Box Score Grady's Six Hits Leads Southern Maine Past Trinity (Conn.) 16-10
Veteran Head Coach Ed Flaherty Earns 800th Win
AUBURNDALE, Fla. -- Senior Nick Grady (Whitefield, Maine/Erskine Academy) turned in a career day going 6-for-6 at the plate with three RBI, one run scored and a team-high three stolen bases to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies baseball team past the Trinity College (Conn.) Bantams, 16-10, at Lake Myrtle Park Thursday afternoon.
The win was the 800th of veteran Southern Maine head coach Ed Flaherty's career, making him the 13th coach in NCAA Division III history to reach that milestone. Flaherty's overall career record now stands at 800-370-4 over 28 seasons at the helm of the Huskies.
The Huskies improve to the 4-1 overall on the season. The Bantams are now on a two-game skid and drop to 6-6 overall.
Grady led the Huskies' 18-hit attack with six singles. Senior John Carey (South Portland, Maine), rookie Sam Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee), senior Tucker White (Deerfield, N.H.) and junior Matt Verrier (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) each had two hits. Carey, Dexter and freshman Nick DiBiase (Portland, Maine/Deering) each had two RBI. Southern Maine also stole 11 bases on the day.
Junior southpaw Logan Carman (Newfields, N.H./Laurel Springs) earned his third win of the season on the hill going seven innings allowing five hits and three runs while striking out six. He did not walk a batter.
Senior Joe Papa (Stoneham, Mass./BB&N) was the lone repeat hitter for the Bantams with a single and a triple. He also scored two runs and had an RBI. Sophomore left-hander Robert Gau (Westport, Conn./Staples), the first of four Bantam hurlers employed, was tagged with the loss.
Southern Maine took a 2-0 in the first and would hold the lead the rest of the game, but not with out a fight from Trinity. Freshman Sam Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) put the Huskies on the board when he scored on a wild pitch. Junior Forrest Chadwick (Gardiner, Maine) was then hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on an RBI single by Grady to put the Huskies up 2-0.
The Bantams would get a run back in the bottom of the second off Carman to cut the Huskies lead to 2-1. Papa singled, advanced to second on a single by sophomore Robert Ferrara (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe), took third on a USM error, and scored on a successfully executed double steal with Ferrara.
The Huskies answered right back in the third with two more runs to increase their lead to 4-1. Dexter came across on a wild pitch, and senior Anthony Pisani (Cheshire, Conn./Notre Dame) scored on another RBI single by Grady to give Southern Maine a three-run cushion.
After Carman sat Trinity down in order, Southern Maine batted around in the fourth, putting up six runs to extend its lead to 10-1. Junior Troy Thibodeau (Danvers, Mass./New Hampton) ignited the big inning with an RBI double.
Both teams pushed two runs across in the sixth, but the Huskies answered with a run in the seventh on another Grady RBI single to add some insurance and extend their lead to 13-3.
The Bantams proceeded to chip away at the Huskies bullpen, and put up four runs on two hits and one Huskies' error in the inning to cut the lead to 13-7. A two-run single from sophomore Carson Kenney (Kensington, Md.), and an RBI single off the bat of senior Evan Sternberg (Glen Ridge, N.J.) highlighted the inning.
The Huskies tacked on three more runs in the ninth on a two-run single by Dexter and an RBI single from DiBiase. Trinity loaded the bases and scored three runs — with being two unearned — off USM junior right hander Nathan Veilleux (Belgrade, Maine/Messalonskee), but sophomore right hander Andrew Richards (South Portland, Maine) came in and struck out the final batter of the game.
Southern Maine returns to action tomorrow when it takes on Worcester State University at Chain of Lakes Stadium in Winter Haven, Fla. (9:30 a.m.). Trinity will play a doubleheader against Endicott College at Lake Myrtle Park (12.30 p.m.).
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