Maine native Bernardini shuts down Southern Maine in 11-1 win, Lyons and head coach Eric Podbelski earn 300th victory

May 4, 2007

GORHAM, ME- Junior Louie Bernardini (Gray, ME/Gray-New Gloucester) carried a shutout into the eighth inning, and Wheaton College baseball coach Eric Podbelski picked up his 300th career win as the number seven Lyons downed the 26th-ranked University of Southern Maine, 11-1 on Friday afternoon at Towers Field. At 30-10, Wheaton is ranked first in New England by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), while the 23-13 Huskies sit third.

Podbelski, the only skipper in the program's 10-year varsity history, became the second coach in Wheaton athletics annals to reach the 300-win plateau with one team. Bernardini, who was pitching within an hour of his hometown, moved to 7-0 on the year and retired the first 14 Southern Maine batters en route to tossing 7.2 shutout innings before the Huskies plated an unearned run. Bernardini finished with six strikeouts and only one walk while yielding five singles in eight innings, shutting down a team that had been 9-1 at home.

A fellow Maine native started a two-out rally in the third inning that put Wheaton on top for good. Senior Travis Anthoine (Portland, ME/Portland) singled up the middle, stole second and scored two batters later when sophomore Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) singled to left field.

From there, the Lyons were economical in their scoring, plating 10 runs on eight hits during a total of four innings. Senior Jeff Martin (Marblehead, MA/Marblehead) knocked an RBI single during a three-run fourth, while sophomore Karl Olson (Bethel, ME/Gould Academy) smacked a run-scoring base hit off the first base bag later in the inning. Anthoine's suicide squeeze capped the frame, while Martin and junior Jake Yagjian (Brewster, MA/Nauset Regional) each plated runs in the fifth to make it 6-0.

In the home half, Bernardini retired the first two batters before junior Eddie Skeffington (Everett, MA/Everett) singled to center field, giving the Huskies their first base runner. Southern Maine eventually loaded the bases with two down, but Bernardini induced an inning-ending fielder's choice.

Senior Brandon Leonard (Brockton, MA/Brockton) rapped two-run doubles in each the eighth and ninth innings, including with two down in the final frame, to help the Lyons pad their lead. Sophomore Robert Foote (Walpole, MA/Walpole) picked up a two-out RBI single in the eighth.

Southern Maine scored its lone run during the eighth inning, when Bernardini fanned two batters. A Lyon defensive miscue allowed senior Ryan Bourque (Sanford, ME/Sanford) an opportunity to pick up a two-out RBI knock, preventing Southern Maine from being blanked in consecutive games for the first time since April 3, 2002.

Freshman Jon Shepard (Salisbury, MA/Triton Regional) came on in the ninth and set the Huskies down in order, fanning a pair along the way. Leonard went 2-for-4 with four RBI and the two doubles and was busy at shortstop, picking up eight assists. Leonard was also one of four Lyons to be hit by a pitch, while Pecora added two hits. Martin drove in a pair of runs, while Anthoine scored three and stole two bases.

Skeffington was the lone Southern Maine player with multiple hits, going 2-for-3, while sophomore Chris Burleson (Portland, ME/Deering) took the loss. Burleson, the first of four pitchers, gave up four earned runs on four hits over the first four innings despite striking out five hitters.

Wheaton returns to action tomorrow by hosting Western New England College in a doubleheader at 12:00 p.m. in Sidell Stadium. The Golden Bears are ranked eighth in the region.

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