SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine— The Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) baseball team dropped both to the Knights of the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) in its afternoon doubleheader and spring home opener on Saturday, April 8.
Game 1: L, 7-4
Sophomore Amos Herrin (Wilton, Maine) earned the start on the bump for the SeaWolves in the first of the double dip. In his second start of the season, Herrin tossed a complete seven innings and allowed seven runs, four earned, on 11 hits. The right-hander faced 36 batters and recorded six strikeouts.
The Knights jumped on the board in their first at-bats with two-out back-to-back doubles to take a 1-0 lead. The SeaWolves evened the score in the bottom-half of the second when sophomore Carter Chabot (Lewiston, Maine) clobbered a solo shot over the center field fence.
CCRI would tack on two more before SMCC would again even the score by way of a wild pitch and a fielder's choice. The Knights broke it open in the fifth pushing across three runs on four hits to reclaim a 6-3 lead.
The SeaWolves were only able to muster one run against CCRI's Dave Simmons who came on in relief and struck out nine of the 16 batters he faced. Simmons worked out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh to shut the door on a 7-4 win.
CCRI's Matt Kennedy earned the win going four strong allowing just three runs on two hits. Herrin was taxed with the loss.
Game 2: L, 11-1
Head Coach Jordan Yanni turned to left-hander Nathan Huot (Biddeford, Maine) in the second game of the afternoon. In his first start of the season, Huot allowed eight earned on 12 hits through 4.1 innings.
CCRI took another early lead—this time it was Joe Michael with a solo homerun in the first at-bat of the game. The Knights extended their lead in the second when Michael again delivered with a two-RBI triple.
The only offense for the home team came in the bottom-half of the fourth when sophomore Edgar Montan (Santiago, Dominican Republic) poked a single to right to score Chabot. CCRI broke it open with a five-run fifth inning to take a commanding 8-1 lead, and eventually win by a 10-run margin.
The Knights were aided by a solid pitching performance from starter Shane Kittila who earned the win going five strong.
In a post-game interview, Coach Yanni commented, "We battled today against a talented CCRI squad. In both games we played from behind and I was pleased with our ability to keep the energy and manufacture runs with runners in scoring position—we get another chance tomorrow."
View the photo gallery of the games HERE.
SMCC now stands 5-6-1 overall as the Knights improve to 15-3.
The SeaWolves will play host to Dean College in another non-conference doubleheader Sunday, April 9. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. Follow the live stats HERE.
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