HARTFORD, Conn. - Day one action of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship began at the Hartford Regional with the #6 Wildcats falling to the #1 Southern Maine Huskies, 17-2. This was the first NCAA tournament appearance for the baseball team in program history.

Records:

JWU: 13-15

USM: 32-9

Statistics:

Griffin Snyder: 2-for-2, HR, RBI, HBP

Armani Henderson: 2-for-3, BB, R

Of Note:

After a quiet first inning for the Johnson & Wales bats, starting pitcher Ryan Depatie worked out of a jam with two runners on base to come away unscathed. The regional top-seeded Huskies were able to plate four runs in the bottom of the second inning despite a highlight reel play by his defense. Senior Patrick Fleming chased down a fly ball to the warning track in right field and leaped to make a catch that crashed him into the fence.

USM gathered seven more runs in their next at bat and took an 11-0 lead into the top of the fifth. Griffin Snyder connected for a couple of firsts in Wildcat tournament history as he blasted the teams first homerun in NCAA postseason history which subsequently was their first run batted in and first run scored. A one out triple by Armani Henderson led to the Wildcats second run off the bat of Joe Maracic, who stroked a single to right to close out the run scoring for the day for JWU. The Huskies were able to collect six runs in their final two at-bats to walk away with a 17-2 victory. 

Up Next:

The Wildcats will take on the loser of the Oswego State/Husson game at 11 a.m. on Friday morning. 

CLICK HERE for the full regional schedule.

CLICK HERE for the NCAA Tournament Program.

CLICK HERE for the NCAA Regional Tournament page.