GORHAM, Maine – Freshman Cam Seymour (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) went 5 for 8 at the plate with five doubles and three RBI as the University of Southern Maine Huskies swept a doubleheader from the visiting Plymouth State University Panthers at Ed Flaherty Field Monday afternoon.
            The Huskies snapped a 3-3 tie scoring five times in the eighth inning to take an 8-3 Little East Conference victory in the opening game.  In the second half of the twin bill, five USM hurlers combined for a six-hit, 11-0 shutout.  The second game was a non-conference contest.
            The two wins extended the Huskies' winning streak to six games and improved their record to 21-8 overall and 9-4 in LEC play.  The Panthers slip to 8-11 overall and 4-8 on conference play.  The two teams are scheduled to play another doubleheader at Plymouth State on Thursday.
 
Game One
            Cruising behind the pitching of senior Ben Lambert (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy), the Huskies were protecting a 3-0 lead until the seventh inning.  Junior Brody Fillion (Littleton, N.H.) crushed a two-run homer to right-center field to cut the Panthers' deficit to one.  The Panthers tied the game with an unearned run in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly from graduate student James Salta (Laconia, N.H.).
            Senior Andrew Hillier (Bangor, Maine) opened the home half of the eighth with a triple and scored on classmate Andrew Olszak's (Danvers, Mass.) sacrifice fly to break the tie.  A hit batsman and a single set the table for junior Brogan Searle-Belanger (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) who delivered with an RBI single.  Two batters later, sophomore Tom Vesosky (Colchester, Vt.) plated two runs with a single up the middle.  Seymour delivered Vesosky with his third double of the game to make it 8-3.  This marks the second time this season that Seymour has equaled the school record with three doubles in a game.
            USM built its 3-0 lead in the third inning taking advantage of two base hits, a walk and three Panther miscues.
            Lambert would go 7.2 innings allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out nine.  Rookie Bryce Afthim (Windham, Maine) came on to get the final out in the eighth and worked out of a ninth inning jam to pick up his seventh win of the season.
            Seymour paced the Huskies'11-hit attack with his three doubles.  Vesosky and senior Dylan Hapworth (Winslow, Maine) also had a pair of hits.
            Junior southpaw Noah Wachter (Concord, N.H.) pitched well in defeat for the Panthers.  Wachter gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and four walks while striking out eight.  Sophomore Griffin Crane (Lancaster, N.H./White Mountains Regional) and graduate student Andrew Salta (Laconia, N.H.) had two hits.
 
Game Two
            Southern Maine, again protecting a 3-0 lead going into the sixth inning, exploded for six runs to open a 9-0 lead.  Junior Sam Troiano (South Portland, Maine) ignited the uprising with a leadoff home run to left center.  Hapworth had an RBI single and scored three batters later on a single from freshman Janek Luksza (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills).  Vesosky followed with an RBI single, and Seymour capped off the inning with a two-run double.  All five hits for Seymour were doubles raising his season total to 16.
            Hillier hit his first home run of the season leading off the seventh, and the Huskies added their final run in the eighth on freshman pinch hitter Wyatt Williamson's (Bryant Pond, Maine/Oxford Hills) first career hit, a double to left center.
            Vesosky, Seymour, Hillier and Olsak all had two hits in the game.  Senior Gavin Arsenault (Dixfield, Maine/Dirigo), the second of five Husky hurlers used in the game, pitched three perfect innings to earn his first win of the season.
            Senior Peter Laviolette (Brentwood, Tenn./Proctor Academy) had two hits for the Panthers.  Grad student Mark Berryman (Lancaster, N.H.) took the loss on the mound.
 
Up Next
            The Huskies and Panthers will play a doubleheader at PSU on Thursday.  The first game will be counted in the conference standings.  The nightcap will be a non-conference game.