GORHAM, Maine  –  Juniors Kendall Migliorini (Salem, NH) and Mackenzie Renner (Alton, NH/Prospect Mountain) each had big days a the plate as the University of Southern Maine Huskies locked up the no. 2 seed for the upcoming Little East Conference Championship playoffs with a split against the Western Connecticut State University Wolves.  Southern Maine defeated the Wolves 5-1 in the opener, and then dropped an eight-inning 6-4 contest in game two.
 
Migliorini finished the day 4-for-7 at the plate with two runs scored and five RBI.  Renner was 3-for-6 with three RBI and one run scored.  Both Huskies connected on home runs during the day.  Junior Ella Bezanson (Amesbury, Mass.) was 4-for-9 with three runs scored and a pair of doubles.
 
Freshman Mia Coots (Hartland, Maine/Nokomis) was the game one winner pitching 6.1 innings and allowing one run on six hits and three walks, while striking out four.  Junior Lexus McIntosh (Lancaster, NH/Prospect Regional) entered the game in the seventh with two runners on and one out to earn the save. 
 
 
Records:
GM 1 – Southern Maine  WestConn
WestConn (21-18, 7-8 LEC)                                                              000 010 0    1-6-1
Southern Maine (20-17, 10-5 LEC)                                                     400 100 x    5-8-0
 
 
GM 2 – Southern Maine WestConn
WestConn (22-18, 8-8 LEC)                                                              110 011 02    6-9-3
Southern Maine (20-18, 10-6 LEC)                                                     003 100 00    4-12-2
 
Pitching Records:
GM 1 – Southern Maine vs. WestConn
WP: SM, Mia Coots (12-7), 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
LP:  WC, Lindsay Farinaccio (9-8), 6.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
SV: SM, Lexus McIntosh (Sv, 1), 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
 
 
GM 2 – Southern Maine vs. WestConn
WP: WC, Olivia Bordenaro (8-8), 8.0 IP, 12 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
LP:  SM, Mackenzie Kingsbury (1-1), 2.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
 
 
How It Happened: Game One – USM 5, WestConn 1

• The Huskies got off to a hot start in game one as Bezanson led the game off with a double to the gap in right before scoring on a one-out single up the middle from Migliorini for a 1-0 game.  An infield single from senior Meaghan Dufresne (Mattapoisset, Mass./Old Rochester Regional) gave the Huskies a pair of base runners, before Renner launched a three-run home run to make the game 4-0 in favor or USM.  Renner's home run was her second of the season.
• After retiring the side 1-2-3 in the first, Coots continued in the second. Neither team scored in the third, as Coots worked around a pair of walks with a pair of strikeouts to keep the Wolves off the board.
• In the fourth, the Wolves got their first hits of the game, a lead-off single to Alexis Resto and a follow-up single to center from Kendall Allen. With two on and no outs, WestConn moved the batters up with a sacrifice fly and looked poised for a big inning, but a would-be sacrifice fly to left turned into a double play as the runner left third early and was out on the relay.
• USM added a run to its lead, 5-0, in the fourth.  Bezanson got the Huskies going with a two-out infield single, and then scored on a clutch triple into the gap in right from junior Alana DeLisle (Amesbury, Mass.).
• WestConn broke up the shutout with a run in the fifth on a two-out double to left from Jaycee Filancia, but it was the final run of the game for the Wolves in the 5-1 final.

 
Game Two – WestConn 6, Southern Maine 4 – 8 innings

• WestConn scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the eighth to secure the 6-4 extra inning win over the Huskies. Gretchen Bunovsky and Rachael Ushka reached on a walk and an infield single respectively before moving up a base on a ground out before a wild pitch and a throwing error on the same play allowed both runners to score breaking the 4-4 game in favor of the Wolves.
• The Huskies got the lead off runner in the bottom of the inning as freshman Hannah Garcia (Dartmouth, Mass.) singled to left, but with two outs on a fly out and a fielder's choice play, Bezanson's double to right and its potential was silenced as the Wolves cut down the lead runner on the relay from right to catcher back to third for the final out and the 6-4 final.
• Prior to the eighth, the game was a back and forth battle. WestConn led 2-0 after two innings before Migliorini pushed Southern Maine in front with a swing of the bat in the third with a three-run home run. 
• Southern Maine led 4-2 in the fourth on another RBI with a single from Migliorini. 
• The Wolves cut the lead to 4-3 in the fifth. Filancia singled up the middle and then collected her 41^st stolen base of the season to get into scoring position.  Moving up a base on a ground out, Filancia then scored on a grounder.
• WestConn tied the game in the sixth as Ushka led off with a double, and then scored on an RBI single from Sera DeBaggis.
• Garcia doubled into right in the bottom of the sixth for the Huskies, but was left stranded in a scoreless inning, and in the bottom of the seventh, back-to-back singles from Delisle and Migliorini were left on the bases, as the game went into extras.

 
Up Next:
 Southern Maine will compete in the 2025 Little East Conference softball championship as the number two seed beginning on Wednesday, May 7.  Times and pairings will be announced soon.
 
-cac-