Huskies Open LEC Slate at Western Connecticut on Saturday

            BEVERLY, Mass. -- Rookie outfielder Nick Bowie (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to give the visiting University of Southern Maine Huskies a 4-2 come-from-behind victory over the Endicott College Gulls in a non-conference game Wednesday afternoon at North Field.

            The win was the second straight for the ninth-ranked Huskies, and improved their overall record to 8-3.  The Gulls had their two-game winning streak stopped and fell to 4-6 overall.  The two teams are scheduled to meet again April 15 at USM.

            Trailing 2-1 after second innings, the Huskies tied the game in the seventh inning on Bowie's fielder's choice that brought home sophomore Jake Welch (Londonderry, N.H.).

            In the ninth, Welch led off the inning with a single, and advanced to second on a groundout.  Bowie then drove a pitch from junior Davarn Nova (Buzzards Bay, Mass.) over the left-field fence to give USM the lead.  The Huskies loaded the bases on an infield error, a single and a fielder's choice, but Nova escaped further damage getting the final out with a strikeout.

            USM grabbed a 1-0 lead in its first turn at bat as sophomore Paul McDonough (Wells, Maine) doubled, moved to third on a fly ball, and scored on a single by rookie Anthony Capuano (Bangor, Maine).

            The Gulls responded in their turn at bat as senior Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass.) smacked a two-run homer.  Sophomore Cam Farnham (Andover, Mass.) led off the game with a single and moved to second on a groundout.  Oringer then took USM sophomore starter Zack Bean (Westbrook, Maine) deep to left for his second round tripper of the season.

            Junior Shyler Scates (Jefferson, Maine/Erskine Academy) came on for Bean to start the second inning and hurled 6.1 innings of four-hit shutout relief.  Scates walked one and struck out six.  Senior Andrew Richards (South Portland, Maine) took over in the eighth to pitch the final 1.2 innings to gain his fourth win of the season.

            Nova, the fifth Endicott pitcher of the day, was saddled with his first loss of the season.

            Bowie and junior Sam Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) had two hits apiece for the Huskies.  Farnham was the lone repeat hitter for the Gulls.

            Southern Maine opens its Little East Conference schedule this Saturday (12:00 p.m.) with a doubleheader at Western Connecticut State University.  Endicott will host Eastern Nazarene College for a Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader on Friday (2:00 p.m.). 

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