(Game 1 Box) (Game 2 Box)

            GORHAM, Maine – Senior southpaw Collin Henry (Penobscot, Maine) hurled a three-hit shutout and drove in three runs Saturday afternoon as the University of Southern Maine defeated Plymouth State University, 10-0, in the first game of a Little East Conference doubleheader at the USM Baseball Stadium.

            Southern Maine took the nightcap, 6-5, with a run in the bottom of the eighth inning after squandering a four-run lead.  USM, which snapped a three-game losing skid with the win in the first game, improves to 16-13 overall and 5-3 in the conference.  Plymouth State has dropped its last three games to fall to 5-21 overall and 1-9 in LEC play.

            Henry pitched out of a no-outs, bases-loaded jam in the first inning, then settled down to allow just three singles and three walks while striking out three to earn his fifth win of the season.  Henry carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before surrendering a single to freshman Brendan Cosgrove (Merrimack, N.H.).

            The Huskies gave Henry the only run he needed in the second inning on a lead off triple by freshman Nick Grady (Whitefield, Maine) who later scored on an attempted double steal.  USM added four unearned runs in the fourth, and two runs in the fifth on three straight doubles.  Henry ended the game in the seventh inning driving in two runs to invoke the 10-run rule.

            Henry, sophomore Anthony Pisani (Cheshire, Conn.) and rookie John Carey (South Portland, Maine) each had two hits for the Huskies.  Henry also had three RBI.

            PSU rallied from a four-run deficit in the top half of the eighth inning of the nightcap,, aided by four USM errors, to tie the game at 5-5.  Freshman Rew Wilson (Niantic, Conn.) had the big hit in the rally, a two-run double, after getting a second life when his foul pop was dropped for an error.

            Southern Maine managed a run in the home half of the inning on one-out singles by freshmen Christian Hamilton (Westbrook, Maine) and Tucker White (Deerfield, N.H.) and an attempted double steal.  Hamilton scored from third when White was caught in a rundown.

            PSU got runners to second and third with no outs in the ninth, but a missed squeeze bunt cost them the first out, and junior Nick Hahn (Guilford, Conn.) was able to get the last two batters on fly balls.

            Carey staked the Huskies to a 4-1 lead capping off a four-run outburst with a three-run homer in the sixth inning.  Carey walked with the bases loaded in the seven to make it 5-1.

            Eaton picked up the win while Hahn collected his second save of the season.  Henry and White were the only repeat hitters for the Huskies.  Wilson was tagged with the loss in relief of starter junior Bryant Lausberg (Somersworth, N.H.).  Lausberg and sophomore Mike Cappiello (Westfield, N.J.) each had a double and a single for the Panthers.

            Southern Maine is back in action on Sunday (1:00 p.m.) traveling to Waltham, Mass., to play the University of Massachusetts Boston.  Plymouth State returns home to host Norwich University in a non-conference doubleheader on Sunday (12:00 p.m.).

(Courtesy of Southern Maine Sports Information) 

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