Saturday and the Easter holiday on Sunday.
Douglass kept the PSU hitters off balance in the second game, scattering five hits and one walk while striking out seven to improve his record to 3-1. Sophomore Steve Beard (Middleton, Mass.) was the only Panther Douglass had trouble with, as Beard went 3-for-3 in the game.
Eight of the nine Husky starters had at least one hit in the nightcap, although sophomore Nick Grady (Whitefield, Maine/Erskine Academy) was the only one with two hits. Grady, sophomore Tucker White (Deerfield, N.H./Coe-Brown Northwood), freshman Forrest Chadwick (Gardiner, Maine), and sophomore Brett Barrett (Keene, N.H.) drove in two runs in USM's 10-hit attack.
The Huskies scored three in the second inning on Chadwick's two-run triple and junior Anthony Pisani's (Cheshire, Conn./Notre Dame) sacrifice fly. USM scored an unearned run in the fourth, and added four more in the fifth. Grady had the key hit in the fifth, a two-run double to right field.
Southern Maine scored two in the sixth, and two more in the seventh to put the 10-run rule into effect. Senior Mike Eaton (Sabattus, Maine/Oak Hill) double in a run in the sixth, and White delivered the second with a sac fly. Barrett drove in both runs in the seventh with a pinch-hit single.
In the opener, Southern Maine led 6-2 after four innings before PSU rallied for the win. White singled home a run in the first inning and Grady added a two-run single. Junior David Ricker (Winthrop, Maine) clouted a solo home run in the third inning, and senior Jordan Berthiaume (Berlin, Conn.) delivered a two-run double in the fourth. PSU's runs came in the third inning on an RBI single by senior Bryant Lausberg (Somersworth, N.H.) and junior Mike Cappiello's (Westfield, N.J.) sacrifice fly.
The Panthers rallied to tie the game with four runs in the bottom of the fifth. After junior Ryan McIntosh (Lincoln, N.H.) doubled and Lausberg walked, classmate Luke Merrill (Pittsburg, N.H) doubled home a run and Cappiello tied it with his first round-tripper of the season.
PSU took the lead for good in the sixth inning when sophomore Joe Perry (Sandwich, Mass.) singled home a run. The home team added some insurance with three more in the seventh as freshman Tucker Regan (Niantic, Conn.) delivered a two-run triple and then scored on Perry's RBI double.
Sophomores Ryan Wakefield (Sanbornton, N.H.) and Spencer Webb (Warwick, R.I.) and Lausberg combined to pitch six innings out of the Panther bullpen, allowing just two runs on five hits and two walks. Wakefield recorded the win (1-0) while Lausberg came in and retired three in a row in the ninth inning to post his first save.
USM will host Thomas College on Tuesday (3:30 p.m.) in a non-conference tilt. PSU will be back in action on Monday (4:00 p.m.) with a non-conference home game against Daniel Webster College.
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