CLERMONT, Fla. –   Freshman Mia Coots (Hartland, Maine/Nokomis) struck out nine and the University of Southern Maine Huskies pounded out 11 hits, including five for extra bases, to earn an 8-2 win over the Keuka College Wolves to earn a split on their final day at The Spring Games in Florida.  Southern Maine dropped a narrow 2-1 decision to the Saint Lawrence University Saints in the first game of the day before defeating the Wolves 8-2.
 
Junior Ella Bezanson (Amesbury, Mass.) finished the two games going 5-for-7 at the plate with a triple, a run scored and an RBI.  Freshman Taylor Takatsu (West Gardiner, Maine/Gardiner Area) went 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored and an RBI, while Mackenzie Renner (Alton, NH/Prospect Regional) finished the two games 2-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBI and a triple.
 
Records:
GM 1 – Saint Lawrence 2, Southern Maine  1
Saint Lawrence (5-2)                 200 000 0   2-7-0                             
Southern Maine (1-8)                100 000 0   1-5-4
 
 
GM 2 –
Southern Maine (2-8)                130 003 1   8-11-0                               
Keuka (0-5)                               002 000 0   2-4-3
 
Pitching Records:
GM 1 – Southern Maine vs. Saint Lawrence
WP: SL, Sofia Berryhill (3-0), 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
LP:  SM, Lexus McIntosh (1-4), 5.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
 
GM 2 – Southern Maine vs Keuka
WP: SM, Mia Coots (1-4), 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 9 K
LP:  K, Olivia Flynn (0-3), 5.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
 
How It Happened: Game One – Southern Maine vs. Saint Lawrence

• Saint Lawrence scored twice in the top of the first, and then got enough out of starter Sofia Berryhill to earn the 2-1 win over the Huskies.
• Southern Maine committed four errors in the top of the first, but held SLU to just two runs to fall behind early. The Saints' Stella VanGee had an RBI ground out to score the second run of the inning, after back-to-back singles from Allison Kloft and Madison Connelly.
• Southern Maine bounced back in the home half of the first as senior Meaghan Dufresne (Mattapoisett, Mass./Old Rochester Regional) connected on her second home run in as many games to make it 2-1. 
• After the first inning neither team scored.  Berryhill held the Husky bats to just four more hits after Dufresne's home run, all singles.  Husky starter Lexus McIntosh (Lancaster, NH/White Mountains Regional) pitched strong in the loss, going five innings and allowing one earned run on seven hits and two walks.  Junior Madison Kingsbury (Woodsville, NH) pitched the final two innings. She did not allow a walk or hit, and struck out three in relief.
• Junior Ella Bezanson (Amesbury, Mass.) was 3-for-3 at the plate for the Huskies against St. Lawrence.

 
 
Game Two -  Southern Maine vs. Keuka

• The Huskies pounded out 11 hits, including five for extra bases, and used an outstanding pitching effort from freshman Mia Coots (Hartland, Maine) to close out their spring break trip with an 8-2 win over Keuka College. 
• Bezanson, Maddy Paradis (Salem, NH), Olivia Levasseur (Amesbury, Mass.), Takatsu, and Renner each had two hits for the Huskies.  Levasseur and Takatsu each had a double, while Bezanson and Takatsu each tripled, and Paradis stroked her first career home run for the Southern Maine extra base hits.
• With Bezanson leading off with a single to start the game, Southern Maine took advantage of a Keuka infield error to score its first run of the game and lead 1-0 in the top of the first. The Huskies tacked on three more runs in the second as Levasseur led off with a single to center. Including Levasseur the Huskies had two runners on at third and second following another fielding error from the Wolves and a ground out.  Renner picked up an RBI on a bunt single to score Levasseur and another run scored with a throwing error.  Up 3-0 with one out, Renner moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and then made it 4-0 as Bezanson hit a triple to center for an RBI.
• The score remained unchanged until the bottom of the third when Keuka broke up the shutout. Coots got the first two batters out before giving up a walk and then an RBI double down the left field line from Olivia Flynn. Hailey Jasinski made it a 4-2 game with an RBI single to right to pick up Flynn before she was caught stealing (Renner to Levasseur) to end the inning
• USM stayed in front 4-2 through the fifth inning as Coots picked up three more strikeouts. In the top of the sixth, USM scored three runs to inflate its lead to 7-2. Paradis led off the inning with a single, and Takatsu brought her home with an RBI single to right.  Renner drove in Takatsu with a triple down the left field line, and junior Kristina Yebba (Danvers, Mass.)  laced an infield single to score Renner to account for the runs.
• With Coots in control, Keuka went down in order in the sixth, and the Huskies tacked on one more run in the top of the seventh as Paradis hit a two-out inside-the-park home run. The Huskies threatened for more as Levasseur followed with a double but Keuka got out of the inning down 8-2.
• Coots wrapped up the win in the bottom of the seventh working around a lead-off infield single, and picking up her eighth and ninth strikeout of the game for the 8-2 final.

 
Up Next:
Completing their spring trip, the Huskies return home.  Southern Maine will be on the road for its next two doubleheaders upon its return to Maine.  The Huskies will travel to University of New England on Wednesday (3:00 pm) to take on University of New England, and then travel to Rhode Island College on Saturday (1:00 pm) for a Little East Conference doubleheader.
 
 
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