CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Junior
Anthony Poole (South Portland, Maine), sophomore
Hunter Brissette (Lisbon, Maine/Lisbon Falls) and junior
Connor Burgess (Halifax, Mass./Silver Lake Regional) each had a home run to lead a 15-hit attack as the University of Southern Maine Huskies defeated the Massachusetts of Institute of Technology Engineers 16-3 in a non-conference baseball game Wednesday afternoon at Fran O'Brien Field in Cambridge, Mass.
Poole was 4-for-6 at the dish with two RBI and three runs scored, while Brissette was 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored. Burgess drove in three runs finishing the game 2-for-4 at the plate with one run scored.
Freshman
Colin McDonald (Gorham, Maine) had a strong game on the bump pitching six inning and allowed three earned runs on five hits and three walks. He had four strikeouts.
Series History:
Today's game marked the 14
th meeting between the Huskies and the Engineers. Southern Maine leads the overall series 10-4. MIT claimed the victory against the Huskies in 2023 by the score of 8-4.
Records:
Southern Maine (3-9) 510 072 100 16-15-0
MIT (7-5) 201 000 000 3-6-5
Pitching Records:
WP: SM,
Colin McDonald (1-1), 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 Ks
LP: MIT, Karl Meyer, 4.0 IP, 7 H, 10 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 8 Ks
How It Happened:
- Southern Maine scored five runs in the top of the first to take the lead early, taking advantage of the first of five costly fielding errors by MIT. Brissette led off the inning with a single, and the Huskies were up 2-0 on an error, a passed ball and a wild pitch before an out was recorded. Senior Jack LeBlond (Lewiston, Maine/Bridgton Academy) made it 3-0 with an RBI sacrifice fly before junior Joe Bova (Boston, Mass./The Winchendon School) made it 5-0 with a two-run double.
- MIT tacked on two runs with two outs in the first cutting its disadvantage to 5-2, but McDonald bounced back to end the innings.
- The Huskies added on a run in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly from senior Lucas Francis (Lisbon, Maine) to lead 6-2, and MIT took one run back in the bottom of the third with a solo home run. The score remained unchanged, 6-3, in the Huskies favor until the top of the fifth when Southern Maine blew the game open with seven runs to lead 13-3.
- After back-to-back singles from Francis and LeBlond, Burgess started the monster inning for the Huskies with a three-run home run to left field for a 9-3 USM lead. Three batters later, Brissette singled to load the bases. With one out, Pool singled to right field for a 10-3 lead before senior Cam Seymour (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) drove in a pair with a single to right for a 12-3 USM advantage. Pool scored on a passed ball for the final run of the inning and a 13-3 USM lead. McDonald controlled MIT's half of the inning, sitting the Engineers down in order.
- Brissette tacked on another run for the Huskies with a solo shot in the top of the sixth for a 15-3 lead, and McDonald continued to roll getting two fly outs and a strikeout around a walk to head to the seventh.
- In the top of the seventh, Pool drove in the final run of the game for Southern Maine with a lead off home run to left. Husky senior Dylan Miner (East Baldwin, Maine/Sacopee Valley), graduate student Owen Sullivan (Biddeford, Maine) and sophomore Matt Burnett (Ellsworth, Maine) each pitched an inning of scoreless relief for the 16-3 final.
Up Next:
Southern Maine remains on the road and will open its Little East Conference schedule at UMass Dartmouth on Friday (12 pm and 3 pm) for a doubleheader. The games were originally scheduled for Saturday, March 23.
-cac-
