FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 25, 2009

RIC DROPS TWO TO SOUTHERN MAINE IN
LEC REGULAR SEASON FINALE

Gorham, ME—Rhode Island College lost a doubleheader (3-0, 14-11) to Southern Maine in the Little East Conference regular season finale for the Anchormen at USM Baseball Stadium. RIC sees its record fall to 23-12 overall and 6-8 in the Little East. The Anchormen have single non-conference games against Wheaton (April 28) and Babson (April 29) before first round action of the 2009 Little East Conference Baseball Tournament begins on May 1-2.

Senior pitcher Tim Therrian (New Portland, ME) struck out nine batters and fired a six hit shutout in the first game and sophomore outfielder Mike Eaton (Sabattus, ME) drove in five runs in the second game to give the Huskies a 31-4 overall record and 12-2 LEC mark. With the wins, Southern Maine claims the 2009 Little East Conference Regular Season Championship and will be the number one seed in the upcoming LEC Tournament.

Therrian scattered six hits and yielded just one walk over nine innings to improve his record to 7-0. It was the second complete game of the season for Therrian. Riding Therrian’s masterful work on the mound, Southern Maine broke open a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth inning. After a lead-off double from Henry, senior first baseman Ryan Gaffney (Salem, NH) drove in the Huskies’ first run with a double.  Gaffney came around to score two batters later on an RBI single to left field by Eaton.  The Huskies added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh on junior third baseman Josh Mackey’s (Danvers, MA) RBI single to center field.

Sophomore pitcher Gary Levesque (East Providence, RI) pitched well in the loss, striking out seven.  Levesque allowed three earned runs on seven hits and three walks.

In the second game, Southern Maine exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to overcome a 4-1 deficit. The Huskies batted through their line-up in the fifth inning, plating seven runs on seven hits, a walk and a RIC error. Eaton, Henry and Mackey each had two RBI in the inning to pace the Huskies.  Eaton singled in USM’s first run of the inning and was followed by a two-run home run from Mackey. Senior outfielder Ryan Pike (Saco, ME) doubled in a run and Henry added two RBI on a single to center field, before Eaton added his second RBI of the inning with a fielder’s choice ground out to put the Huskies ahead 8-4.

USM led 14-6 through eight innings after scoring single runs in the bottom of the sixth and seventh and adding four more in the bottom of the eighth. Henry had a sacrifice fly RBI in the sixth and Eaton notched his third RBI of the game with single in the seventh.  In the eighth, senior Andrew Stacy (Denmark, ME) and sophomore catcher Jordan Berthiaume (Berlin, CT) each drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and a double respectively, while Eaton knocked in his fourth and fifth RBI of the game with a double to left field.

 Sophomore Outfielder Mike Giustino

Rhode Island College scored a run in the seventh and eighth inning before rallying for five runs in the top of the ninth. Levesque blasted a solo home run to left field in the seventh and sophomore outfielder Mike Giustino (Wappingers Falls, NY) added an RBI single in the eighth.

 Junior Outfielder Jared Rossi

In the ninth, RIC scored all five (unearned) of its runs with two outs. With the bases loaded, freshman shortstop Kyle Allaire (Uxbridge, MA) notched a two-run single before junior outfielder Jared Rossi (Johnston, RI) cleared the bases with a three run home run.  However, USM’s Eaton, who moved from the outfield to the mound, was able earn the save as RIC ran out of outs.

USM sophomore Nick Hahn (Guilford, CT) earned the win in relief of starter Henry.  Hahn pitched 3.1 innings allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk to improve his record to 6-0.  Eaton, who struck out four batters, earned his fourth save of the season allowing five runs (none earned) in 1.1 innings on four hits.

Freshman P Cory Madore (Carver, MA) took the loss for RIC allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits and two walks in 2.0 innings. Madore entered the game in the fifth inning in relief of starter Rob Rushton (Freetown, MA).  Rushton pitched four innings and allowing four earned runs on six hits and three walks.

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