The University of Southern Maine baseball team overwhelmed the visiting Monks of in-state rival St. Joseph’s College 12 to 4 in Gorham on Thursday afternoon before a supportive crowd of spectators who all seemed to be enjoying the pleasant weather. The victory extended USM’s winning streak to 11 games and was their 17th victory of their last 19 encounters
USM was led by the stellar performance of senior Brian Marshall who pitched seven strong innings, striking out seven, walking three and allowing only one earned run. Marshall helped himself by putting on a hitting clinic at the plate. In addition to hurling a gem, Marshall’s offensive day consisted of a home run, three runs batted in, three runs scored and four hits. The win improved Marshall’s season record to 3-0.
USM also received timely hitting from senior outfielder Adam Lemieux who smashed two doubles and tallied three runs batted in for the Huskies. Lemieux is leading the team in batting with a .460 average, has started all 30 games and was named Little East Conference Player of the Week for April 19 to 25.
During the five games played that week, Lemieux batted .632, recorded a slugging percentage of .895, and was perfect in the outfield on 11 chances. Lemieux is modest in expressing himself but is enthusiastic about the progress the team has made this season and feels the team is poised to compete at the highest level in the Little East Conference tournament.
“We started off slow, going only 5-6 in Florida, but now we’re really coming together,” Lemieux said.
When asked how he felt about Thursday’s victory, Lemieux smiled and said, “It always feels good to beat St. Joe’s.”
USM is a young team playing with great confidence and their intensity and energy is reflected in the passion that they have taken to the field recently. USM may have started off slow but they are peaking at the most opportune time of the year. Coach Ed Flaherty and his team are fully aware of the fact that it always feels good to win in the post season.
USM is an impressive 21-8-1 and is looking forward to facing their strongest opponent Eastern Connecticut in the Little East Conference Tournament to be held May 12 to 15 (with location to be announced).
Andrew Sparda can be contacted at [email protected]