GORHAM, Maine  –  Senior Belle Snyder (Epping, N.H.) had nine strikeouts in game one, and sophomore Lexus McIntosh (Lancaster, N.H./White Mountains Regional) earned the game two win and game one save to highlight a non-conference doubleheader sweep as the University of Southern Maine Huskies defeated the Salem State Univerity Vikings 4-3 and 16-0 (5 innings) Sunday afternoon at the USM Softball Stadium.
 
In six innings of work, Snyder allowed four hits and four walks in a 4-3 win in the opener, picking up nine strikeouts. McIntosh entered the game with USM up a run in the top of the seventh and got three strikeouts to pick up the save.  As the game-two starter, McIntosh fired three innings of no-hit action, striking out five and allowing a walk in a five-inning 16-0 win.
 
Offensively, junior Meaghan Dufresne (Mattapoisett, Mass.) led the way going 5-for-6 over two games.  Dufresne had two doubles and two triples picking up four RBI.  Senior Makena Mulcahy (Auburn, Mass.) was 4-for-5 at the dish with a pair of doubles, two runs scored and four RBI.  Graduate student Hannah Shields (Buckfield, Maine) was 3-for-6 with three RBI, while senior Madi Day (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) also went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI. 
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Series Record:
Today's doubleheader marked the 69^th and 70^th meetings between the University of Southern Maine Huskies and the Salem State University Vikings.  With today's sweep, Southern Maine now leads the overall series 40-30.  The Huskies have won the last 12 consecutively over the Vikings, starting with a 4-3 win on April 3, 2014.
 
Records:
GM 1 – Southern Maine 4, Salem State 3
Salem State (10-19)                  000  030 0    3-5-0
Southern Maine (18-7)               101  002 x    4-12-0
 
Game 1 - Pitching Record:
WP:  Belle Snyder (6-3), 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 9 K
LP:   Emily Carter (3-6), 6.0 IP, 12 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
SV:  Lexus McIntosh (1), 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
 
 
GM 2 – Southern Maine 16, Salem State 0 (5 inn.)
Salem State (10-20)                  000 00    0-1-4
Southern Maine (19-7)               654 1x    16-14-0
 
Game 2 - Pitching Record:
WP:  Lexus McIntosh (10-3), 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
LP:   Gracie Martineau (3-7), 1.1 IP, 6 H, 9 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
 
 
How It Happened: Game One – Southern Maine 4, Salem State 3

• Day and Shields gave Southern Maine a 2-0 lead with RBI singles.  Day laced a two-out single through the left side in the bottom of the first, scoring Snyder to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.  Batting at the top of the order, Snyder led off the game with a double to the gap in left.  Shields doubled the Huskies lead in the bottom of the third with a two-out single up the middle.  Day put herself in scoring position ahead of Shields with a two-out single, again through the left side, and then stole second to set up Shields.
• After a quiet fourth inning, Salem State struck for three runs in the top of the fifth to assume the lead from the Huskies 3-2.  The Vikings used two hits and a pair of walks to generate the runs.  With runners on second and third, Alaina Giuliano placed a bunt in the right spot to drive in the Vikings first run of the game before Samantha Gaona had a two-run single to right field for the Salem State lead.
• USM had a runner on second in the bottom of the fifth, but was unable to push across the game-tying run.  Still in a one-run contest, Snyder came back strong in the top of the sixth getting three of her nine strikeouts in the game after giving up a lead off single.
• In the home half of the sixth, Southern Maine retook the lead.  Dufresne started the rally with a one-out double to left, and then moved up to third on single through the right side from Snyder.  With runners on first and third, Husky junior Abby Miner (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) drove in the game-tying run with a double to the fence in left field before sophomore Olivia Levasseur (Amesbury, Mass.) drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI ground out to the right side of the field.
• McIntosh came in to start the seventh for Southern Maine and earned the save. After giving up a single to start the inning, McIntosh came back with three consecutive strikeouts to close the door on the game.

 
How It Happened: Game Two – Southern Maine 16, Salem State 0 – 5 Inning

• Dufresne and Mulcahy each had four RBI in game two as the Huskies rapped out 14 hits off of three Salem State pitchers en route to the shutout victory.  Six of the Huskies 14 hits went for extra bases, including two doubles from Mulcahy, a double, and two triples from Dufresne, and a pinch-hit home run from freshman Laura Perrault (Biddeford, Maine).
• The Huskies took control early scoring six runs in the bottom of the first, taking advantage of three Salem State fielding errors and collecting four hits.  Batting around the order, Day, Shields and Mulcahy (2) each had RBI in the inning. Southern Maine made it an 11-0 game in the second. Day had an RBI single, Dufresne had a three-run triple, and sophomore Mackenzie Renner (Alton, N.H./Prospect Mountain) had an RBi single.
• In the bottom of the third, the Huskies scored four more runs to lead 15-0.  Shields had an RBI single, Mulcahy a two-run double, and Dufresne an RBI double as part of a five-hit inning for USM.
• The Huskies scored its final run of the game in the fourth on Perreault's pinch-hit home run – the first of her intercollegiate career. 

 
Up Next:
Southern Maine remains at home and takes on Little East Conference opponent Plymouth State in a doubleheader on Tuesday (4:00 pm). 
 
 
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