CLERMONT, Fla.  – The University of Southern Maine Huskies softball team concluded its 2017 Spring Training Games in Florida with a split defeating the Buffalo State Tigers 11-3 in its first game of the day before falling to the MIT Engineers 6-3 in the second game.

            With the split Southern Maine fnishes its 2017 Florida trip with a 6-6 record.  Buffalo State, which dropped two games on the day, is now 4-12, while MIT started its season at 2-0 with the win over the Huskies. 

GAME ONE: Southern Maine 11, Buffalo State 3

             After falling behind 1-0 after the first inning USM scored a pair of runs in the top of the third and then added at least one run in the next four innings, including a six-run outburst in the top of the seventh, to take an 11-3 win over the Buffalo State Tigers.  The Huskies belted out 16 hits in the win, including five doubles from senior Mary Caron (Lewiston, Maine/St. Dominic Academy), juniors Taylor Lux (Arundel, Maine/Thornton Academy), Courtney Davis (Woburn, Mass.), and Amber Kelly (Berwick, Maine/Noble), and sophomore Brooke Cross (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy). 

            Caron, Kelly and senior Shelby Obert (Norridgewock, Maine/Skowhegan) each had three hits a piece for the Huskies.  Caron drove in a pair of runs.  Davis added two RBI as well, and went 2-for-5 at the plate.

            Freshman Alexis Brown (Malden, Mass.) earned the win in the circle for USM.  Brown fired 4.2 innings allowing one unearned run on six hits and a walk.  She struck out three.  Junior Haeli Campbell (Manchester, N.H./Goffstown) picked up the save, pitching the final 2.1 innings.  She allowed two earned runs on three hits and a walk. 

            Buffalo State sophomore Allie Block (N. Tonawanda, N.Y./Starpoint) took the loss allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits and three walks in 5.0 innings pitched.  Freshman Scarlett Whitman (Grand Island, N.Y.) closed out the game pitching the final two innings.  Whitman allowed seven earned runs on eight hits and a walk.  Junior Abijah Adams (Rochester, N.Y.) was 3-for-3 for the Tigers with an RBI.  Senior Laura Crooks (Niagara Falls, N.Y.), sophomore Cassandra O'Hern (Augusta, N.J.) and junior Melissa Woods (Lakeview, N.Y.) each had two hits. 

GAME TWO: MIT 6, Southern Maine 3

             MIT used a five run top of the fifth to overcome a 1-0 deficit and overtake the Huskies en route to a 6-3 win.  The Engineers used four hits and took advantage of a Huskies' fielding error for their five-run outburst.  Freshman Sarah Von Ahn (West Linn, Ore.) had a two-run single in the inning for MIT, while senior Natalie Shifflet (Poway, Calif./Del Norte) and junior Jasmin Joseph (Woodland Hills, Calif./El Camino Real Charter) each had an RBI on a sacrifice fly and a walk respectively. 

            Trailing the Engineers 5-1, USM took one run back in the bottom of the fifth when Caron crossed the plate on an MIT fielding error.  Caron reached safely with a one-out single through the left side, before moving to third on the first of two MIT errors in the inning.  USM trimmed the deficit to 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double to right field from Obert.  Obert's double drove in sophomore Brittany Plowman (Scarborough, Maine) who had reached on a one-out infield single.  However, MIT added an insurance run in the seventh on a wild pitch, and USM squandered a lead off single from Davis for the final. 

UP NEXT:

            Southern Maine is scheduled to travel to Bates College on Wednesday (3:00 p.m.) for a non-conference doubleheader.  

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