Oxford Hills graduate Matt Verrier went 3-for-4 with a home run, double and two runs scored to lead the University of Maine into the NCAA Division III New England Regional championship in an 8-4 win over Endicott at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, Mass. on Friday.
The game was a battle of the only two unbeaten teams remaining in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament. The Huskies will need just one more win on Saturday to return to the Division III World Series for the second year in a row and eighth time overall.
The championship round is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Saturday with USM facing whoever emerges from the loser’s bracket — either Endicott or MIT.
Verrier’s solo home run in the fifth inning, his team-leading eighth of the year, increased the Huskies’ lead to 4-2. USM (34-12) took the lead with three runs in the second. Endicott (32-15) kept it close until USM pulled away with three runs in the ninth.
Sam Dexter and Chris Bernard added two hits apiece for USM.
Tyler Leavitt picked up the win for the Huskies, allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk in five innings of work. He struck out one. Andrew Richards picked up the save with four innings of relief in which he gave up one run on six hits while fanning one.
Lewiston graduate Corbin Hyde pitched a scoreless inning of relief for Endicott, striking out two.
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