BANGOR – The Husson College Braves had a productive spring trip to Florida. And it is paying dividends.

The Braves unleashed a 13-hit attack and then turned four double plays to stymie several potential Bates College rallies en route to an 11-5 victory at the Winkin Baseball Complex Wednesday.

“We swung the bats well in Florida and we’ve continued up here,” said Husson junior catcher Jason Folsom of Millinocket, who paced the attack with a double, three singles and three runs batted in.

“Our Florida trip helped a lot. We faced a lot of good competition and a lot of good pitchers,” added Folsom. “We realized we’re not a power-hitting team so we just try to go with the pitch.”

“Our strength is our ability to move runners,” agreed junior third baseman Josh Ferguson, who had a first-inning double and an important two-run single in the eighth to highlight a four-run rally that provided some helpful insurance.

“We had a few key bunts,” said Ferguson, referring to Husson’s three sacrifices. “Everyone contributed.”

Jason Harvey’s leadoff single, Ferguson’s double to right center and Folsom’s two-run double to left gave Husson a 2-0 lead in the first.

Husson made it 4-0 in the second on a walk, a wild pitch, Justin Spencer’s base hit, Jason Harvey’s RBI groundout and Folsom’s RBI single.

Drew McKenna cut the lead to 4-3 in the third when he belted a three-run homer to left off an inside fastball thrown by starter Paul Klink.

“I guess he didn’t read the scouting report on me. That’s my pitch,” said McKenna.

Husson extended the lead with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth.

Steve Estes’ double and Spencer’s RBI groundout produced the fourth-inning run. They chased Bates starter Shawn Kingman in the fifth on a walk, Folsom’s single, Craig Harvey’s RBI single and Bill Kane’s RBI groundout.

A catcher’s interference call with the bases loaded provided Bates with a seventh-inning run, but two errors set the stage for Ferguson’s two-run single to right in Husson’s four-run eighth.

“I figured he [reliever Ryan Weaver] would throw me a curve and he did,” said Ferguson, who went with the pitch.

Husson junior righty Barrett Dionne of Bangor followed Klink and hurled three impressive innings of one-hit shutout relief to notch the win.

Prospect Harbor’s Mike Cowperthwaite pitched three innings of five-hit, two-run [one earned] ball and picked up the save.

“The second guy [Dionne] threw hard and the third guy’s [Cowperthwaite] curve dropped off the table,” said McKenna.

“Husson did a nice job getting hits with men on base and we didn’t. It was as simple as that,” said Bates coach Craig Vandersea, whose Bobcats stranded 13 runners.

Kane also had two hits for 6-7 Husson while McKenna had a double to go with his homer for 0-6 Bates. John O’Neill had three singles and Nate Maxwell contributed two singles.

BRAVES 11, BOBCATS 5

Bates (0-6) Husson (6-7)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Taranto, 2b 4 0 0 0 J. Harvey, ss 4 2 1

Maxwell, ss 4 2 2 0 Ferguson, 3b 3 3 2

Maguire, cf 4 0 1 0 Folsom, c 5 0 3

Reid, rf 3 1 1 0 a-McInnis 0 2 0

McKenna, 1b 4 2 2 3 C. Harvey, 1b 5 0 1

O’Neil, 3b 5 0 3 0 Kane, dh 4 0 1

Shriro, dh 4 0 1 1 Brideau, dh 1 0 0

Miehe, lf 2 0 0 0 Laprino, lf 4 0 0

Kowaleski, lf 2 0 0 1 Estes, rf 4 0

Engasser, c 3 0 0 0 Henderson, 2b 1 1 0

b-Creek 1 0 0 0

Spencer, cf 4 2 1 1

Totals 35 5 10 5 Totals 36 11 13 9

a-courtesy runner for Folsom in the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 8th; b-grounded out for Henderson in the 7th

Bates 003 000 101 ? 5

Husson 220 120 04x ? 11

E?Kingman, Taranto, Maxwell, Weaver; C. Harvey, Folsom, J. Harvey; LOB?Bates 13, Husson 8; 2B?McKenna, Ferguson, Folsom, Estes; HR?McKenna (1); DP?Henderson-J. Harvey-C. Harvey 2, J. Harvey-Henderson-C. Harvey 2; S?Ferguson, Laprino, J. Harvey; SB?Maguire, Maxwell; J. Harvey

Bates IP H R ER BB SO

Kingman (L, 0-1) 4 9 7 7 2 1

Weaver 4 4 4 0 3 1

Husson IP H R ER BB SO

Klink 3 4 3 3 4 0

Dionne (W, 1-0) 3 1 0 0 2 2

Cowperthwaite 3 5 2 1 1 3

HBP?Maguire (by Cowperthwaite), Reid (by Klink); WP?Kingman, Klink 2; T?3:16; ATT?50 (est.)