BRUNSWICK, Maine – The Husson University baseball team earned a big non-conference win over Bowdoin College on Monday evening, defeating the Polar Bears 6-1 at Pickard Field behind strong pitching from sophomore Wyatt Stevens and graduate student Alex Smith.
Bowdoin (18-4) struck first in Monday's contest on a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the first inning to jump ahead of the Eagles (13-9).
After a 1-2-3 inning from both sides in the second inning of play, Husson got on the board with a three-run third inning, as a passed ball with the bases loaded allowed sophomore Ryan Bousquet to knot the game up at one, before sophomore Matt Holmes drove in the other two runners with a two-out single to right field.
Holmes and the Eagles struck again in the visitor-half of the fifth, as the Bangor native produced another RBI-single to score graduate student Akira Warren and give Husson a 4-1 lead halfway through the game.
The Eagles added two more insurance runs onto their lead in the top of the seventh, as a third RBI-base hit from Holmes drove in Warren, while graduate student Jackson Curtis slid in safely to home-plate on a wild pitch to close out the scoring for Husson.
Husson looked to further pad its lead in the top of the ninth, but a clutch double-play from Bowdoin kept the Eagles off the scoreboard.
Smith finished off a stellar pitching performance out of the bullpen with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to conclude the win.
Holmes led Husson at the plate with three of the team's four hits, while the Eagles produced a lot of base runners with eight walks and three hit batters to force the Polar Bears to use six pitchers throughout the game.
Stevens was solid for the Eagles despite giving up the first inning homer, allowing just the one earned run on two hits and no walks, in addition to a strikeout in his 2.2 innings of work.
Smith delivered a very efficient performance in the final 6.1 innings, allowing just three hits, in addition to no runs or walks, while posting six strikeouts to secure his first victory on the mound this year.
Husson will be back in action this Saturday when it hosts Vermont State University Lyndon for a North Atlantic Conference doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
