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Box Score 2 Southern Maine Salvages Split at Keene State
KEENE, N.H. -- Senior Jake Glauser (Goffstown, N.H.) singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning to snap an 8-8 tie and the University of Southern Maine went on to defeat Keene State College 11-8 in the nightcap of a Little East Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the Owls Athletic Complex.
The Owls came from behind in the first game to take a 5-4, 11-inning victory over the Huskies on rookie Devin Springfield's (Jaffrey, N.H.) bases-loaded single.
The split leaves the Huskies at 23-11 overall and 8-4 in the conference with one week remaining in the regular season. The Owls move to 16-20 overall and 4-8 in LEC play.
Game One
The Huskies squandered two three-run leads (3-0 and 4-1) as the Owls came up with three runs in the seventh inning to tie the score, and won it in the 11th on Springfield's base hit.
Southern Maine took advantage of two hits and three KSC errors in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Senior Nick DiBiase (Portland, Maine/Deering) scored when he and senior Sam Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) stole third and second respectively, and the throw sailed into the outfield allowing DiBiase to score. Dexter would later steal third and score on an infield error.
The Huskies added to their lead in the third inning when DiBiase led off the frame with a triple, and scored when Dexter followed with a single.
Keene State got one run back in the fifth on a single by rookie Mac Struthers (Strafford, N.H./Coe-Brown), a double by senior Joe Libby (Hooksett, N.H.) and an RBI groundout from senior Billy Hartmann (Greenland, N.H.).
USM scored another unearned run in the sixth to restore its three-run lead as sophomore Sam Stauble (Harrison, Maine/Bridgton Academy) scored from second when the Owls threw the ball away attempting to turn a double play.
The Owls batted around in the seventh to score three times. Libby had an RBI double to chase home Struthers with the first run, and Hartmann followed with another double to score Libby. Hartmann scored the third run on Springfield's groundout to first base.
The winning run came home in the 11th after the Owls loaded the bases on a Libby single and two walks. Springfield greeted USM rookie reliever Matt Correale (Peabody, Mass.), who came on to replace classmate Jake Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee), with a single to left field bringing Libby home.
DiBiase led the USM offense going 5 for 6 at the plate. He was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. Sam Dexter and Stauble had a pair of singles. Jake Dexter suffered his first loss of the season after allowing the one run on five hits and three walks while fanning four in four innings of work.
Libby was 4 for 6, including a pair of doubles, for the Owls. Hartmann, Springfield, Struthers and sophomore Christian Bourgea (Litchfield, N.H./Campbell) all had two hits as the Owls outhit the Huskies 14-11. Senior Eddie Dionne (Concord, N.H.), who pitched 1/3 of an inning, picked up the win.
Game Two
The Huskies jumped out to a 6-0 lead on six consecutive base hits in the first inning, highlighted by a solo home run by DiBiase leading off the game and a three-run shot by sophomore Brandon Martins (Manorville, N.Y.).
The Owls pecked away at the deficit for a single unearned run in the first inning, and three more runs in the third on an RBI single by Hartmann followed by a two-run homer from Bourgea. The Owls scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to tie the game at 6-6.
The teams traded two-run rallies in the sixth to leave the score all knotted up at 8-8. For USM, Glauser tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman Kip Richard (Kennebunk, Maine). DiBiase drove in the second run with a single. Bourgea accounted for the Keene State runs with another two-run homer.
Southern Maine broke the tie in the seventh on Glauser's RBI single, and added insurance runs in the eighth on a Sam Dexter RBI single and in the ninth on a KSC infield error.
Glauser led the Huskies' 13-hit attack going 3 for 5 with two RBI. DiBiase, Sam Dexter, Stauble and Jake Dexter all had two hits. Senior left-hander Dan Kinnon (Londonderry, N.H.) picked up his third win of the season with 2 2/3 innings of relief. Correale pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his fourth save of the season.
Bourgea was 2 for 3 with five RBI for the Owls. Libby had a triple and two singles and scored three times. Springfield had a double and two singles. Sophomore reliever Tim Coppinger (Schenectady, N.Y.), the second of four KSC hurlers, was saddled with the loss.
Up Next
Southern Maine returns to action tomorrow afternoon (12:00 p.m.) for a Senior Day non-conference doubleheader against Framingham State University. Keene State is off until Friday (May 6) when it hosts the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for a Little East Conference doubleheader.
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