Lakeland, FL --- Southern Maine sophomore Tyler Leavitt (N. Andover, MA) and freshman Nick George (Peabody, MA) had a pair of strong pitching performances to help lead the #3/4 Huskies to a 2-1 and 3-0 sweep on at historic Henley Field in a Thursday afternoon twinbill.
Down 1-0 early on the contest, the Lancers (3-6) scored the equalizer in the top of the third on a RBI double by sophomore Dennis Duplessis (Marlboro, MA), to score classmate Steve Wallace (Auburn, MA). Wallace was plunked and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch.
The Blue and Gold looked poised to score the go-ahead run with two men down, but stranded Duplessis on third.
In the bottom of the second, Southern Maine (7-2) went up 2-1 taking advantage of a misplayed throw to the plate with runners on the corners after freshman Paul McDonough (Wells, ME) was caught in a pickle after nearly getting picked off.
Down by one score, Worcester State left the go-ahead run on third in the fifth and sixth frames.
With no one out in the sixth, junior David Ruggiero (Peabody, MA) was a spark reaching second on a single and a one-base error after the pitcher tried to catch his man sleeping. But Ruggiero was left on third after junior USM reliever Andrew Richards (S. Portland, ME) caught a man with an outside pitch looking and retired the last batter with a ground out.
Richards tossed a perfect seventh to record the key save to help Southern Maine take the opening game by the final margin.
Hits in the first contest were even at 5-5 as Duplessis had the one extra base-knock for the Lancers.
Junior Ben Libuda (Auburn, MA) was dealt the tough luck setback for WSU. Libuda (0-1) scattered five hits, but allowed two runs (one earned) to go with seven strikeouts and a pair of walks.
In the finale, USM right hander Nick George (1-0) was brilliant as he tossed a one-hitter against the Lancers in their three-run victory.
After he yielded a single through the right side of the infield to WSU junior Zack George (Attleboro, MA), he set down the next 18 batters in a row – nine coming by way of a ground out – to blank the Lancer offense.
Freshman Kris Doyle (Millbury, MA) absorbed the loss for the Lancers. Doyle (0-2) allowed three runs (two earned) off four hits to go along with three strikeouts and four who reached on walks.
Southern Maine is ranked third in the latest D3baseball.com poll and fourth nationally in the first ACBA/Collegiate Newspaper poll that was released earlier thi week. The Huskies were also the NCAA Division III National finalists, dropping the final game of the National Championship, 4-1 to Linfield.
The Blue and Gold close out their Southern swing with a twinbill against Trinity tomorrow at 1:30 at the Chain of Lakes complex.
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