GORHAM, Maine – Junior Gabe Gifford (Bradley, Maine/Old Town) had 10 strikeouts over seven innings to help lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 10-2 win over the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineers in a non-conference baseball game Saturday afternoon at Ed Flaherty Field.
 
Sophomore Caleb Vacchiano (Cornish, Maine/Sacopee Valley) was 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs scored to highlight a 12-hit Husky attack.  Junior Mike Anquillare (North Haven, Conn.) was 2-for-4 with two RBI, while freshman Kaiden Morin (Brewer, Maine) went 4-for-4 with two RBI. 
 
Records:
MIT (11-14)                             000 101 000.   2-5-1
Southern Maine (21-6)           300 102 40x.   10-12-2
 
Pitching Records:
WP: SM, Gabe Gifford (2-2), 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 Ks
LP:  MIT, Cole Foster (0-2), 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 Ks
 
How It Happened:

• In control from the start, Gifford sat the first three Engineers he face in order, earning back-to-back strikeouts to start the game, and the Huskies put up three runs in the bottom of the first to take an early 3-0 lead.  Gifford went on to retire nine straight, four by strikeouts, en route to his win.
• Vacchiano had two of his three RBI in the game in his first at bat, doubling to center field.  Vacchiano drove in senior Kyle Douin (Augusta, Maine/Cony) and junior Peter Keblinksy (Ellsworth, Maine) who had back-to-back one-out singles in the inning.  USM went up 3-0 when Vacchiano scored on a wild pitch.
• The score remained unchanged until the top of the fourth when Dalton Chi laced a home run off of Gifford over the left field for the first MIT hit of the day. Gifford bounced back however keeping the game at 3-1, getting a pair of swinging strikeouts in the inning.
• Morin made up for the run in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single to the gap in right for a 4-1 Husky lead.  Morin drove in junior Carter Higgins (Truro, Nova Scotia) who reached after being hit by a pitch and stole second to get himself into scoring position.
• MIT made it 4-2 in the top of the sixth as Chi walked to lead off.  After a pop up, Zev Moore knocked an RBI double to the gap in left.  Moore advanced to third no a ground-out on the next play, but Gifford got the final out with his ninth strikeout of the game.
• Anquillare had an RBI double and Morin and RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to give the Huskies a 6-2 cushion. With Morin on first and one out, the Huskies threatened for a big inning but a double-play kept the USM runs to two in the frame.
• In his final inning, Gifford worked around a lead-off single, getting a line-out to center field, his 10^th strikeout of the game, and a pop up to shortstop, sending USM to the bottom of the seventh with a 6-2 lead.
• In the seventh, USM scored four more to put the game out of reach 10-2.  Junior Evan Baschnagel (Garden City, NY/Chaminade) reached after being hit by a pitch for a team-leading 13^th time this season, stole second and third, and then came around to score on a wild pitch for a 7-2 USM lead. Vacchiano had an RBI single to short, while sophomore Drew Scialdone (Amesbury, Mass.) launched an RBI triple to left.  Anquillare drove in the final run with a hard-hit ball up the middle, scoring Scialdone.
• Junior Carson Black (Porter, Maine/Sacopee Valley) pitched the eighth getting a pair of strikeouts, while Keblinsky threw the ninth also getting a pair of strikeouts.

 
Up Next:
 Southern Maine returns to Little East Conference play at Plymouth State on Tuesday (3:30 pm), and then face Saint Joseph's College (Maine) in non-conference action on Wednesday (3:30 pm).
 
 
 
-cac-