GORHAM, Maine—Senior Kyle Douin (Augusta, Maine) finished with four hits and first-year Hayden Strout (Charleston, Maine) did not allow an earned run over 8.2 innings to help the University of Southern Maine defeat visiting Babson College, 14-4, in an NCAA Tournament Gorham Regional elimination game on Sunday night at Ed Flaherty Field.
Babson, which was making its second NCAA Tournament appearance in the last three seasons, ends the year at 27-17. Southern Maine (32-11) advances to Monday's regional final against No. 4/5 Rowan University at 11 a.m.
Sophomore
Gabe Harmon (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, senior
Owen Stephens (Glastonbury, Conn.) was 1-for-2 with an RBI single, and junior
Dante D'Avanzo (Ashland, Mass.) and sophomore
Dylan Drazka (Rye Brook, N.Y.) both singled in the loss for the Beavers. Classmate
Gabe Cushner (Harrington Park, N.J.) drove in a run and senior
James Clark (Southborough, Mass.) tossed 3.2 shutout innings of relief, striking out three and allowing just one hit.
Junior Peter Keblinsky (Ellsworth, Maine) went 3-for-6 with a double and three RBI, Mike Anquillare (North Haven, Conn.) went 2-for-4 with two RBI, first-year Kaiden Morin (Brewer, Maine) doubled and knocked in two runs, and sophomore Caleb Vacchiano (Cornish, Maine) singled and added two RBI for the Huskies, who got hits from eight different players in the win. Strout, who recorded the longest outing of his career, gave up four unearned runs on just five hits to go along with two strikeouts to improve to 7-1 on the season.
Southern Maine did much of its damage in the bottom of the first sending 12 batters to the plate while scoring seven runs on seven hits. Vacchiano brought home the first run with a single through the left side, Anquillare followed with a two-run single to right and Morin ripped a double down the right field line that drove in two more for a 5-0 lead. Sophomore Drew Scialdone (Amesbury, Mass.) provided an RBI triple to right and scored the final run of the frame on senior Chris Quigley's (Halifax, Mass.) single back up the middle.
The Green and White stranded a pair in the top of the second before Harmon scored on an error in the third to cut the deficit to 7-1. Senior
Zander Teator (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) walked with one out in the sixth, advanced to third on a failed pickoff throw and came around to score on Cushner's sacrifice fly, but the hosts answered with a run in the bottom of the frame and got an RBI single by Keblinsky and an RBI ground out by Vacchiano to extend the margin to 10-2 in the seventh.
Southern Maine tacked on four more runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a two-run single by Douin and a two-run double by Keblinsky. Stephens brought home junior
Connor Frickey (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who reached on a two-out error, with an RBI single to center before scoring on another RBI base hit by Harmon in the top of the ninth for the final margin.
GAME NOTES
• Babson is now 9-16-1 all-time against Southern Maine.
• The Beavers are 5-7 all-time in NCAA Tournament elimination games.
• The Green and White tied the single-season program record with 46 double plays matching the 2016 squad.
• Babson finished with a 7-2 record in the month of May and closed the year by winning 11 of its final 14 games.
