Panthers Lose Pitching Duel

Freshman Curtis Arsenault (Berlin, NH) pitched eight strong innings, giving up just three runs, but it wasn't enough. Southern Maine senior pitcher Logan Carmen held the Panthers to just one run, and senior Forrest Chadwick tagged Arsenault for two homeruns to lead the Huskies to the victory in the opening round of the Little East Conference (LEC) Tournament.

The Panthers finished the regular season with a 22-15 overall record, and a 7-7 record in the LEC. This was good for fifth in the conference, earning Plymouth the #5-seed in the conference tournament. They drew the #2-seed Huskies of Southern Maine University. The two teams split their regular season double-header, with SMU winning the first game, 6-2, and PSU taking the back half of the matchup, 7-1.

The Huskies got on the board first in this one when Chadwick led off the bottom of the second with a solo homerun to right center. SMU struck again in the third. A walk, steal, and single put runners on first and third. Sophomore Sam Dexter knocked in a run with an RBI double to extend the lead to 2-0.

In the meantime the Panthers' offense couldn't wake up the bats. Plymouth went down 1-2-3 in six straight innings as Carmen, at one point, retired 19 batters in a row. The Panthers didn't have a base runner from the second through seventh inning.

There was finally life from the Plymouth bats in the top of the eighth when senior Rob Madonna (Cranston, RI) led off with a walk. Senior Brandon Cox (Nashua, NH) followed with a single to put runners on first and second. Junior Paul Reny (South Portland, ME) tried to sacrifice the runners over, but an error by the pitcher allowed Reny to reach first and a run to score, cutting the Huskie lead to 2-1. The Panthers went down quietly to end the rest of the inning, and it's as close as they would get.

Chadwick homered again, another solo shot, in the bottom of the frame, pushing the lead to 3-1 and putting the final nail in the coffin. Plymouth went down 1-2-3 in the ninth to end the game.

Arsenault took the loss. The right-hander pitched eight innings while giving up six hits and three runs with four strikeouts and three walks. Cox, Reny, junior Brian Thompson (Southington, CT), and sophomore Patrick Cannon (Concord, NH) all recorded a hit to lead the Plymouth offense.