GORHAM, Maine  – The No. 2/7 nationally ranked Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors broke a 3-3 game with a run in the sixth and two more runs in the seventh overcoming a 2-0 deficit to earn a 6-4 win in the second game of a Little East Conference baseball doubleheader to earn a sweep of the University of Southern Maine Huskies at Ed Flaherty Field Friday night. Eastern Connecticut defeated USM 9-1 in the opening game and rallied for the 6-4 win in game two. 
 
The doubleheader featured two 2021 NCAA Division III tournament qualifiers, and was a rematch of the 2021 LEC Championship in which the Huskies claimed.  With the sweep, the Warriors extend their win streak to 10 games. The pair of losses halted a seven-game winning stretch for Southern Maine. . 
 
THE BASICS:
Records:
No. 2/7 Eastern Connecticut (22-2, 9-0 LEC)
Southern Maine (11-14, 4-4 LEC)
 
Score: 
GM 1: No.2/7 Eastern Connecticut 9, Southern Maine 1
GM 2: No. 2/7 Eastern Connecticut 6, Southern Maine 4
 
Pitching: No 2/7 Eastern Connecticut 9, USM 1 – Game One
Winning Pitcher: EC, Billy Oldham (6-1), 7.0 IP, 1 run, 3 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts
Losing Pitcher: SM, Joshua Joy (2-4), 5.0 IP, 8 runs (4 earned), 8 hits, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts
 
Pitching:  No 2/7 Eastern Connecticut 6, USM 4 – Game Two
Winning Pitcher: EC, Bryan Albee (8-0), 5.1 IP, 3 runs (2 earned), 6 hits, 2 walks, 1 strikeout
Losing Pitcher:. SM, Bryce Afthim (4-2), 7.0 IP, 6 runs (2 earned), 8 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
Save, EC, Aidan Dunn (1), 2.0 IP, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: Game One

• Eastern scored seven two-out runs in the top of the first and never looked back en route to the 7-1 win.  Warrior starter Billy Oldham earned the win, limiting the Huskies to a lone run in the bottom of the fourth. Oldham struck out five and gave up just three hits.
• Eastern Connecticut's Zach Donahue and Jack Rich each went 2-for-5 with three RBI. Josh Tower was 3-for-4 with two runs scored as the Warriors combined for 13 hits in the win.  
• Husky junior Arlo Pike (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) was 2-for-3 at the plate as USM's lone repeated hitter. He drove in the Huskies only run of the game with an RBI single up the middle. .

 
HOW IT HAPPENED: Game Two

• The Huskies snagged a 2-0 lead off of the Warriors with a run in the bottom of the second and third.  Junior Tom Vesosky (Colchester, Vermont) had an RBI single in the second, while Pike had an RBI double down the left field line in the third.
• ECONN took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth, scoring all three of its runs after two outs. With one out, ECONN's Luke Broadhurst singled to left and moved up to second on a fielder's choice making it runners on first and second for the Warriors.  A foul out to left, gave the Huskies two outs, but Eastern stayed alive with a Husky fielding error to load the bases.  Tower delivered for Eastern with a bases clearing double for three unearned runs and a 3-2 ECSU advantage.
• USM tied it up in the fifth.  Sophomore Janek Luksza (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) led off the inning with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then moved to third on a ground out. Luksza came around to score on a heads-up running play after a throwing error and close call at first.
• With the scored knotted up, Rich doubled in John Mesango who led off the top of the sixth with a single before Huskies got three consecutive outs to end the inning down 4-3.  ECSU added two more in the seventh on an RBI single to Donahue and a run on a passed ball for the 6-4 final.  
• Husky starter Bryce Afthim (Windham, Maine) pitched well in the loss.  Four of the six runs against him were unearned thanks to three USM fielding errors.  ECSU senior Bryan Albee allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits.   

 
UP NEXT:
Southern Maine has a pair of back-to-back home games next week.  USM hosts Plymouth State on Tuesday (3:30 pm) in a Little East Conference match up, and then takes on Endicott College on Wednesday (3:30 pm).