GORHAM, Maine – The Vermont State University Castleton baseball team dropped a pair of Little East Conference games on Saturday afternoon at the University of Southern Maine, falling 14-4 in game one of a twin bill before dropping 9-8 in the nightcap.
 
The Spartans faced a tall task, as Huskies had a full house on hand by honoring their legendary coach Ed Flaherty on Saturday as he winds down on his nearly-40-year career that saw him win more than 1,100 games with 26 NCAA Tournament appearances. After a run-rule finish in game one, VTSU Castleton gave the Huskies all they could handle in game two before USM walked off in the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly.
 
Hunter Perkins had a strong day at the plate, going 2-for-4 and scoring three times. He also  reached base twice via walk and was hit by a pitch three times in nine plate appearances. Jared Cafasso went 3-for-7 with a walk and Tyler McLain had three hits as well. Cafasso and McLain combined for 7 RBIs on the day.
 
On the bump, Owen Phelps dazzled with 4.2 innings of relief, allowing only one earned run while scattering three hits and three walks. Sam Crawford went four innings in his game-one start with only two of his seven runs being earned. He struck out two batters.
 
GAME ONE – USM 14, VTSU Castleton 4
VTSU Castleton posted three runs in the top of the first to spoil the celebration for USM, capitalizing on a base hit into no-man's land by Cafasso that cleared the bases and gave the Spartans a first-inning lead. Crawford hit the ground running, retiring USM 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first.
 
After the Spartans were retired in order in the top of the second, USM got on the board in the home half. A leadoff baserunner via error came around to score on an RBI double, but Crawford limited the damage from there to keep 3-1 Spartans through two innings.
 
That score held until the bottom of the fourth inning, when USM's bats came to life. Crawford retired the first two batters of the inning, but a two-out walk and a steal put a runner in scoring position for the Huskies. An RBI single followed by an RBI double tied the score at 3-3. After the next batter reached on an error, a walk loaded the bases. They were quickly cleared thanks to a three-run double by USM's Kyle Douin. Douin scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-3 before Crawford got out of the inning.
 
USM tacked on its eighth run in the fifth inning on a solo home run, but Castleton responded in the top of the sixth with a run of its own. With the bases loaded and one out, Mikey Raby Jr. drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, but that was the only run the Spartans mustered in the frame to make it 8-4.
 
Nick Lescarbeau tossed a scoreless sixth inning to keep the score at 8-4, but the Huskies figured him out in the home half of the seventh. The first two runners reached base before the next two batters were retired. A two-out rally ensued, with a hit batter loading the bases before a three-run double by Douin made it 11-4 Huskies. An RBI single pushed it to 12-4 before a two-run homer by Cam Seymour ended the contest via the LEC's 10-run rule after seven innings.
 
GAME TWO – USM 9, VTSU Castleton 8
Both offenses came out of the gate quickly in game two, though neither team ever scored in the same inning in the contest. VTSU Castleton tallied runs in the first and second innings before USM posted a combined eight runs in the third and fourth. Five more runs in the fifth and sixth for the Spartans tied the game at 8-8 until the bottom of the ninth, where USM walked off for the doubleheader sweep.
 
The first two Spartans to the plate in the game were hit with pitches and both came around to score on a two-run double by McLain. After Aubrey Ramey worked a clean first inning, the Spartans added a third run to their total on an RBI single by Kannon Dush that scored Rabey.
 
The Huskies got to Ramey in the third inning, pushing across six runs on five hits. A walk and a hit batter to lead off the inning set USM up, with Douin doubling home a run. An RBI single followed before Seymour had an RBI double of his own to tie the game at 3-3. A two-run triple gave USM its first lead, 5-3, and a run-scoring ground out made it 6-3 through three innings.
 
USM extended the gap to 8-3 in the fourth on a two-run single by Seymour, but the Spartans began to chip away in the top of the fifth. An RBI single by Cafasso got it to 8-4 before Turner Clews drove in a run with a base hit of his own to cut it to 8-5.
 
Phelps worked a quick fifth inning on the mound for Castleton, giving the offense a chance to keep it rolling in the sixth. Jack Boyle led off with a single before Perkins walked. Jackson Cardozo drove in a run with a double, chasing the starting pitcher from the game and making it 8-6. McLain drove in a run with a base hit through the left side. Cafasso walked to load the bases, bringing up pinch-hitter Brandon Ramirez. Ramirez notched an RBI groundout to tie the score at 8-8.
 
USM threatened in the home half of the sixth, getting a runner to third with one out before Phelps induced a 4-6-3 double play to escape the jam. That was the only runner for either team to reach scoring position before the home half of the ninth, when Douin led off with a double for the Huskies. A base hit put runners at the corners before an intentional walk loaded the bases with no outs. Christian Siciliano then lofted a fly ball to center field, deep enough to score Douin from third and give the Huskies a walk-off victory.
 
The Spartans have three games left on the LEC slate with the regular season winding down. They host Keene State on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at Spartan Field.