After a season that saw the USM baseball team reach the Little East Conference Championship Game, the Huskies were back in action on March 5 and 6 for two games in Long Island, N.Y. to kick off the 2011 season. Although USM fell short to Plattsburgh State 2-1 in their season-opening game on Saturday, they rebounded on Sunday, pounding out 31 hits, including six home runs, to topple the College of Mount Saint Vincent 29-4.
Over the weekend the Huskies out-hit their opponents by a tremendous mark of 38-10 and scored 30 runs, while only allowing a total of six runs. But the focus was not only hitting and pitching — it was getting guys accustomed to playing outdoors, which has been difficult due to nearly a foot of snow still covering the USM Baseball Field in Gorham.
“It was just important for the guys to get outside and play some ball. I’m happy with this weekend’s performance,” USM Head Coach Ed Flaherty said. “We would have liked to win both games, but we worked on a lot of technique and had solid pitching and hitting.”
Freshman third baseman Forrest Chadwick played outstanding in the first weekend of his college career. Chadwick led the Huskies’ offensive attack as he went 7-for-12 from the plate, belting his first career home run and knocking in five runs. Chadwick (Gardiner) is expected to be a major contributor for USM as a freshman as he shows great attributes both offensively and defensively. Senior captain Mike Eaton (Sabattus) had a productive day at the plate on Sunday, hitting two home runs with four RBI.
Junior left-hander Greg Holmes (West Newbury, Mass.) picked up the Huskies’ win on Sunday by allowing one hit and striking out three in 2.1 innings of work.
According to Flaherty, the Huskies pitching has greatly improved since last year.
“This year’s team has some of the best pitching I’ve seen in the last three or four years at USM,” Flaherty said. “Only giving up ten hits, two walks and six runs all weekend, yeah, I’d say our pitching has improved.”
This year’s starting rotation is fairly well-set, and although the team is still looking for a lights-out closer, Flaherty did suggest there were a few guys who should be capable to fill that role by the time the season kicks into gear.
Last year the Huskies fell short in the LEC conference championship game, and this year they’re putting the bitterness of that loss behind them and focusing on one game at a time. The Huskies’ main goal will be to win the LEC Tournament and make some headway into the NCAA tournament this season.
“We fell short last year, but we really want to go out and get it this year. It’s the goal every season to win the conference and make the NCAA tournament,” Flaherty said. “The way to do that I think will be enthusiasm from the players. We have good chemistry this year.”
The Huskies will be back in action again this weekend, as they’ll travel back to Long Island for the Farmingdale Tournament hosted by Farmingdale State.