(with contributions from Bates College Sports Information)

Southern Maine Overcomes Bates 9-5

            LEWISTON, Maine -- Freshman right-hander Jack Donnelly (Walpole, Mass.) combined with three relievers to strikeout 12 as the University of Southern Maine defeated Bates College 9-5 in non-conference baseball action Thursday afternoon at Leahey Field.

            The Huskies earned their fourth win in the last five games to improve to 22-10 overall.  The Bobcats dropped their fifth straight game to fall to 10-17 on the season.  The two teams will play again next Wednesday (3:30 p.m.) at the USM Baseball Stadium.

            Donnelly went 5 2/3 innings allowing four runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out five.  Senior relievers Ryan Browner (Georgetown, Mass.) and Dan Kinnon (Londonderry, N.H.) each fanned two, and rookie Jake Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) struck out the side in the ninth inning.

            Senior Nick DiBiase (Portland, Maine/Deering), sophomore Nick Bowie (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) and Dexter led the Huskies' offense with two hits apiece.  Bowie had USM's lone extra base hit, a two-run homer in the fourth inning that put the Huskies in the lead for good.  USM also took advantage of seven walks and six Bates errors.

            Junior Ryan McCarthy (Plaistow, N.H./Timberlane Regional) hit two home runs and drove in three runs for the Bobcats.  Senior Evan Czopek (Portland, Ore./Lincoln), who came into the game in the fifth inning, had a double and single.  Sophomore Andrew Freeman (Newton, Mass./Noble & Greenough), the second of nine pitchers used by the Bobcats, was tagged with the loss.  Freeman went two innings allowing three runs (two earned) on two hits.  He did not walk or strikeout a batter.

            Tied 2-2 going into the fourth inning, DiBiase singled with one out and trotted home when Bowie homered over the left field fence.  The Huskies scored an unearned run as rookie Kyle O'Connor (Lynn, Mass./Lynn English) was hit by a Freeman pitch, took second on a wild pitch and scored on an infield error.

            McCarthy got two runs back for Bates in the home half of the inning taking Connelly deep for the second time.  McCarthy led off the Bates first with a home run.  The two round trippers were the first of the season for McCarthy.

            DiBiase drove in a run with a single in the fifth, and USM added three insurance runs in the seventh to cement the victory.  Sophomore Sam Stauble (Harrison, Maine/Bridgton Academy) and freshman Kip Richard (Kennebunk, Maine) had RBI singles in the three-run uprising.  Stauble scored the final run working a double steal with DiBiase.

            Southern Maine travels to Keene State College on Saturday (12:00 p.m.) for a Little East Conference doubleheader. 

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