Southern Maine defeats Bates baseball team, 11-6
April 22, 2008

Noah Lynd '11 is congratulated by Jake Simon '11 after hitting his first collegiate home run Tuesday at USM. (Scott Linscott photo)
GORHAM, Maine -- Junior Chris Burleson and sophomore Josh Mackey combined for seven hits, five runs scored and six RBIs to lead the University of Southern Maine to an 11-6 victory over Bates College in a non-conference baseball game Tuesday afternoon at the USM Baseball Stadium.

The win lifts the Huskies’ overall record to 20-9, while the Bobcats slide to 8-17.

Burleson was 3-for-5, including his fifth home run of the season, scored four times and drove in four. Mackey was 4-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Senior Eddie Skeffington and juniors Ryan Gaffney and Ryan Pike had two hits apiece for the Huskies.

Seniors Brian Mahoney (Sudbury, Mass.) and Rob Patton (Darien, Conn.) each collected two hits for Bates, which totaled 11 hits in all.

Bates tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of rookie Jake Simon (Waterford, Conn.) that delivered Mahoney, who led off the inning with a double.

Southern Maine countered with six runs in its half of the inning, taking advantage of five hits, a walk and a costly infield error. Freshman Jordan Berthiaume (Berlin, Conn.) started the inning with a solo homer, his third of the season. Mackey had a two-run double, and Gaffney had an RBI double in the uprising. Five of the six USM runs in the inning were unearned.

Burleson smacked a three-run homer in the fifth to increase the USM lead to 11-3.

Freshman southpaw Greg Holmes, the second of four USM hurlers employed in the game, picked up his fourth win of the season. Bates rookie starter Mike Chiampa (Bryantville, Mass.) was saddled with the loss.

Bates’ next game is Friday (3 p.m.) when it travels to in-state rival Bowdoin College. The Bobcats will host the Polar Bears in a doubleheader on Saturday.

BOX SCORE: Southern Maine 11, Bates 6