LAKE MYRTLE, Florida   –  Evan Grimes drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 11^th with an RBI single to center, and the Russell Sage College Gators held off the University of Southern Maine Huskies 14-11 in a high-scoring extra-inning baseball game Thursday evening at the RussMatt Invitational in Florida.
 
Joseph Karpierz led the Gators' 18-hit attack going 4-for-6 with five RBI, while Jayden Kennedy was 3-for-6 with three RBI.
 
The Huskies pounded out 17 hits and rallied twice in the game from a 8-1 deficit in the seventh, and an 11-8 deficit in the bottom of the ninth, but could not make the come-back bid stick.  Juniors Evan Baschnagel (Garden City, NY) and and Carter Higgins (Truro, Nova Scotia) and  sophomore Drew Scialdone (Amesbury, Mass.) led the Huskies with three hits and two RBI each.  Baschnagel was 3-for-4 with three walks, two runs scored and a home run. Scialdone finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBI, a walk, a run scored and a double.  Higgins went 3-for-6 with two doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored.
 
Senior Kyle Douin (Augusta, Maine/Cony), junior Peter Keblinsky (Ellsworth, Maine), and junior Quinn Dillon (Gorham, Maine) each collected a pair of hits. Dillon had a double and a triple, while Douin roped a solo home run.
 
Records:
Russell Sage (4-2)                    000  201  530 03   14-18-1
Southern Maine (1-1)                000  100  613 00    11-17-1              
 
Today's game is the first meeting between the two schools.
 
Pitching Records:
WP: RS, Xavier Garcia (1-1), 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
LP:  SM, Jack Bruno (0-1), 2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
SV: none
 
 
How It Happened:

• Holding a 3-1 lead over the Huskies, the Gators exploded for five runs in the top of the seventh to snag a commanding 8-1 advantage over Southern Maine.  With one out and a runner on first and second, Russell Sage used five consecutive singles to put a crooked number on the board.  Anthony Rizzo, John Kelleher drove in the first two runs, while Jayden Kennedy knocked a two RBI single to right for a 7-1 lead. Joseph Karpierz's single to left made it a five-run inning before Southern Maine retired the side.
• Southern Maine responded in the home-half of the inning pushing six runs across the plate on seven hits.  Junior Evan Baschnagel led off the inning with a single, and Douin and junior Peter Keblinsky (Ellsworth, Maine) loaded the bases with back-to-back singles. With one out, sophomore Drew Scialdone (Amesbury, Mass.) hit a two-run single to right making it an 8-3 game. With a switch at pitcher, Russell Sage got the second out of the inning before senior Mike Anquillare (North Haven, Conn.) picked up an RBI with a single to center for an 8-4 game.  With two on, junior Quinn Dillon (Gorham, Maine) tripled to right for two RBI making it an 8-6 game before junior Carter Higgins (Truro, Nova Scotia) pulled USM to within one, 8-7, with an RBI double to left before the Gators got the final out of the inning.
• Russell Sage continued to put runs up on the board in the top of the eight adding three more to its total, using three hits, a sac fly and taking advantage of a Husky fielding error. Karpierz delivered again for the Gators with a two-out two-run single to put the Gators up 11-7.
• USM took one run back in the bottom of the eighth as Douin launched a solo home run to lead off the inning, but then the Huskies were retired in order to trail 11-8 headed into the ninth.
• USM took care of business in the ninth, as Husky relief pitcher senior Jack Bruno (Upton, Mass.) retired the Gators in order, keeping the Huskies within striking distance. 
• Facing its final three outs, Southern Maine's first two batters went down in order before the Huskies' rallied for three runs to tie the game up and force extra innings. Higgins started the rally with an RBI single to center before junior Evan Baschnagel (Garden City, NY) tied the game up with a two-run homer. The Huskies looked to continue the rally with runners on first and third, but the Gators stayed alive getting the final out .
• Bruno continued his strong pitching in the 10^th, getting a ground out and a fly out before the picking off Anthony Rizzo at first erasing the base running and sending the Huskies to the plate. The Huskies threatened in the 10^th, with a leadoff double from Scialdone and an infield single to put runners on first and third, but Russell Sage earned a double play, and then got a ground out to send the game to the 11^th.
• The Gators went ahead in the top of 11, using three consecutive one-out singles, including an RBI single to center from Evan Grimes. After Grimes' RBI single to plate the go-ahead run, Colin Casey followed with a double to left for a 13-11 Gator lead. Darren Dengler extended the lead to 14-11 with an RBI ground out before Southern Maine put the inning away with a fly out.
• Trailing by three runs with just three outs to stay alive, the Huskies' earned base runners with walks drawn from Baschnagel and Douin but Russell Sage's Xavier Garcia got the next three Southern Maine hitters in order to give the Gators the win.

 
Inside the Box Score

• Douin's home run is the 26^th of his career, and first of the 2026 season.  Douin is now in a three-way tie for seventh in USM's career record books. With today's RBI, Douin now has 140 in his career.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies will return to action on Friday, March 13 (1:00 pm) in Florida against Lakeland University.  Southern Maine continues on its spring break trip at the RussMatt Invitational on Saturday (3:00 pm) with a doubleheader against Oneonta.  
 
 
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