GORHAM, Maine – Trailing 7-2 in the bottom of the eighth, the no. 2 seed University of Southern Maine Huskies rallied to score nine runs and defeat no. 3 seed Babson College Beavers, 11-7 in the second game of the 2026 NCAA Regional Baseball Championship hosted by the University of Southern Maine.
Sophomore
Caleb Vacchiano (Cornish, Maine/Sacopee Valley) sealed the deal for the Huskies with a grand slam in the inning. To give the Huskies the lead following a game-tying RBI single from junior
Evan Baschnagel (Garden City, NY).
Freshman
Kason Lewis (South Portland, Maine) earned win for the Huskies out of the bullpen. Southern Maine starter junior
Gabe Gifford (Bradley, Maine/Old Town) went 7.2 innings. Babson starter Jason Finkelstein left after seven innings and pitched well for the Beavers allowing two runs on four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Reliever Michael Camardi was tagged with the loss in relief.
Vacchiano's grand slam is his third of the season, and his second in as many games (Little East Conference Championship game). The Huskies have connected on eight grand slams this season.
Records:
Babson College (26-16) 310 010 020 7-13-2
Southern Maine (31-10) 020 000 09x 11-9-2
Pitching Records:
WP: SM,
Kason Lewis (1-0), 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
LP: B, Michael Camardi (1-1), 0.1 IP, 0 H 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
SV: None
How It Happened:
- Babson took an early 3-0 lead connecting on three hits and drawing a pair of walks in its first at-bat. Gabe Cushner, Dante D'Avanzo and Connor Frickey each had RBI in the inning for the Beavers. Despite a pair of singles from senior Kyle Douin (Augusta, Maine/Cony) and Vacchiano in the first Southern Maine went quietly as Finkelstein got two of his seven strikeouts.
- Babson made it 4-0 in the second as Gabe Harmon led off with a single and scored on an RBI single to left from Zander Teator. Douin halved Southern Maine's deficit in the bottom of the inning with a two-run double to left. After freshman James Main (Northstonington, Conn.) drew a one-out walk and senior Chris Quigley (Halifax, Mass.) singled up the middle to put runners in scoring position for the Huskies, Douin delivered with his second hit of the day with two outs lacing the ball down the left field line.
- Both Finkelstein and Gifford dominated the third and fourth innings keeping the score 4-2. Finkelstein retired six consecutive Huskies over the two innings, while Gifford had a 1-2-3 third and worked around a lead-off runner in the fourth.
- Teator led off the fifth with a double for the Beavers to start the fifth and after one away, D'Avanzo pushed Babson's fifth run of the game across the play with an RBI single up the middle. Gifford bounced back getting back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. Finkelstein continued to keep USM's bats at bay in the fifth with another 1-2-3 inning to make it nine straight retired Huskies, and in the sixth both teams stranded a runner.
- In the top of the seventh, Gifford worked around a pair of singles and ended the Babson threat with his sixth strikeout of the game, while Finkelstein had a quick bottom of the inning getting a strikeout ad two ground outs to move the game to the eighth.
- Babson extended its lead to 7-2 in the inning. After Gifford got the first out with his seventh strikeout of the game, Hardmon and Dylan Drazka connected on back-to-back singles. A fly out had two away for the Huskies before Teator came up big again for the Beavers with a single through the right side and a 6-2 lead driving in Harmon. One batter later, Gabe Cushner made it 7-2 with a single to third base to score Drazka. Lewis came on in favor of Gifford with runners on first and third and two outs. After giving up a walk to load the bases, Lewis got a grounder to third to end the inning.
- Down to their final six outs and trailing by five runs, Southern Maine collected five hits and two walks off of three Babson pitchers to score nine runs and take the lead. With junior Peter Keblinksy (Ellsworth, Maine) and Vacchiano reaching on a single and a walk to start the inning, junior Carter Higgins (Truro, Nova Scotia) drove in the first run with a single up the middle.
- After a catcher's interference call loaded the bases, freshman Kaiden Morin (Brewer, Maine) made it a two-run game, 7-5, with a two-run single through the right side. The Huskies made it 7-6 one-batter later as sophomore Drew Scialdone's (Amesbury, Mass.) sacrifice bunt was misplayed. Babson record its first out of the inning on a pop fly to first before Baschnagel tied the game up with a single to left, scoring Morin. Douin drew a walk in his at-bat making runners on each of the bases for the Huskies. After Babson's Camardi got the second out of the inning with a strikeout, Vacchiano stepped in for his heroics, and an 11-7 USM lead.
- In the top of the ninth, Husky junior Carson Black (Porter, Maine) shut the door on the game getting three consecutive outs, including a game-inning strikeout looking.
Up Next:
Southern Maine plays again on Sunday, May 17, 2026 and will face No. 4/5 Rowan University Profs at 2:30 pm. The winner will advance to the championship game on Monday (11:00 am). The loser will play again at 6:00 pm on Sunday.
-cac-
