PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Senior Ashley Tinsman (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) went 6-for-7 at the plate with two runs scored and two RBI, and hurlers senior Alexis Brown (Malden, Mass.) and graduate student Kirsten Pelletier (West Gardiner, Maine/Messalonskee) each picked up a win in the circle to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to doubleheader sweep of the Rhode Island College Anchormen in Little East Conference softball action Friday afternoon at Dayna A Bazar field.
            With the pair of wins, Southern Maine remains undefeated and improves to 9-0-1 overall and 4-0 in the Little East Conference.  Rhode Island College is 1-6 overall and 0-2. The Huskies earned a 5-2 win in the opener, and held on for a 6-5 win in the second game as USM remains hot to start its 2021 season.
            The Huskies and Anchormen are back in action on Saturday.  Southern Maine will host RIC at 2 pm in the first game of a non-conference doubleheader in Gorham.
 
GAME ONE: Southern Maine 5, Rhode Island College 2

• After a scoreless first two innings, Southern Maine got on the board in the top of the third scoring all three of its third inning runs with two outs.
• Tinsman drove in the Huskies' first run of the game with an RBI single to left field, before Brown knocked a two-run double to the warning track of left-center field for a 3-0 USM lead.
• RIC took a run back in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 3-1 game. Freshman Katelyn Ashe (Colchester, Conn.) led off the inning with a double, and came around to score on an RBI single from Katrina Kazen (Warwick, R.I.).
• Following a scoreless fifth inning, USM added two more runs in the top of the sixth – again all coming after two outs. The Huskies got back-to-back RBI doubles from junior Kaitlyn Nelson (Guildhall, Vermont/White Mountains Regional) and freshman Hannah Shields (Buckfield, Maine) to add to its run total. Freshman Belle Snyder (Epping, N.H.) set up the run rally in the sixth beating out a throw with single to third base to collect USM's first hit after two outs.
• RIC took one back in the home half of the sixth with an RBI triple from Katz, but the Huskies' were able to get out of the inning with a ground out.
• The Huskies went down in order in the top of the seventh and then used a strong defensive effort in the bottom of the inning to close out the game.  Sophomore Alexis Boyce (Wolcott, Conn.) led off the inning with a single to left but was caught on the relay trying to extend her hit to double. 
• USM's Kirsten Pelletier earned her fourth win of the season. Pelletier pitched seven innings, allowing seven hits and five walks for two earned runs. She struck out two.  RIC freshman Tatiana Burcy (Boston, Mass.) took the loss. Burcy allowed five runs (two earned) on 11 hits and a walk.  She struck out one.

 
GAME TWO: Southern Maine 6, Rhode Island College 5

• Senior Samantha Hauck (Painted Post, N.Y./Corning Painted Post) drove in a pair of runs on a 2-for-4 effort at the plate, while Tinsman went a perfect 3-for-3 with an RBI lead an eight-hit attack in game two.
• Brown improved to 4-0 for the Huskies allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits and three walks in six innings pitched.  Brown picked up seven strikeouts in the victory.  Freshman Lauren Merrill (Bethel, Maine/Oxford Hills) picked up her first save of the season pitching the final inning for USM.  She struck out one and gave up two hits in one inning of work.
• USM jumped out in front of RIC in the first scoring four runs and led 4-1 after one inning.  The Huskies took advantage of three hits and an RIC error in the opening inning.  Hauck had an RBI double in the inning, while sophomore Lauren Leidemann-Smith (South Berwick, Maie/Marshwood) and freshman Madison Day (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) each had RBIs.
• RIC Alexis Boyce homered in the bottom half of the inning to account for the Anchormen run.
• USM made it 6-1 in by the top of the third. Tinsman had an RBI single in the second, and Hauck knocked in a run in the third with an RBI single.
• RIC scored three unanswered runs with two in the third on an two-run double from senior Amber Wainwright (Taunton, Mass.), and an unearned run in the fourth on a infield throwing error for the Huskies in the fourth. With the three run swing, RIC trailed the Huskies by just two runs, 6-4.
• The fifth and sixth inning were without runs on either side. In the bottom of the sixth, Brown retired RIC in order on a fly out to left, a pop up to short stop and her seventh strikeout of the game.
• In the top of the seventh, RIC pitcher freshman Caitlin Lopez (Cranston, R.I.) sat the Huskies in order on a ground out, fly out and another ground out. 
• With a two run deficit, RIC's Boyce led off the inning with a double to left center.  After giving up the lead off extra base hit, USM's Brown was lifted in favor of Merrill.  Merril got back-to-back ground outs before junior Reilly Clancy (Narragansett, R.I.) stroked a two-out single to center scoring Boyce.
• Trailing 6-5, Burcy came up big with a double to right, but the RIC runner only advanced to third setting up a second and third situation.   With the game on the line, Merrill was able to get the final out of the inning with a strikeout for the save and Huskies' win.
• RIC's sophomore Faith Turinese (Plainville, Mass.) took the loss pitching 2.0 innings allowing six runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk. Lopez pitched the final five innings and did not yield a run. Lopez scattered three hits and a walk over her five innings and struck out three.

 
INSIDE THE STATS

• USM Snyder and Brown each had three hits over the doubleheader. Snyder was 3-for-7 with four runs scored, while Brown was 3-for-8 with a run scored and two RBI. 
• Tinsman is hitting .515 (17-for-33) with eight runs scored and 13 RBI in nine games.  Leidemann-Smith is hitting .393 (11-for-28) with six RBI and three runs scored.
• Pelletier is 4-0 in four starts. She has a 0.94 ERA with 23 Ks. Brown is also 4-0 with 20 Ks and a 1.83 ERA.