Huskies Collect 19 Hits; Quintal with 2 Home Runs and 5 RBI

GORHAM, Maine –  Sophomore Ben Lambert (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) struck out nine in a strong performance on the mound and the 23rd-ranked University of Southern Maine Huskies pounded out 19 hits off of seven different pitchers to defeated the fourth-ranked UMass Boston Beacons 14-6 in a Little East Conference baseball game Tuesday afternoon at Ed Flaherty Field. 

Earning the regular season split with the Beacons, Southern Maine collects its third consecutive win to improve to 21-8 overall and 7-3 in the Little East Conference.  The Huskies snapped the Beacons' 15-game winnings streak and handed UMB its first loss in the month of April.  The LEC leader, UMB is now 26-6 overall and 9-1 in the Little East.  

Led by a 4-for-5 efforts at the plate from junior Jake Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) and freshman Sam Troiano (South Portland, Maine) six Huskies collected at least two hits as USM matched its season-high in hits. Nine of Southern Maine's 19 hits went for extra bases.  Senior Kyle Heath (Westbrook, Maine) went 3-for-4 with three doubles.  Dexter and Troiano each had a double, while Troiano added knocked a triple.  

Junior Zach Quintal (Eliot, Maine/Marshwood) had a pair of home runs, driving in five runs.  Quintal hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the third, and then a two-run home run in the fourth. Sophomore Andrew Hillier (Bangor, Maine) also had a home run with a three-run shot in the fourth as part of a six-run inning for the Huskies.

Trailing the Huskies 1-0 after the first inning, UMass Boston used three doubles in the top of the second to go ahead 3-1.  Sophomore Anthony Cecere (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield Memorial) led off the inning with a double to right field, and was followed by an RBI double down the left field line from Nick Herzog (Riverhead, N.Y.) for a 1-1 score. With one down, Charlie Huegi (Sandy Hook, Conn.) drew a walk. Despite the second out of the inning on strikes, both Huegi and Herzog moved up the bases on a double steal, and Kyle Boudrais (Medford, Mass.) doubled them both home with a hit to deep right field for a 3-1 UMB advantage. 

The score remained unchanged until the bottom of the third.  With two outs, Dexter collected his sixth double of the season, and sophomore Andrew Olszak (Danver, Mass.) reached first after being hit by a pitch. Rallying with two down, Quintal hit his first homer of the game, clearing the scoreboard in left field for three runs and a 4-3 USM lead. 

Lambert got a pair of strikeouts in the top of the fourth to work his way around a base hit and a USM error, setting the Huskies up for a six-run uprising in the home half of the inning.  Southern Maine's first four batters connected for base hits to chase UMB starter Joey Rogers (Dighton, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth) out of the game. Heath led off with a double, and advanced to third on a single from Troiano. Sophomore Dylan Hapworth (Winslow, Maine) drove in Heath with a single to center before Hillier cleared the bases with a three-run home run to put USM up 8-3.  Scoring with two outs again, USM tacked on another pair of runs for a 10-3 lead when Olszack drew a walk and Quintal hit him home with his second home run of the game. 

Lambert picked up three more strikeouts over the fifth and sixth innings and kept the Beacons off the scoreboard through the top of the seventh. With Lambert keeping the Beacons off of the base path, Southern Maine added three more runs in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles from Hapworth and Hillier and a sac fly RBI from junior Devin Warren (Smithfield, Maine/Messalonskee) for an 13-3. 

Junior reliever Henry Curran (South Portland, Maine) struck out the side in the top of the eight and Hapworth added another RBI single to make it 14-3 headed to the top of the ninth.  The Beacons rallied for three runs in the inning on an RBI single from Boudrais and a two-run single from Ryan McCormick (Cumberland, R.I./La Salle Academy) before the Huskies cut down UMB for the final out and the 14-6 win. 

Lambert earned the win pitching seven solid innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits and five walks while striking out nine.  Lambert is now 2-2 on the season.  Rogers took the loss and is 3-2.  Rogers pitched three innings, allowing eight earned runs on nine hits and a walk.  

Southern Maine travels to Bates College on Wednesday (4:00 p.m.) for a non-conference game, and then returns home for a single game against Wheaton College on Thursday (4:00 p.m.).  

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