Huskies Hit Three HR; Delaney Gets Second Win

            BABSON PARK, Mass. -- The University of Southern Maine baseball team hit three home runs and rookie right-hander Bobby Delaney (Merrick, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) pitched six innings as the Huskies held off the Babson College Beavers, 7-5, in a non-conference game Thursday afternoon at Govoni Field.

            The win improves the Huskies overall record 17-7 and moves veteran head coach Ed Flaherty within four wins of 900 career victories.  The Beavers dropped their sixth straight game to fall to 11-15 overall.

            The Huskies had six extra-base hits among their 11 total hits, including home runs from freshman Anthony Capuano (Bangor, Maine) and sophomores Damon Wallace (Gorham, Maine) and Paul McDonough (Wells, Maine).  Junior Sam Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) paced the attack going 3 for 5 with two doubles and a single.  Senior Brendon Joyce (Standish, Maine/Gorham) and Capuano had a pair of hits

            Delaney started on the mound pitching into the seventh inning before handing ball to the bullpen.  Delaney allowed four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five to earn his second win.  Senior Andrew Richards (South Portland, Maine), the last of three USM relievers, picked up his fourth save hurling 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief.

            Senior Dillon Gonzalez (Beverly, Mass.) had a double and a triple to pace the Beavers.  Sophomores Jacob Weiss (Irvine, Calif.) and Jack Halpin (Glastonbury, Conn.), and senior Sean McPhee (Framingham, Mass.), had two hits apiece.  Rookie reliever John Floegel (Summit, N.J.) was saddled with his third loss of the season against one win after giving up four runs in 4 1/3 innings of work.

            USM grabbed a 1-0 in its first turn with the bats as Dexter doubled, stole third and scored on a McDonough sacrifice fly.  Capuano made it 2-0 in the second inning leading off the frame with a solo blast to center field.

            The Beavers tied the game in the fourth as Gonzalez doubled to right center and scored on a Halpin single.  Halpin would move to second on a wild pitch and steal third before coming home on McPhee's fielder's choice.

            Wallace snapped the tie in the next inning leading off with a solo homer.  Rookie Devin Warren (Smithfield, Maine/Messalonskee) was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a single from Joyce and score on sophomore Matt Bender's (Walpole, Mass.) sacrifice fly.

            The Huskies got two quick runs in the sixth as Dexter doubled to lead off the sixth inning, and McDonough smacked a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw from Floegel.

            Gonzalez scored his second run of the day in the sixth coming home on a sacrifice fly by Halpin after leading off the inning with a triple.

            Junior Nick DiBiase (Portland, Maine/Deering) tripled in the seventh and scored on a Dexter sac fly to make it 7-3.

            The Beavers scored twice in the seventh on an RBI single by Weiss and an RBI ground out from rookie David Lennon (Windermere, Fla.) to close the gap to 7-5.

            Richards came on to get the final out of the seventh, and worked out of a two-out, first-and-third situation in the eighth inning before retiring the side in order in the ninth for his fourth save of the season.

            Southern Maine travels to Plymouth State University on Saturday (12:00 p.m.) for a Little East Conference doubleheader.  Babson begins a three-game series against Emerson College on Friday (3:30 p.m.). 

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