PLYMOUTH, NH  –   Junior Ella Bezanson (Amesbury, Mass.) had a two-run triple as part of a four-run top of the fourth to help the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 5-2 win over the Plymouth State University Panthers in a Little East Conference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at D&M Park. The Huskies fell in game two 3-2 for the split.
 
Junior Lexus McIntosh (Lancaster, NH/White Mountains Regional) earned the win in game one, while freshman Mia Coots (Hartland, Maine/Nokomis) earned her first career save.  McIntosh allowed one earned run scattering four hits and four walks over 5.1 innings.  Coots pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowing one hits and picking up two strikeouts in the save.
 
 
Records:
GM 1 – Southern Maine 5, Plymouth State 2
Southern Maine (16-13, 7-2 LEC)                                                      000 040 1    5-7-1
Plymouth State (17-11, 5-4 LEC)                                                       100 001 0    2-5-1
 
 
GM 2 – Plymouth State 3, Southern Maine 1
Southern Maine (16-14, 7-3 LEC)                                                      000 000 1    1-5-2
Plymouth State (18-11, 6-4 LEC)                                                       000 201 x    3-5-0
 
Pitching Records:
GM 1 – Southern Maine vs. PSU
WP: SM, Lexus McIntosh (7-7), 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
LP:  PSU, Katie McGrath (8-5), 7.0 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
SV: SM, Mia Coots (SV, 1), 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
 
GM 2 – Southern Maine vs. PSU
WP: PSU, Emily Antrim (4-5), 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
LP: SM, Mia Coots (9-7), 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
SV: PSU, McGrath (SV, 1), 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
 
How It Happened: Game One – USM 5, PSU 2

• Down 1-0 after four innings, the Huskies scored four runs in the fifth to surge ahead of the Panthers and held for the 5-2 win.
• PSU jumped ahead early as Mia Ly singled to right to drive in a run, but Husky starter junior Lexus McIntosh (Lancaster, NH/White Mountains Regional) bounced back and kept the Panthers off the scoreboard over the next three innings to keep it a one-run game.
• In the fifth, the Huskies' bats, previously held to a pair of singles, came alive, rapping out four hits for four runs. Freshman Gwen Christie (Barnstead, NH/Prospect Mountain) led off the inning with a single to left, and then the Huskies tied the game up at 1-1 as junior Olivia Levasseur (Amesbury, Mass.) hit a run-scoring double to left. Another single, this time from junior Kristina Yebba extended the inning, and junior Ella Bezanson (Amesbury, Mass.) made it 3-1 with a bases-clearing triple to the gap in the left for two RBI. Junior Kendall Migliorini (Salem, NH) made it 4-1 scoring Bezanson with an RBI sacrifice fly to right before the inning ended.
• McIntosh continued to pitch well in the fifth getting PSU in order. In the bottom of the sixth, McIntosh got the first out of the inning before allowing an infield single, a walk and a fielder's choice to load the bases. With the bases loaded and no outs, freshman Mia Coots (Hartland, Maine/Nokomis) entered in relief. Giving up a sac fly, PSU trimmed its deficit to 4-2, but Coots came back to get the final out and stop the threat.
• USM added an insurance run with an RBI pinch-hit single from freshman Taylor Takatsu (West Gardiner, Maine/Gardiner Area) for a 5-2 lead. Levasseur reached on a throwing error to start the inning and moved into scoring position on a sac bunt from Yebba. With two away, Takatsu stepped in and stroked the RBI single to right to give Coots a three-run cushion for the final inning.
• In the bottom of the seventh, Coots allowed a lead-off single to Kenzie Bessette, but then got back-to-back strikeouts and a ground out to end the game and earn the save.

Game Two - PSU 3, USM 1

• Plymouth State broke up a scoreless game with a pair of runs in the fourth and held for a 3-1 win to earn the split.
• With neither pitcher giving up a hit until the fourth inning, the Panthers collected two of their five hits in the game in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead.  Mia Ly had a two-run RBI single up the middle to account for the scoring. Ly's single drove in Kenzie Bessette who reached with a lead-off bunt single, and moved up to third on a stolen base and a wild pitch. Emily Bessette made it runners on first and third for PSU before Coots got the first out of the inning on a pop-up.  One batter later, Ly's single was the difference maker. 
• PSU starter Emily Antrim kept the Huskies off the board sitting six consecutive batters over the fifth and sixth innings, and in the bottom of the sixth Antrim was staked a 3-0 lead as the Panthers scored an unearned run. 
• The Huskies rallied in the seventh with a lead-off single from junior Mackenzie Renner. a pinch hit single from freshman Ava Gerrish (Limerick, Maine/Massabesic), and an RBI single up the middle Christie.  With Christie's single chasing Antrim from the game, game-one starter Katie McGrath entered and earned the save.  Coming into the game with runners on first and third and no outs, McGrath got a fielder's choice for the first out, and then relied on a double-play to close the game for the 3-1 win.

 
Up Next:
 Southern Maine returns home on Thursday (4:00 pm) for a non-conference doubleheader with Husson University, and an LEC doubleheader on Saturday against UMass Dartmouth (1:00 pm).
 
 
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