The Plymouth State College Baseball team swept New England College in a non-conference twinbill victory Wednesday at Panther Park. Plymouth hammered the rawhide for a 7-0 score in the opener, and returned for a 7-2 nightcap victory.
Panther sophomore Josh Forest pitched a seven-inning no-hitter to earn his first win of the season. Forest faced the minimum number of batters in the opener; his third start of the season. “[The] defense played well,” demurred Forest. “[They] gave me a little insurance.” Forest did not walk a batter and improved his record to 1-2. Forest set up his opposition with accurate, stingingly fast balls; known as “heat”, while using a curve ball with a little more snap on it than normal to send the Pilgrims digging down in the dirt for the strikeout. “[It] feels great,” admitted Forest. “[The win] is a boost to my confidence.”
The Plymouth offense had seven runs on seven big knocks in the opener. New England College aided the Panthers with three errors. Junior Scott Hodsdon smacked the string out of the ball with three hits and a Run Batted In. Classmate Matt Salokangas nailed two hits and scored three runs, while junior Sy Tebbetts added an RBI double. Freshman Derek Guimond drove in a pair of runs with a double and a sacrifice fly.
PSC junior Jason Egan pitched the first six innings in the nightcap to earn the win, allowing only two runs on three hits to even his record at 1-1. Freshman Corey Wentworth worked over the Pilgrims for the Panthers in a scoreless seventh inning.
Hodsdon contributed another three hits for Plymouth, including a double and a triple. Junior Robbie Burr hammered in a two-run double, while sophomore Jay Morgan slapped the ball with a pair of big knocks to put two more runs on the board.
Plymouth State College hosts pre-season Little East Conference co-favorite University of Southern Maine in a double-header Saturday at Panther Park at 12:00 p.m.
Forest predicted another two-for-one special. “[We can] definitely get two wins. We have to play a solid game to stay in it… keep the bats going.”