AUBURNDALE, Fla. -- Senior right-hander Ben Ives (Portland, Maine/Deering) hurled a complete game nine-hitter to give the University of Southern Maine Huskies an 8-1 victory over the Western New England University Golden Bears in a non-conference game Friday at Lake Myrtle Park.

            The Huskies rebounded the day after getting swept by Worcester State University in a doubleheader, and improved to 6-3 overall.  The Golden Bears lost for the second straight day to fall to 5-6.

            Ives threw his first complete game of the season allowing nine singles and no walks while fanning four over nine innings.  The Golden Bears nicked Ives for their only run in the sixth inning on an RBI single by junior Mike Rubino (Hartford, Conn.).

            Junior Nick Grady (Whitefield, Maine/Erskine) led the Huskies' 10-hit attack with a single, triple and three RBI.  Classmate Tucker White (Deerfield, N.H./Coe-Brown Northwood) had two hits and scored three runs, and sophomore Matt Powers (Portland, Maine/Deering) chipped in a single, double and run scored.

            Rubino, junior Tim Clark (West Springfield, Mass./Avon Old Farms) and sophomore Steve Ambrosino (Laurel Hollow, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) each had two hits for the Golden Bears.  Junior Kevin Jefferis (Cheshire, Conn.), the first of five WNEU pitchers, was saddled with the loss.

            The Huskies took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a solo home run from freshman Jake Glauser (Goffstown, N.H.).  The round tripper was the first of Glauser's collegiate career.  The Huskies doubled their lead in the fourth inning when Grady drove in White with a single.

            A four-run fifth-inning outburst expanded the Huskies' lead to 6-0. Powers led off the inning with a double, and came home on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Matt Verrier (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills).  White drove in the second run, and Grady plated the final two with his triple.

            USM scored twice in the seventh inning on a double play and an RBI single by junior Brett Barrett (Keene, N.H.).

            Southern Maine will continue its eight-game Florida swing on Saturday (1:30 p.m.) taking on Ramapo College.  WNEU will open its Commonwealth Coast Conference schedule on Sunday (12:00 p.m.) playing a doubleheader at Salve Regina University.

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