No. 29 Southern Maine Tops Endicott, 7-3

BEVERLY, Mass. – The No. 29 nationally ranked University of Southern Maine baseball team defeated Endicott, 7-3, on Wednesday evening at the USM Baseball Stadium. 

Dalton Rice (Waterford, Maine) received the win (3-1) out of the pen (1 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K), while Jake Dexter (Oakland, Maine) notched his fifth save of the season (1 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K) to secure the Huskies' 12th straight victory. During that stretch, Southern Maine has outscored its opponents 108-44. 

Eric Nagle (Manchester, Conn.) was tabbed with the loss (0-1) on three innings of relief, three hits, four runs (three earned), one walk, and one punchout. 

Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth, the Huskies answered with a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth innings respectively to keep their winning streak intact. Zach Quintal (Eliot, Maine) made it 4-3 in the fifth with an RBI triple to right center, and later scored on a passed ball for a 5-3 advantage. 

Dexter then made it a 6-3 gap on the scoreboard in the sixth when he stole home on the backend of a double steal. Andrew Olszak (Danvers, Mass.) concluded the scoring in the contest with a run-producing single up the middle that scored Kyle Heath (Westbrook, Maine) after he swiped second on the frontend of the double steal with Dexter in the inning. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott scored three runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by an RBI single up the middle by Steve Morganelli (Milford, Mass.). The Gulls have now scored a season-best 27 runs in the fifth inning.
• Nick Berno (St. Albans, Vt.) and Joseph Deutsch (Fairfield, Conn.) both produced multi-hit games, their 13th and third, respectively.
• Victor Molle (Peabody, Mass.) tossed two shutout frames out of the pen for his fifth scoreless relief appearance on the season. Molle also struck out two hitters, and did not issue a walk alongside two hits. 

FOR THE FOES

• Southern Maine is currently ranked No. 29 in the latest American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III Baseball Poll.
• Dylan Hapworth (Winslow, Maine) was 2-for-3 with one run scored and two RBI out of the cleanup spot.
• Hapworth was the only Southern Maine student-athlete with a multi-hit game in today's win. 

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (14-14) travels to Gordon on Friday, April 21 for a conference doubleheader at 2/4:30 PM. Southern Maine (19-7) visits Babson tomorrow at 3:30 PM. 

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