GORHAM, Maine   –   Sophomore Kyle Douin (Augusta, Maine/Cony) was 4-for-10 with three runs and seven RBI over two games, including a trio of home runs, and graduate student Owen Sullivan (Biddeford, Maine) pitched a seven-inning gem in game two as the University of Southern Maine Huskies earned a split with the No. 20 Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors in a Little East Conference baseball doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Ed Flaherty Field.
 
The Huskies dropped a 5-4 heartbreaker in game one, but bounced back to earn a 7-inning 11-1 victory over the Warriors in game two. The win ended ECSU's 20-game win streak, and stopped a seven game win-streak for the Warriors against the Huskies. 
 
 
Series History:
Today's games marked the 131^st and 132^nd meeting between the Huskies and the Warriors.  Eastern Connecticut leads the overall series 77-55, and had won the last seven consecutively, including three games in 2023, until this afternoon's split. 
 
Records:
Game 1:
No. 20 Eastern Connecticut (21-5, 8-0 Little East)                       300  010  100    5-8-1
Southern Maine (7-16, 4-5 Little East)                            310  000  000    4-10-0
 
Game 1 - Pitching Record:
WP:  Dan Driscoll (3-1), 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8Ks
LP:   Clay Robbins (1-3), 8.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 11Ks
 
 
Game 2:
No. 20 Eastern Connecticut (21-6, 8-1 LEC)                   000  000  1    1-5-1
Southern Maine (8-16, 4-5 LEC)                                     111  411  2    11-15-1
 
Game 2 - Pitching Record:
WP:  Owen Sullivan (2-2), 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 Ks
LP:   Chris Torres (2-1), 4.0 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 3 Ks
 
 
Game 1 –Eastern Connecticut 5, Southern Maine 4

• Husky junior Clay Robbins (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) pitched a strong game in the loss.  Going 8.1 innings, Robbins had 11 strikeouts and scattered eight hits against the Warriors without yielding a walk.
• Both teams scored three runs each in the first inning. After going down two outs, the Warriors strung together three hits, including a three-run home run from Tiernan Lynch to jump ahead.  USM matched the Warriors in the bottom of the first. Douin launched the first of his three home runs of the day in hit first at bat, while senior Christian Siciliano (Shrewsbury, Mass./St. John's) had an RBI single, and senior Lucas Francis (Lisbon, Maine/Lisbon Falls) added an RBI double.
• The Huskies went ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the second on an RBI ground out from junior Anthony Poole (South Portland, Maine). The Huskies started the inning with back-to-back singles from junior Joe Bova (Boston, Mass./The Winchendon School) and sophomore Hunter Brissette (Lisbon, Maine/Lisbon Falls) to set up Poole. 
•  Both teams were quiet until the top of the fifth when ECSU scored the equalizer on another two-out run from an RBI single to right from Alejandro Soriano.
• After a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth for the Huskies, Robbins worked his way around a one-out double in the top of the sixth to keep it a tie game, 4-4.  USM threatened for a go-ahead run in the bottom of the inning with runners on second and third and one out, but the Warriors' Dan Driscoll ended the threat with a strikeout and a ground out.
• ECSU took the lead for good in the top of the seventh on a solo home run from Zach Donahue.  Ahead 5-4, Driscoll again worked his way out of a jam as USM stranded three runners in the bottom of the seventh. The Huskies left three more runners in the bottom of the eighth, and in the ninth went down in order 1-2-3 for the final.  

Game 2 – Southern Maine, Eastern Connecticut

• Sullivan retired the first eight Warriors he faced to open the game, and Southern Maine scored in each of the seven innings to earn a game-two victory.
• Douin again started the Huskies' scoring with a solo home run in the bottom of the first, and senior Jack LeBlond (Lewiston, Maine/Bridgton Academy) made it 2-0 in the second with an RBI single to right.  The Huskies took a 3-0 lead in the third on an RBI single from Siciliano.
• In the fourth, Sullivan continued to deal and worked around a two-out single to keep USM up 3-0, before the Huskies opened up the game with four runs in the fourth to lead 7-0. LeBlond and sophomore Chris Quigley (Halifax, Mass./Silver Lake Regional) had back-to-back singles to start the inning, while Brissette reached safely on a fielder's choice bunt to load the bases. With no outs and the bases full, Douin connected on his third home run of the day with a towering grand slam to right field to account for all four of the Huskies' runs in the inning.
• Sullivan followed with another 1-23 inning in the top of the fifth, and USM added another run on an RBI sacrifice fly from LeBlond to lead 8-0.  In the sixth, Sullivan worked around a one-out double, and  Poole made it 9-0 with an RBI fly out to right field.
• The Warriors broke up the shutout in the top of seven with a lead off double from Ray Leonzi and an RBI single from Mason Balmer, but it wasn't enough as the Huskies came back with two-runs in the bottom of the inning to invoke the 10-run rule and win 11-1. LeBlond doubled down the left field line in his at bat, and scored on a passed ball, while Douin ended the game with his sixth RBI of the game with a single through the right side.

 
INSIDE THE STATISTICS

• Douin's three home runs give him a team-leading nine on the season. He has 12 in his career. Douin is hitting .343 (37-for-108) with 40 RBI, eight doubles, a triple and nine home runs for a .685 slugging percentage.

 
Up Next:
Southern Maine remains at home for its next two contest and will host Bowdoin College on Tuesday (7:00 pm) in a non-conference game. The Huskies then welcome top-ranked Endicott College on Wednesday (3:30 pm). The Huskies fell to Endicott 10-3 earlier in the season in Massachusetts.
 
 
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