BANGOR, Maine – The Husson University baseball team played for the first time this season on the Dr. John W. Winkin Sports Complex, but its home-opener would be spoiled by the Huskies of the University of Southern Maine, as the Huskies defeated the Eagles 17-6 on Tuesday afternoon.
Husson (8-9) got off to a fast start in Tuesday's non-conference battle, as after graduate student Akira Warren walked to open the bottom of the first, graduate student Jackson Curtis drilled a home run over the left field fence to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead just three batters into the bottom of the first.
The damage wasn't done there in the opening frame from Husson, as following a single to right field from sophomore Matt Holmes, junior Hunter Curtis followed the lead of his older brother, hitting a two-run home run near the same spot that J. Curtis hit his to double the Husson lead.
USM (6-11) was able to find some offense of its own to begin the top of the second, as a passed ball with the bases loaded followed by an RBI-groundout immediately got the Huskies back to within two runs.
Both teams found an additional one run in the third inning, as USM got in on the long-ball action with a solo shot to left field, while Holmes regained the two run lead for Husson in the following inning with an opposite-field shot.
The script of the game was flipped in the top-half of the fourth inning, as USM produced five runs on four hits, including a grand slam, to turn a 4-3 deficit into an 8-4 lead headed into the bottom of the fourth.
The Huskies padded their edge in the sixth and seventh innings with an RBI-groundout and an RBI-base hit to right field to send the Eagles into the seventh-inning stretch facing a 10-5 hole.
After Husson wasn't able to slice into the USM lead in the late innings, the Huskies pushed the lead to 11-5 with another RBI-base hit in the eighth, while further putting the game out of reach in the ninth with a two-RBI single and a second grand slam.
Holmes produced his second RBI of the day with a slicing double down the left field line to bring the game to its final score of 17-6.
Holmes paced the Husson batting order with a three-hit, two-RBI, two-run performance, while J. Curtis and H. Curtis also tied for the team lead with two RBIs each and six Eagles posted one hit in the contest.
Graduate student Alex Smith got the start on the hill for the Eagles and pitched a scoreless first inning to get the day started, while sophomore Wyatt Stevens hurled two innings of shutout baseball, retiring all six batters he faced.
Husson will return to action at the Winkin Complex on Friday when it begins a four-game series with the University of Maine-Presque Isle beginning with a 4 p.m. first-pitch on Friday.
