BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – The University of Southern Maine baseball team moved to within one game of winning the NCAA Division III College World Series by pounding Methodist College of Fayetteville, N.C., 12-3 at C.O. Brown Field Monday.

The win propelled the Huskies from Gorham (37-6) into Tuesday night’s title game against the winner of Monday night’s contest between Trenton (N.J.) State and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Methodist (31-16) was eliminated from the double-elimination event.

Southern Maine socked 20 singles against seven Methodist pitchers to provide the offense, while freshman lefthander Tim Sullian (5-0) picked up the victory with 6 2/3 innings of four-hit relief work.

The Huskies blew the game open with five runs in the top of the fourth inning. Bob Prince (3-for-6) led off with a single. Scott Dutton (4-for-5) and Geoff George followed with walks to load the bases.

Gary Williamson (3-for-5) then singled to drive in one run. Mark Caron drew a walk to drive in a run. Steve Claire poked an RBI single, Jon Collins singled, and Jim Broughton roped a two-run single.

When the dust cleared, USM led 9-2.

The Huskies scored two runs in the first inning. Collins led off with a single to left, Broughton walked, Prince singled to right for an RBI, and Dutton singled to left for an RBI.

Southern Maine added two more runs in the third. George walked to lead off. Williamson singled and York singled to load the bases. Caron singled to left to drive in one run. Collins followed with a deep sacrifice fly to right.

Williamson’s RBI single sparked USM’s two-run seventh inning.

Methodist scored a run in the first when Scott McQueen singled to center, Joe Myrtle reached on an error, and Kevin Jones singled to left for the RBI.

Southern Maine pitching ace Bob Aceto (10-1) will pitch Tuesday night with four days rest. He will have a chance to set school marks for wins in a season and a career owned by Greg Copetta, who pitched last year. Aceto beat Simpson College 6-4 last Thursday, working 6 2/3 innings.

Huskies 12, Monarchs 3

Southern Maine Methodist College

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Collins, cf 5 1 4 1 McQu’n,2b-ss 3 2 1 0

Broughton, 2b 4 1 1 2 a-Pegran 1 0 0 0

Prince, rf 6 2 3 1 Bridgers, cf 3 0 1 0

Dutton, dh 5 3 4 1 b-Elliot 1 0 0 0

George, 1b 3 2 1 0 Myrtle, lf 4 0 2 1

Williamson, lf 5 1 3 2 Kirkpat’ck, c 3 1 0 0

York, c 6 0 2 1 Jones, dh-rf 4 0 1 1

Caron, ss 4 1 1 2 Parker, 2b 0 0 0 0

Claire, 3b 5 1 1 1 Cox, 1b 4 0 1 0

Ackerman, 3b 1 0 0 0 Sports, ss-p 3 0 1 1

Breeden, 3b 4 0 0 0

Register,r-ss 2 0 0 0

c-East 1 0 0 0

Totals 44 12 20 11 Totals 33 3 7 3

a-grounded to first for McQueen in 9th

b-grounded to short for Bridgers in 9th

c-grounded to short for Register in 9th

Southern Maine 202 500 201 – 12

Methodist 101 000 010 – 3

E – George, York, Claire, Register 2B – Bridgers, Cox, Sports LOB -Southern Maine 16, Methodist 8 DP – Broughton to Caron to George; McQueen unassisted, McQueen to Cox SB – McQueen, Bridgers S – Bridgers SF – Collins

Pitching Summary

PITCHER IP H R BB SO

USM

Devlin 2 1/3 3 2 1 0

Sullivan (W,5-0) 6 2/3 4 1 3 3

Methodist

Brown (L,10-3) 3 7 4 4 3

Bucholz 0 1 3 2 0

Pope 1/3 1 1 1 0

Rohr 1/3 3 1 0 0

Fachet 2 2/3 6 2 0 2

Sports 2 2/3 1 0 0 2

Knight 0 1 1 2 0

HBP – Caron by Sports WP – Fachet, Sports TIME -3:04