GORHAM, Maine – Securing the No. 3 seed, the University of Southern Maine Huskies are preparing to compete at the 2023 Little East Conference Baseball Tournament Championship May 10-13. Hosted by No. 1 seed Rhode Island College Anchormen, the 2023 LEC Regular Season Champions, the top six teams in the final regular season standing qualify for the double-elimination championship tournament. The Huskies will face No. 4 UMass Boston in their opening round game at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, May 10.
The 2023 Little East Conference Champion will receive the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, beginning with Regional Championships starting May 19. Sixty teams will be selected for the championship field. The NCAA will host an online selection show on May 15 (12:00 pm EST) announcing participating teams and regional sites.
THE BASICS
When: Wednesday, May 10 – Saturday, May 13, 2023
Where: Pontarelli Field (Providence, R.I.) – Rhode Island College
Participating Teams: Castleton University, Eastern Connecticut State, Rhode Island College, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, and University of Southern Maine
The History:
Southern Maine has won the LEC tournament championship six times (1997, 1999, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2021) and has finished as the tournament runner-up seven times (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2014). The tournament championship was first sponsored by the Little East Conference in 1997.
In 26 appearances in the Little East Conference Tournament Championship (1997-2022*), Southern Maine has played in 100 games and has a record of 61-39 (.618 winning percentage).
2023 Little East Conference Tournament Seeds:
- Rhode Island College 28-11 (15-1 LEC)
- Eastern Connecticut 30-8 (12-4 LEC)
- Southern Maine 17-19 (12-4 LEC)
- UMass Boston 22-16 (10-6 LEC
- UMass Dartmouth 19-16 (8-8 LEC)
- Castleton 17-20 (6-10 LEC)
2023 LEC Championship Format
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Game 1: No. 1 Rhode Island College vs. No. 6 Castleton - 9:00 a.m.
Game 2: No. 2 Eastern Connecticut vs. No. 5 UMass Dartmouth - 11:30 a.m.
Game 3: No. 3 Southern Maine vs. No. 4 UMass Boston - 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 11, 2023
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser 2 - 9:00 a.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3 - 11:30 a.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 - 2:00 p.m.
If four teams remain after Game 6, the following procedure will be observed:
Friday, May 12, 2023
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 - 9:00 a.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 6 - 11:30 a.m.
Game 9: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 - 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 13, 2023
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9 - 12:00 p.m.
Game 11: If Necessary: Same teams as in Game 10 - 3:00 p.m.
If five teams remain after Game 6, the following procedure will be observed:
Friday, May 12, 2023
Game 7: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser - 9:00 a.m.
Game 6 Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner - 11:30 a.m.
Game 5 Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7 - 2:00 p.m.
If two teams remain after Game 9, the following procedure will be observed:
Saturday, May 13, 2023
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9 - 12:00 p.m.
Game 11: If Necessary: Same teams as Game 10 - 3:00 p.m.
If three teams remain after Game 9, the following procedure will be observed:
Saturday, May 13, 2023
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 9 - 12:00 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 - 3:00 p.m.
About the 2023 Huskies
Playing a challenging out of conference schedule, the Huskies are 17-19 overall and 12-4 in the Little East Conference. The Huskies four in-conference losses are to Eastern Connecticut (0-2) and Rhode Island College (0-2). Southern Maine has played 12 games against opponents who are either nationally ranked or in the receiving votes category.
As a team, USM is hitting .276 and are led by senior senior C
Jason Komulainen (Gorham, Maine), senior OF
Tom Vesosky (Colchester, Vermont), and freshman 3B
Kyle Douin (Augusta, Maine/Cony) who are hitting .365, .331 and .303 respectively. Racking up 23 RBI, Komulainen is hitting .365 (38-for-104) with 11 doubles, two triples, and two home runs. He has a .567 slugging percentage, and is second on the team with six stolen bases.
Vesosky is hitting .331 with a team-leading 44 hits in 133 at-bats. He has scored 26 runs and has driven in 18 RBI. Douin is hitting .303 (43-for-142) with 22 runs scored, a team-leading 29 RBI. The Huskies' rookie has nine doubles, three triples and four home runs. Junior DH
Cam Seymour (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) is also in the mix offensively for the Huskies, hitting .257 with a team-leading 29 RBI and nine home runs. The Huskies' slugger has 19 extra base hits this season for a .529 slugging percentage.
Junior
Bryce Afthim (Windham, Maine) leads the Huskies' pitching core along with sophomore
Clay Robbins (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little). Afthim has pitched 61.0 innings for the Huskies with four complete games and one shut out. With a record of 3-2 against conference opponents, Afthim has 55 strikeouts to his credit. Robbins is 5-2 overall and has fired 51.0 innings, striking out 46. Huskies' reliever junior
Lucas Francis (Lisbon, Maine) has given his team steady innings (42.1) and is 3-3 with a team-high 24 appearances.
About No. 4 UMass Boston
UMass Boston (22-16, 10-6 LEC) is hitting .287 as a team, and is led by Aidan Blake's .364 average. Blake has 11 doubles, three triples, five home runs and a team-best 37 RBI . On the mound, the Beacons' Rylan Dillon leads the way with a 4-3 record and 47.1 innings pitched, along with Ross Dexter (3-3) and 50.1 innings pitched. Dexter has 59 strikeouts this season.
USM swept UMass Boston in the regular season (April 22) by the scores of 3-1 and 9-3. Afthim fired a complete game in the 3-1 win striking out nine, while Robbins earned the game two win with 6.1 strong innings, including six strikeouts. Komulainen was 5-for-7 over the two games with UMB, driving in three runs.
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