GORHAM, Maine. –  Abby Kidd fired a five-inning shutout in game one and came on to earn the save in game two to lead the Rhode Island College Anchormen to a sweep of the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a Little East Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the USM Softball Stadium. 
 
Kidd held the Huskies to four singles in game one to earn her 14th win of the season.  In game two, Kidd came on to start the seventh with a 3-2 lead and worked her way around a two-out single to pick up her second save of the season. 
 
Southern Maine starter sophomore Lexus McIntosh (Lancaster, N.H./White Mountains Regional) turned in a strong seven innings in the loss, allowing eight hits (all singles) and three walks. She did not yield an earned run as Southern Maine committed three fielding errors in the game.
 
Senior Belle Snyder (Epping, N.H.) was 3-for-6 on the day, while junior Abby Miner (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) and senior Makena Mulcahy (Auburn, Mass.) each were 2-for-5.
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Series Record:
Today's doubleheader marked the 73^rd and 74^th meeting between the University of Southern Maine and Rhode Island College.  RIC leads the overall series 43-30, and has won the last five over the Huskies.  The Anchormen defeated Southern Maine, 6-2, 6-2, in the 2023 regular season, and then earned a 4-3 (10 inning) win over the Huskies in the 2023 Little East Conference tournament.
 
Records:
GM 1 – Southern Maine Rhode Island College
Rhode Island College (24-3, 7-0 Little East)        015  14    11-9-0
Southern Maine  (17-6, 5-2 Little East)               000  00      0-4-2
 
Game 1 - Pitching Record:
WP:  Abby Kidd (14-0), 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 Ks
LP:   Abby Lee (1-1), 2.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 Ks
 
 
GM 2 – Southern Maine 8, Keene State 0 (5 Inning)
Rhode Island College (25-3, 8-0 LEC)    000  100  2    3-8-1
Southern Maine  (17-7, 5-3 LEC)                        000  110  0    2-6-3
 
 
Game 2 - Pitching Record:
WP:  Taylor Babcock (10-0), 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
LP:   Lexus McIntosh (9-3), 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
SV: Kidd (Sv, 2)
 
 
How It Happened: Game One – Rhode Island College 11, Southern Maine 0 (5 inning)

• Kidd retired the first eight Huskies she faced in order, and RIC snagged a 6-0 lead after the second inning.  The Anchormen went up 1-0 on an RBI single from Melanie Earley in the top of the second.  In the top of the third, RIC scored five runs on four hits. Noelle Simmons (Goffstown, N.H.) had an RBI double to start the rally for RIC, while Reilly Austin made it 3-0 with a run-scoring single through the left side.  Sarah Mickelson made it a big inning with a bases clearing double down the left field line for three runs and a 6-0 RIC lead.
• Southern Maine broke up the no-hitter in the third on a singles from Snyder and sophomore Olivia Levasseur (Amesbury, Mass.), but the Huskies were unable to push a run across the plate.
• RIC scored again in the fourth making it 7-0, and then added four more runs in the top of the fifth making it 11-0.  Senior Hannah Shields (Buckfield, Maine) led off the bottom of the fifth with a single from the Huskies, and Snyder had a two-out single, but again were unable to score invoking the eight-run rule.

 
How It Happened: Game Two – Rhode Island College 3, Southern Maine 2

• With both teams starting pitchers dominant, RIC scored first in the top of the fourth to lead 1-0. Earley had an RBI single to plate an unearned run.
• Southern Maine bounced back in the home half of the fourth.  Southern Maine earned a runner with an RIC fielding error to start the inning, and senior Rona Scott (Beverly, Mass.) laced a double off of the fence in center field to pick up the RBI tying the game at 1-1.
• In the top of the fifth, McIntosh battled her way through a single and a walk, facing runners on second and third with two outs, ending the threat with a strikeout to keep it 1-1.  USM jumped ahead of the Anchormen in the bottom of the fifth to snag a 2-1 lead. Mulcahy hit a two-out single to left field, and Snyder moved her up a base with an infield single. With runners on, Miner drilled a single up the middle scoring Mulcahy for the lead before the end of the inning.
• McIntosh turned in another hard-won inning in the sixth getting the first two outs before giving up a walk and a single, getting a line-out to right field on a snag from Snyder.
• In the top of the seventh, McIntosh got back-to-back ground outs to start the inning before allowing an infield single to second base.  RIC looked to have its third out of the inning, but a grounder was misplayed and then the ball was thrown away, allowing Simmons, who had the two-out single, to score from first to tie the game. Two batters later, Earley had an RBI single up the middle to give the Anchormen a 3-2 lead.
• In the bottom of the seventh, Kidd entered and got a strikeout and a pop out to start before giving up a single to Mulcahy as the Huskies kept the inning alive. However, on the next batter, Kidd was able to get a foul out to give RIC the win.

 
Up Next:
Southern Maine remains at home on and takes on Salem State on Sunday (1:00 pm) in a non-conference doubleheader. The Huskies return to Little East Conference action on Tuesday (4:00 pm) hosting Plymouth State in a doubleheader.  USM remains on the road and will face UMass Dartmouth on Saturday (1:00 pm) in conference action. 
 
 
 
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