Box Score
GORHAM, Maine -- Junior 2B Nick Vardaro (Norwood, Mass.) had four hits and three RBIs to pace the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 16-2 victory over the Bates College Bobcats in a non-conference college baseball game Tuesday afternoon at the USM Baseball Stadium.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Huskies, who improve to 18-11 overall. Bates dropped its second straight game to fall to 9-13 overall.
Vardaro, with a double and three singles, led the Huskies' 18-hit attack on three Bobcat hurlers. Freshman Josh Stowell (Portland, Maine) came off the bench to have three hits, and five other Huskies collected two hits in the game.
The Huskies jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a lead off triple by freshman CF Chris Burleson (Portland, Maine) and Vardaro's RBI groundout.
A five-run third inning, highlighted by a two-run double off the bat of sophomore DH Eddie Skeffington (Everett, Mass.) and a two-run triple by Ryan Pike (Saco, Maine) pushed the lead to 6-0.
Southern Maine got a single run in the fourth on Vardaro's RBI double, and five more in the fifth to take a commanding 12-0 lead. Junior RF Ryan Bourque (Sanford, Maine) had a two-run double in the middle of the fifth-inning outburst.
Bates got on the board with its two runs in the sixth inning. Sophomore 1B Erik Hood (Berlin, N.H.) plated the first run with a fielder's choice, and freshman Ben Thayer (Gorham, Maine) walked with the bases loaded to force in the second run.
Freshman Andrew Stacy (Denmark, Maine), the first of four USM pitchers, was the beneficiary of all the run support. Stacy went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and six walks while striking out seven, to earn his first win of the season. Three relievers combined to pitch 3 1/3 innings of hitless relief.
Bates rookie starting pitcher Chuck Murphy-Romboletti (Holyoke, Mass.) lasted 2 1/3 innings and was tagged with the loss. Sophomore SS Brian Mahoney (Sudbury, Mass.) was the lone repeat hitter for the Bobcats.
Bates will host Fisher College on Wednesday at 3 p.m., in another non-conference matchup for the Bobcats.
