April 10, 2007
BEVERLY, MA - The University of Southern Maine broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning by rattling off five straight two out runs en route to a 7-3 non-conference baseball win over Endicott College on Tuesday afternoon in Beverly, MA. Southern Maine currently stands as the fourth ranked team in New England.
USM opened the scoring in the top of third inning as Nick Vardaro (Norwood, MA/Norwood) lined a two out single to centerfield to put a runner on for the visitors. The senior infielder would hustle his way around to score on an RBI double by Andrew Stacy (Denmark, ME/Fryeburg Academy), putting the Huskies up 1-0.
The Gulls responded exactly three innings later as the Blue and Green evened the game on back-to-back hits from Ryan Scanlon (Lowell, MA/Lowell) and Joe Paciello (Worcester, MA/St. Peter Marian) to lead the inning off for Endicott. The Gulls were able to capitalize on a USM error just two batters later, plating Scanlon to even the game at 1-all.
Southern Maine took control of the game in the top of the eighth, as the visitors were able to score five two out runs to blow the game open. Josh Mackey (Danvers, MA/Danvers) laced an RBI single to right field to score Andrew Stacy, giving USM the 2-1 lead. Ryan Gaffney (Salem, NH/Central Catholic) kept the rally alive with a two RBI single to right field, scoring Mackey and Max Arsenault (Boothbay, ME/Boothbay Region) for the three run lead. Nick Vardaro would drive home two more runs before the innings end, giving the visitors a 6-1 advantage.
The Gulls refused to go down without a fight, scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to pull within four at 7-3. However USM relief pitcher Pat Foley (Norwood, MA/Norwood) checked into the game and settled down the Huskies, getting Endicott to ground into a double play and then got Steve Vidmosko (Shelton, CT/Fairfield Prep) to ground out to second, securing the 7-3 Southern Maine win.
The University of Southern Maine had a trio of players drive in two runs on the afternoon, as Nick Vardaro led the way with a 3-for-4 day at the dish with two runs batted in. Josh Mackey also had a monster afternoon with the bat, as the freshman had four hits and two RBI in the win.
The loss moves Endicott back to .500, dropping their overall record to 8-8 overall. The Gulls return to CCC action tomorrow afternoon as they travel to Quincy, MA to play a doubleheader with the Crusaders of Eastern Nazarene at 2:00 PM.