LEWISTON, MAINE – Senior
Joe Bova (Boston, Mass./The Winchendon School) had a massive day at the plate going 3-for-4 with two home runs and a double to drive in four runs and score two to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 15-9 win over the Bates College Bobcats in a non-conference baseball game Wednesday afternoon at Leahey Field.
Bova has hit a home run in the last two games for the Huskies, hitting the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth against Bates in yesterday's home win (9-8) before launching two today against the Bobcats. Playing 16 games this season, mostly as a reserve, Bova is hitting .273 (6-for-22), and three of his six hits have been for home runs.
Sophomore
Mike Anquillare (North Haven, Conn.) also had a strong day offensively with a 3-for-5 effort with three runs scored and three RBI, including a two-run home run in the seventh. Juniors
Dylan Firmin (Stratham, NH/Exeter) and
Chris Quigley (Halifax, Mass./Silver Lake Regional) each had two RBI. Firmin was 2-for-5 with to runs scored, while Quigley was 2-for-5 with a run, including a solo home run in the second.
Record:
Southern Maine 15, Bates 9
Southern Maine (18-17) 421 501 200 15-15-0
Bates (12-20) 220 100 022 9-13-3
Pitching Records:
WP: SM, Gavin Rawstrom (1-1), 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
LP: B, John Tully (4-3), 1.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
How It Happened –Southern Maine 15, Bates 9
- In a high-scoring first three innings, the Huskies led Bates 7-4. The Huskies struck for four runs in the first highlighted by an RBI double to the gap in left from Bova as USM took advantage of a pair of Bobcat errors.
- Bates halved its deficit in the first on a pair of hits. A lead-off single Keagan Ryan, and a two-run home run to left from David Swift.
- USM made it a 6-2 game in the second as Quigley led off with a solo shot and freshman Drew Scialdone (Amesbury, Mass.) picked up an RBI double. Bates answered in its half of the inning however on back-to-back RBI doubles from Brennan Kelly and Ryan for a 6-4 game.
- In the third, Bova hit the first of his two home runs in the game with a lead-off solo shot to left-center, and the Huskies led 7-4. After a quiet 1-2-3 third from Bates, Southern Maine broke open the game with five runs in the fourth to ballon its lead to 12-4.
- Junior Kyle Douin (Augusta, Maine/Cony) led off the inning with a single and the Huskies had two baserunners after a batter was hit-by-a-pitch. Anquillare drove in the first run of the inning with a single through the left side making it 8-4. After getting an out against the Huskies, both Anquillare and sophomore Peter Keblinsky (Ellsworth, Maine) moved up a base to third and second on stolen bases. Firmin drove in both with a single to right field before Bova launched a two-run home run to right for the 12-4 lead.
- Bates was able to cut back a run in the bottom of the fourth as John Federico had a one-out double down the left field line and then scored on a single to left from Brennan Kelley.
- The score remained unchanged, 12-5, after the fifth. In the sixth Quigley had an RBI single to left, making it 13-5 before Anquillare drove in USM's final two runs of the game with a two-run homer to the gap in left. The home run is Anquillare's third of the season.
- Bates scored the final four runs of the game with two in the eighth off of a two-run homer from Swift, and another two-run shot in the ninth from Liam Yardley. Yardley's HR made it a 15-9 game, but the Huskies were able to get the final outs of the inning for the win.
Up Next:
The Huskies close out their regular season at home with a Little East Conference doubleheader on Friday (12:00 pm) against WestConn. Southern Maine will celebrate its senior student-athletes prior to the game:
Anthony Poole,
Connor Burgess,
Kyle Douin, Gavin Rawstrom,
Sam Economy and
Joe Bova.
-cac-