On May 4, Kyle Hurt (Southern California) started USC’s game against California. In the first inning of that contest, Andrew Vaughn (California) crushed an outside fastball from Hurt over the fence for a solo homer.

On Tuesday, Hurt and Vaughn faced off again in the first inning, this time with Hurt pitching for the Chatham Anglers and Vaughn playing for the Wareham Gatemen. Despite being on the opposite end of the country, the matchup led to a similar result. Hurt threw the Pac-12 Player of the Year an outside fastball and Vaughn once again laced a home run, this time a two-run shot.

Vaughn’s round-tripper gave Wareham (6-2) a lead they would not relinquish as the Gatemen defeated Chatham (4-3-1), 6-3, at Spillane Field.

“They didn’t let us get any momentum going,” Anglers manager Tom Holliday said. “Never at any time did I feel any energy out of our dugout. But again that energy comes from base hits and walks. They didn’t give us any of that. They threw strikes and we didn’t hit. That combination took the energy away from us.”

After putting up a two-spot in the first inning, Wareham scored one run in each of the middle innings to solidify its lead.

In the fourth inning, Austin Shenton (Florida International) scored on a fielder’s choice from Luke Roskam (Nebraska). An inning later, Wareham scored when Isaac Collins (Creighton) crossed the plate on a Bryant Packard (East Carolina) sacrifice fly. Shenton and Roskam connected again in the sixth when Roskam doubled home Shenton.

The Gatemen added an extra insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Skyler Hunter (Purdue) hit a sacrifice fly to right field.

Chatham had chances to score early on but failed to convert the opportunities. In the first inning, Branden Fryman (Samford) and Spencer Torkelson (Arizona State) both walked but were left stranded. Then, in the third inning, Greg Jones (UNCW) and Torkelson were on the corners with two outs. Waldichuk attempted to pick off Torkelson, but was unsuccessful. On the move, Jones broke for home plate and was thrown out by the Vaughn from first.

“You have to respond,” Holliday said. “When you fall down early like that you have to come back and score a run.”

In the sixth inning, the Anglers finally got on the scoreboard. Jones led off the inning with a single to center. He moved to second when Torkelson was hit by a pitch and then scored when Tristin English (Georgia Tech) singled through the infield. Two innings later, Torkelson knocked in John Rave (Illinois State) on a double down the right field line, and later came around on an English groundout.

Hurt finished his day after four innings and gave up seven hits and three runs while striking out four batters. Southpaw Jeff Belge (St. John’s) replaced Hurt and threw four innings himself. Ken Waldichuk (St. Mary’s) picked up the win for Wareham after allowing one hit and striking out six in five innings of work.

Despite picking up the loss, Holliday said he thought Hurt threw well, albeit not as well as their first outing of the season. Hurt also said that he felt good on the mound.

“I was throwing a lot of strikes but they were hitting some pretty good pitches,” Hurt said. “I had a pretty good feel for my change and my off-speed.”

The Chatham Anglers play again when they take on the Brewster Whitecaps at Stony Brook Park in Brewster. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.

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