Southern Maine Athletics

GORHAM, Maine – The University of Southern Maine Huskies' baseball team will be No. 1 seed in the upcoming Little East Conference Baseball Championship Tournament and has earned the right to host the event thanks after splitting a doubleheader with Eastern Connecticut State University on Friday. After dropping the first game 10-3, the Huskies slugged their way to a 19-8 win in eight innings behind historic performances from senior Kyle Douin (Augusta, Maine) and junior Peter Keblinsky (Ellsworth, Maine). This is the first conference regular season title for the Huskies since 2019 and the 14th in program history.
 
Douin broke the program record for career home runs with his 37th career blast to break the mark set by Cam Seymour (2020-2024) with a homer to center field in the eighth inning of game two. With that home run, Douin also broke the program record for career runs batted in with 195, surpassing the record of 193 set by Tyler Delorme (2000-2003). Keblinsky became the first Husky to hit for the cycle since Forrest Chadwick did so against Western Connecticut State on April 12, 2014.
 
Sophomore Caleb Vacchiano (Cornish, Maine/Sacopee Valley), junior Carter Higgins (Truro, Nova Scotia) and freshman James Main (Northstonington, Conn.) each drove in three runs in the game two win. Higgins hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth to put the Huskies over the 10-run rule. Senior Chris Quigley (Halifax, Mass.) also made history for the Huskies by getting hit by four pitches.
 
Junior Gabe Gifford (Bradley, Maine/Old Town) allowed one earned run over six innings in game two while striking out eight batters to earn the win.
 
Records:
GM 1 – Southern Maine 3, Eastern Connecticut 10
Eastern Connecticut (24-12-1, 11-4 LEC)                      104 010 103    10-12-3
Southern Maine (25-10, 12-3 LEC)                                002 100 000    3-6-3
 
GM 2 – Southern Maine 19, Eastern Connecticut  4 (7 inn.)
Eastern Connecticut (24-13-1, 11-5 LEC)                         001 020 32    8-10-2
Southern Maine (26-10, 13-3 LEC)                                   031 404 25    19-16-2
 
Pitching Records:
GM 1
WP: EC, Stephen Rickert (6-2), 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 Ks, 1 HBP
LP:  SM, Colin McDonald (8-1), 2.0+ IP, 2 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 HBP, 1 HR
SV:  EC, AJ Rooks (1), 4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 7Ks
 
GM 2
WP:  SM, Gabe Gifford (4-2), 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 Ks
LP:   EC, Tommy Martorano (3-2), 4.0 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2 HBP, 1 HR
 
 
Game One Recap -

• The Warriors took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Matthew Carrera reached on a leadoff walk and moved to second when Teige Kimbler was hit by a pitch. Both runners then advanced on a flyout to center before Carerra scored on a fielder's choice.
• The lead was extended to 5-0 in the top of the third on a leadoff homer by Danny DiNorcia, a two-run shot by Ian Moser and an RBI single by Carrera. The Huskies broke through for a run in the bottom half of the inning after a single by Douin, a double by Keblinsky and a ground out by Vacchiano.
• Southern Maine got another run back in the bottom of the fourth on a single through the left side by Keblinsky. However, the Warriors countered with an RBI single by Scruggs to make the score 6-3.
• Rooks took over on the mound for the Warriors in the bottom of the sixth and struck out eight batters over the next four innings to close out the win. Carrera added an insurance run in the top of the seventh with an RBI single before the Warriors scored two more times in the top of the ninth for the 10-3 final score.  

 
 
Game Two Recap -

• The Huskies scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the third to take a 3-0 lead one a three-run double by Vacchiano. Senior Mike Anquillare (North Haven, Conn) started off the inning with a walk and moved to second when Quigley was hit by a pitch. The Warriors then got two quick outs before an error by the second baseman loaded the bases.
• Nicolas Martini tripled with one out in the top of the third before scoring on a double by Carrera to cut the score to 3-1. Keblinsky belted a solo shot to center field to lead off the bottom half of the inning to get the Huskies' lead back to three runs at 4-1.
• Sophomore Drew Scialdone (Amesbury, Mass.) opened the bottom half of the fourth with an infield single before scoring on a double in the right-center gap by Main. Vacchiano was hit by a pitch and both runners scored on a double by Douin. Douin then scored on a double by Keblinsky.
• Eastern Connecticut made the score 8-3 with a two-run single by Hank Penders in the top of fifth. However, the Huskies scored four times in the bottom of the sixth to go up 12-3. Scialdone was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The Huskies then added another run on a single up the middle by senior Dylan Firmin (Stratham, N.H./Exeter) before Main plated two runners with a double in the left-center gap.
• The visitors got three runs back in the top of sixth on a single by Lucas Malave and a two-run double by Moser. Keblinsky completed his cycle with a leadoff triple to start the bottom of the inning and scored a double by Vacchiano. Scialdone drove in another run of a sacrifice fly to make the score 14-6 after seven innings of play.
• Penders drove in two runs with a two-out double to the right field fence despite a jumping effort by Main to make the play. Main, however, was able to recover and teamed up with Vacchiano to throw out Penders at third base to end the inning.
• Maine then singled to start the bottom of the eighth and moved to third on a throwing error by the Eastern Connecticut third baseman. With runners on the corners, Douin belted his record-breaking home run over the center field fence to extend the Southern Maine lead to 17-8. After Keblinsky was hit by a pitch, Higgins belted a home run to left field to end the game and give the Huskies their first LEC regular season title since 2019.

 
Up Next:
Southern Maine will host the 2026 LEC Baseball Championship Tournament on May 6-9 at Ed Flaherty Field in Gorham.  As the No. 1 seed, the Huskies will face No. 6 seed Vermont State University Castleton in their first game at 12:00 PM on Wednesday, May 6.