Scates Strikes Out a Career High 10

            GORHAM, Maine - Junior Shyler Scates (Jefferson, Maine/Erskine Academy) struck out 10 batters to propel the top-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 5-3 win over the sixth-seeded Western Connecticut State University Colonials in the first game of the 2015 Little East Conference Baseball Championship Wednesday morning at the USM Baseball Stadium.

            With the win, Southern Maine, the 2015 LEC regular season champions, improved to 28-12 and will play tomorrow at 12:30 against the loser of the game between fourth-seeded UMass Boston and third-seeded Rhode Island College.  Western Connecticut fell to 17-21 and will play in an elimination game tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. against the loser of the game between fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University and second-seeded UMass Dartmouth.

            Scates, who did not yield a walk, improved to 5-1 on the season allowing three earned runs on eight hits in 7.1 innings.  Scates' 10 strikeouts are a career-best for the junior right-hander.  Senior Andrew Richards (South Portland, Maine) picked up his team-leading eighth save of the season pitching the final 1.2 innings.  Richards gave up four hits and struck out two.

            Southern Maine jumped on top of the Colonials in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.  Junior Nick DiBiase (Portland, Maine/Deering) led off the inning with a double down the left field line and scored on an RBI ground out after advancing to third on a passed ball.  Junior Sam Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) scored USM's second run of the inning when he crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly from senior Brendon Joyce (Standish, Maine/Gorham).

            Western Connecticut pulled back within a run of the Huskies in the third as senior Gus Constantino (Oxford, Conn.) launched a solo home run over the right-field fence to make it 2-1.  The Huskies took the run back in the bottom half of the inning however, on an RBI double from sophomore Matt Bender (Walpole, Mass.).

            The Colonials threatened in the sixth, loading the bases with one out.  Junior Chris Callahan (Southington, Conn./Holy Cross) started the inning with a lead-off double.  The Colonials would load the bases on a hit batsman, and a single to left field by sophomore Frank Vartuli (Westport, Conn./Staples).  Scates worked his way out of the jam getting back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.

            Southern Maine extended its lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the seventh. After a lead-off double from DiBiase, Dexter brought him home with a double of his own.  Dexter came around to score on a Western Connecticut error.

            In the top of the eighth, Western Connecticut made it a two-run game scoring a pair of runs on four hits.  After getting the first out of the inning on a ground out, Scates gave up a single to junior Matt Greene (New London, Conn.) and a double to sophomore Dave Palladino (Southington, Conn.).  With runners on second and third with one down, Scates was lifted in favor of Richards.

            Richards gave up a two-run single to Vartuli scoring Greene and Palladino to make it 5-3.  After allowing a single up the middle from sophomore Peter Nanos (Farmington, Conn.), Richards escaped further damage getting an inning-ending double play.

            Western Connecticut threatened again in the ninth.  With two down, sophomore EJ Lavoie (East Granby, Conn.) took first after being hit by a pitch and moved to second on a bloop single to center field by Callahan.  Greene singled through the right side to load the bases, but Richards came back to preserve the Huskies' win getting a strikeout to end the game.

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