Southern Maine Sweeps Keene State 14-1 and 12-3

            KEENE, N.H. -- The University of Southern Maine pounded out 32 hits over two games to sweep Keene State College, 14-1 (7 innings) and 12-3, in a Little East Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Conference.

            The sweep extends the Huskies current winning streak to six games and improves their overall mark to 24-8 and 9-3 in LEC play.  Veteran USM head coach Ed Flaherty picked up the 997th and 998th wins of his career and has a chance tomorrow of becoming the 11th coach in NCAA Division III history to win 1,000 games when the Huskies host MIT for a doubleheader.

            Keene State had its losing streak extended to four games falling to 14-18 overall and 4-8 in the conference. 

Game One

            Seven USM batters had two or more hits in the opener led by sophomore Dylan Hapworth (Winslow, Maine) who went 3 for 4, including a home run, with three runs scored and an RBI.  The Huskies were in command from the outset building an 11-0 lead in the first three innings.

            Junior right-hander Dalton Rice (Waterford, Maine/Oxford Hills) was the beneficiary of the Husky offensive outburst.  Rice pitched a complete game allowing one run on four hits and two walks while striking out seven over seven innings.

            The Huskies sent 11 men to the plate in the first inning to push six runs across the plate.  Hapworth led off the frame with a single, moved to third on a double from sophomore Andrew Hillier (Bangor, Maine) and scored the first run on junior Devin Warren's (Smithfield, Maine/Messalonskee) ground out.  An infield error allowed Hillier to score before the Huskies strung together three consecutive singles bring home two more runs.  The fifth run scored on a second KSC infield error, and the final run came home on rookie Sam Troiano's (South Portland, Maine) double.

            USM added two in the second on back-to-back RBI doubles from junior Zach Quintal (Eliot, Maine/Marshwood) and sophomore Anthony Degifico (South Portland, Maine).

            Hapworth ignited a three-run uprising in the third with a one-out double and later scored on Warren's RBI single.  Junior Jake Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) singled to put two aboard, and sophomore Andrew Olszak (Danvers, Mass.) plated Warren and Dexter with a double to right-center field.

            After KSC nicked Rice for a single run in the sixth, the Huskies put the game away in the seventh tacking up another three runs and bringing the 10-run rule into play.  Hapworth led off the inning with his sixth home run of the season.  Hillier and Warren had back-to-back hits and would come around on sacrifice flies from Dexter and rookie pinch hitter Daren Wood (Wiscasset, Maine). 

Game Two

            Like the opener, the Huskies took a 4-0 lead before the Owls even came to bat.  Back-to-back doubles from Warren and Dexter produced the first run, and Olszak drove in Dexter with a single.  After a Quintal single, some poor KSC defense allowed the Huskies pick up two unearned runs.

            USM added single runs in the second and third while KSC kept things close with one in the second and two in the third.  For USM, Warren drove in Hapworth in the second, and Dexter hit his third home run of the season in the third.

            The Owls took advantage of a leadoff walk and back-to-back singles from junior Mac Struthers (Strafford, N.H./Coe-Brown) and senior Christian Bourgea (Litchfield, N.H./Campbell) in the second to score their first run.  In the third, senior Abe Grainger (Bedford, Mass.) hit a two-run homer off USM sophomore starter Gage Feeney (Cutler, Maine/Washington Academy) to make it 6-3.

            Feeney settled down to hold the Owls scoreless over the next four innings.  Held in check over the middle three innings by junior Brandon Heath (Charleston, N.H./Fall Mountain), the Husky bats came alive in the final three innings to score six more runs.

            In the seventh, the Huskies loaded the bases on singles from Hapworth and Hillier and a walk to Dexter.  Olszak drove in Hapworth with a sacrifice fly.  Quintal brought home Hillier and Dexter with a double to left field.

            Hapworth hit a solo home run leading off the eighth, and Quintal blasted a two-run homer in the ninth for the final tally.

            Feeney earned his sixth win of the season allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five.  Junior Tanner Laberge (Windham, Maine) pitched two scoreless innings allowing one hit and striking out one.

            Dexter led the Huskies' 15-hit attack going 4 for 4 with a double and his home run.  Quintal was 3 for 5 with a double, home run and four RBI.  Warren also had three hits.

            Rookie Isaac Keehn (Norwalk, Conn.) was saddled with his third loss of the season after giving up five runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk over two innings.  He struck out two.  Junior Devin Springfield (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) had a pair of singles for the Owls. 

Up Next

            Southern Maine opens a six-game home stretch tomorrow (12 p.m.) hosting MIT at Ed Flaherty Field.  USM also has home games slated for Tuesday (4 p.m.) with Bowdoin College and Wednesday (3:30 p.m.) against Bates College.  Keene State is off until next Friday (12 p.m.) when it hosts the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for an LEC doubleheader.

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