Southern Maine Athletics

GORHAM, Maine – Freshman Hayden Strout (Charleston, Maine/Foxcroft Academy) allowed just four unearned runs over 8.2 innings as the No. 2 seed University of Southern Maine Huskies defeated the No. 3 seed Babson College Beavers, 14-4 on Sunday night to earn a spot in the 2026 NCAA Regional Baseball Championship final. The Huskies will have a rematch with No. 1 seed Rowan University at 11:00 am tomorrow morning. The Huskies would have to beat Rowan twice to win the regional.
 
Senior Kyle Douin (Augusta, Maine) went 4-for-6 at the plate and two runs batted in. Junior Peter Keblinksy (Ellsworth, Maine) had three hits and drove in three runs. Sophomore Caleb Vacchiano (Cornish, Maine/Sacopee Valley), junior Mike Anquillare (North Haven, Conn.) and freshman Kaiden Morin (Brewer, Maine) also drove in two runs each.
 
 
Vs. Rowan
Records:
Southern Maine (31-11)                                                                      002 120 002          7-10-2
Rowan (34-5)                                                                                      712 210 05x         18-17-0
 
Pitching Records:
WP: RU, Austin Kreyenhagen (7-1), 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 7 Ks, 1 HBP
LP:  SM, Colin McDonald (9-2), 1.0 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 1 HBP
 
How It Happened

• The Profs jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the bottom of the first with seven runs on seven hits. Rowan singled on the first three pitches they saw. Joey Bogart drove in two runs in the inning with a single, while Damon Suriani had a pair of hits, including an RBI single to extend the lead to 7-0.
• Bogart padded the lead to 8-0 with an RBI single in the bottom
• Southern Maine cut the lead to 8-2 in the top of the third after a leadoff walk by Morin, a single by sophomore Drew Scialdone (Amesbury, Mass.), a fielder's choice by senior Chris Quigley (Halifax, Mass.) and back-to-back singles by junior Evan Baschnagel (Garden City, NY). and Douin. Rowan, however, would add two more runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning on a balk and an RBI double by Ian Murphy.
• Anquillare homered down the right field line in the top of the fourth before the Profs scored two more runs in their half of the inning.
• Morin plated two runners with a double in the top of the fifth to make the score 12-5. Rowan then scored another run in the bottom of the fifth and added four more in the eighth thanks to an RBI single by Bogart and a grand slam by Davis.
• Vacchiano hit his second home run of the regional in the top of the ninth after Douin doubled for the 18-7 final.

 
Vs. Babson
Records:
Babson (27-17)                                                                                  001 001 002          4-5-1
Southern Maine (32-11)                                                                       700 001 24x         14-14-5
 
Pitching Records:
WP: SM, Hayden Strout (7-1), 8.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 Ks,
LP: BC, Joe Carrea (3-3), 0.1 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 HBP
 
How It Happened

• After Strout retired the first three Babson hitters in order, Baschnagel led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle and moved to second on a hit by Keblinsky. Vacchiano then hit the ball through the left side to score Bachnagel for the first run of the game. Anquillare drove in two runs with a single through the right side and Morin extended the team to 5-0 with a double down the right field line. Scialdone tripled to right to score Morin and then scored himself on a rip up the middle by Quigley.
• Babson got on the board with a run from a Southern Maine error in the top of the third and scored again in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Gabe Cushner following a failed pick off that moved a runner from first to third. The Huskies added another run in the bottom half of the inning when Babson misplayed a rundown on a stolen base attempt with a runner on third and two outs.
• Southern Maine added two insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 10-2. Quigley was hit by a pitch to start the inning and moved to second on a single to right field by Douin. Keblinsky singled up the middle to score Quigley before Douin scored when Vacchiano hit into a fielder's choice.
• Strout worked around a leadoff walk to Gabe Harmon and a single by Dylan Drazka by making a nice play on a comebacker and throwing to second to start a double play.
• Three walks loaded the bases for Douin in the bottom of the eighth, who drove in two runners with a single to left field and took second on the throw. Keblinsky then doubled down the left field line to make the score 14-2.
• Babson scored twice on two errors, two hits and passed ball in the ninth before Strout left the game with two outs. Sophomore Riley O'Brien (Woodstock, Conn./Woodstock Academy) brought the game to an end by getting a lineout to Keblinsky to end the game.

 
 
 
Up Next:
Southern Maine will face the No. 1 seed Rowan University Profs at 11:00 am tomorrow in the regional championship. A win by the Huskies would force a final game with the winner taking home the regional title.