Since returning to the USM lineup after missing the season’s first ten games, USM junior outfielder David Ricker (Winthrop) has showcased consistent hitting, with some of it coming in crucial situations.
Ricker exhibited this on Wednesday, as he hit a game-winning RBI single to right field in the bottom of the 12th inning with the bases loaded as the Huskies’ defeated St. Joseph’s College 6-5 in a non-conference game at Towers Field in Gorham.
The hit was Ricker’s third of the game, which led the Huskies’ lineup at the plate. Junior infielder Anthony Pisani (Cheshire, CT) added two hits of his own, with both coming in extra innings.
St. Joe’s outfielder Todd Keneborus got the Monks on the board early with a monster blast over the left field wall as St Joe’s scored one run in each of the first three innings, but were held without a run until the 11th.
USM also came out with hot bats and got two runs of their own in the first inning.
A scary moment happened in the third inning for USM when senior infielder Josh Mackey (Danvers, MA) chopped one to shortstop, and a wild throw to first forced the first baseman to make a play into the base path and into a sprinting Mackey. He was down for quite some time and would not return to the game. Freshman Troy Thibodeau (Danvers, MA) replaced him at second.
A spectacular defensive play in the fifth inning kept the game close for the Huskies. After a single through the middle of the infield for St. Joe’s, Alex Lorenc lifted a ball to deep center field and found the gap, but a sharp relay from center field enabled Pisani to riffle a throw to home in time to get the runner and keep the score at 3-2.
In the bottom half of the fifth, USM put two on base with one out and senior Mike Eaton (Sabattus) hit a sac fly to tie the score at three. The score stayed tied through the tenth despite scoring chances for both sides.
Eaton came on in relief in the ninth to work four innings, giving up two runs in the top of the 11th, forcing the Huskies to get something going with the bats. Drawing a walk and a hit batsman, USM sophomore Brett Barrett (Keene, NH) was sent in to pinch hit with two on and two out. Barrett answered the call for the Huskies as he sent an RBI single ball to right. Sophomore Tucker White (Deerfield, NH) kept the momentum going as he drove in Pisani later in the inning on the first pitch he saw.
With Eaton holding off the Monks in the top half of the twelfth the Huskies came up to the plate as darkness started to threaten continuation of play. Back-to-back singles by Pisani and senior catcher Jordan Berthaiume (Berlin, Conn), and an intentional walk to junior Roberto Valenti (Lawrence, MA) put the game in the hands of Ricker who delivered in the clutch.
St. Joe’s junior Chad Rafferty went eight solid innings, holding USM to three runs. Eaton recorded the win for the Huskies.
USM will visit Plymouth State on Friday for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.