Lesco and Francoeur Combine for 16 Ks, SeaWolves Shutout Saints

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine—The Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) baseball team blanked the Fighting Saints from the College of Saint Joseph (CSJ) 6-0 in its first Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) game of the season Saturday, Mar. 30.

First-year Stefan Lesco (Somers, Conn.) made his sixth start of the season on a cold, blustery day to face the Saints who took both from the SeaWolves in the fall series. The home team posted one run in the first courtesy of a RBI-single to right by sophomore captain Dylan Francoeur (Westbrook, Maine) to drive in lead-off man Cody Bryant (Somersworth, N.H.).

Lesco faced a bases-loaded jam with one out in the top half of the second inning before fanning the next two hitters to keep it scoreless. SMCC answered with another run in the same inning on a wild pitch.

Four others delivered RBI knocks for the SeaWolves when senior Caleb Burpee (Kennebunk, Maine) singled to right in the fifth, Bryant and first-year captain Peter Stauber (Cumberland, Maine) went back-to-back in the sixth, and first-year Junior Nunez (Boston, Mass.) doubled to center in the seventh.

Senior captain Sean Adams (Lebanon, Maine) went a perfect 3-3 at the plate with a walk, two runs, and a triple—he betters his average to .333 on the season.

Lesco pitched 5.2 innings of no-run baseball allowing three hits and four walks before Francoeur came on in relief to make his seventh appearance of the season. Francoeur kept the shutout in tact giving up just a hit and a walk. Both right-handers combined for 16 strikeouts to remain undefeated this spring. Lesco picked up the win; his counterpart Jason Albert was taxed the loss.

In a post-game interview, Head Coach Dave Walsh commented, "Picking up that first conference win feels good—Lesco and Francoeur are an effective tandem that will keep us in any ballgame. CSJ is a talented club, a program that I'm sure will make a run in the YSCC playoffs. This a part of a challenging stretch to come, we hope to keep this momentum rolling at home."

The SeaWolves extend their win streak to nine and improve to 17-4 overall, 1-0 in conference action. CSJ drops its fifth in-a-row to move to .500 on the season (7-7), 0-1 in YSCC play.

The action continues when SMCC welcomes NJCAA-opponent Northern Essex Community College for a single nine-inning game on Wednesday, April 3. First-pitch is scheduled for 3:30 pm. LIVE STATS.

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