GORHAM, Maine -- Junior Sam Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning and senior Andrew Richards (South Portland, Maine) threw a complete game four-hitter as the top-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies defeated the Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors 4-2 in the championship game of the 2015 Little East Conference Baseball Championship Tournament Saturday afternoon at the USM Baseball Stadium.
Eastern Connecticut forced the winner-take-all championship game of the six-team, double-elimination tournament by pounding out 16 hits en route to an 11-4 victory in Game 10. The Warriors came through the losers bracket by winning two games on Friday to reach the final round and had to beat the Huskies twice on Saturday to win the title and gain the automatic berth into the NCAA Division III national tournament.
Dexter and Richards were named the Co-Most Outstanding Players for the tournament. Dexter hit .500 (10 for 20) with two doubles, one triple, and one homer, five RBI and scored nine runs. Richards had a hand in all four USM wins in the tournament as he saved two games and was the winning pitcher in two others. Richards pitched 18.2 innings in the tournament allowing two earned runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out 14.
The LEC tournament title was the Huskies third in the last four years, and the fifth since 1997.
Game 10
Rookie D.J. Scavone (Auburn, Mass.) and junior Tim Budd (Cheshire, Conn.) had three hits apiece to pace the Warriors' offensive assault on five USM hurlers. Scavone was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle while Budd had two doubles and a single. The Warriors had eight extra-base hits in the game.
Juniors Andrew Scully (Stratford, Conn.) and Chad Adams (Ware, Mass./Williston Northampton), and seniors Corey Keane (Tolland, Conn.) and Kyle Hart (Guilford, Conn.), each had two hits for the Warriors.
Senior left-hander Matt D'Orsi (West Hartford, Conn./Northwest Catholic) went the distance to earn his third win of the season. D'Orsi gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out four.
Dexter and sophomore Paul McDonough (Wells, Maine) had two hits for the Huskies. Sophomore right-hander Zack Bean (Westbrook, Maine) was saddled with the loss.
Scavone ignited a three-run uprising in the third inning with an RBI triple, and later scored on a Keane single. Keane moved up on a walk to Hart, and scored on a Budd single to make it 4-1.
Eastern tacked up two more runs in the fourth as Scully tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly before Adams hit his seventh home run of the season.
USM got a run back in the home half of fourth as McDonough doubled in Dexter who reached on a single.
Keane led off the seventh inning with a triple to spark another three-run inning. Hart singled home Keane, and scored on a double from Budd. Budd advanced on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Game 11
With everything at stake for both sides, Richard and EC rookie southpaw Jacob Smith (East Longmeadow, Mass.) hooked up in a scoreless pitchers duel through three innings as each side was held to just one hit.
Southern Maine broke through against Smith in the fourth inning as Dexter singled and moved to second on a ground out. Sophomore Matt Bender (Walpole, Mass.) singled through the left side to move Dexter to third. Dexter scored on a single by rookie Devin Warren (Smithfield, Maine/Messalonskee) to make it 1-0. The Huskies would load the bases, but Smith escaped further damage getting a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
The Warriors responded quickly in the fifth as Keane reached on a two-base infield error. After a walk to Hart, Budd sacrificed both runners along. Sophomore Christian Budzik (Cromwell, Conn.) brought home the tying run with a single. Richards got out of the frame getting a 6-3-lineout double play.
With rookie Nick Bowie (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) aboard via a leadoff single, Dexter crushed the first pitch he saw from Smith over the left field fence for his eighth home run of the season and a 3-1 USM lead.
Richards got himself into a bit of trouble in the sixth hitting Scully, the leadoff batter with a pitch, and giving up a single to senior Joe Perez (North Branford, Conn.). A sacrifice by Adams moved the runners up 90 feet before Adams scored on a Scavone fielder's choice. Perez finished the tournament batting .522 (12 for 23) in six games.
Warren provided Richards with a big insurance run in the eighth inning hitting his first career home run over the left field fence.
Keane beat out an infield single with two outs in the ninth to bring the potential tying run to the plate for Eastern, but Richards got an infield pop out to end the game and secure the championship for the Huskies.
Up Next
Southern Maine will advance to NCAA Division III Regional Tournament play that begins on Wednesday at Harwich, Mass. The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee will announce the eight regional tournaments on Monday.