BOSTON –  Freshman Hannah Kenney (Oxford, Maine/Oxford Hills) hit a clutch two-run home run the top of the sixth inning to knot the score up at 3-3 and senior Amber Kelly (Berwick, Maine/Noble) worked her way around three Husky fielding miscues as the University of Southern Maine Huskies' softball team took a 6-5 game one extra inning victory in a Little East Conference doubleheader split with the UMass Boston Beacons Tuesday afternoon.  USM dropped the second game 1-0. 

With the split, Southern Maine stands at 16-13, and improves to 5-3 in the Little East Conference.  Earnign the game one win, the Huskies secured their longest win-streak of the season at four games before dropping the second game.  UMass Boston is now 10-18 overall and 2-4 in the LEC. 

GAME ONE: Southern Maine 6, UMass Boston 5 (8 innings)

Trailing 3-1 after five innings, USM's Kenney hit her fifth home run of the season, connecting on a two-run shot, to tie the game and force extra innings. Kenney, who finished the game 2-for-2 at the plate with two runs scored and two RBI, and a pair of walks drove in senior Taylor Lux (Arundel, Maine/Thornton Academy).  Lux reached safely with a one-out walk. 

The score remained unchanged through the seventh inning and the Huskies struck first plating three runs in the top of the eighth for a 6-3 lead.  The Huskies manufactured their three runs off of a lead-off single and a stolen base from Lux, a walk from Kenney, an UMB fielding error and RBI ground outs from sophomores Alexis Brown (Malden, Mass.) and Erin Martin (Biddeford, Maine).  

UMB threatened to send the game into the ninth inning scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning.  Kelly yielded a lead off single to Gigi Braga, and then was hampered by two fielding errors to allow a pair of unearned runs.  Cassidy Gaeta and Ari Bilotta each had RBIs in the inning. With the score at 6-5, Kelly was able to bounce getting the final two outs with a fly out and a line out to left field. 

Kelly improved to 8-6 with the win, allowing two earned runs (five total) on 11 hits and two walks. She struck out six.  Jess Greenspan took the loss, allowing four earned runs on five walks and six hits.  

GAME TWO: UMass Boston 1, Southern Maine 0

Greenspan paced the Beacons to a game two win, limiting the Huskies to just four hits and two walks over seven inning en route to the 1-0 shutout victory.  Greenspan, who pitched eight innings in game one, struck out five Huskies in the victory. 

With Greenspan in control in the circle, UMass Boston generated all of the offense it would need in the bottom of the second, collecting a pair of infield singles, including an RBI single from Ari Bilotta. 

The Huskies had a shot to tie the game in the top of the seventh when junior Brooke Cross (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) led off the inning with a double to left field, but Greenspan kept USM off the board retiring the next two USM batters via strikeout and then forcing a ground out for the win. 

Kelly had two of the Huskies hits in the loss, while Bohan and Cross had the other two.  USM starter Brown took the loss, allowing one earned run on five hits and seven walks in six innings.  She struck out four. 

Southern Maine returns to action on Wednesday (3:30 pm) on the road for a non-conference doubleheader with Bates College.  

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