STANDISH, ME - Saint Joseph's (16-6, 8-2 GNAC) swept the University of Southern Maine (1-17, 0-2 LEC) on Tuesday afternoon, winning the first game, 5-4 in eight innings, and the nightcap, 6-1. Alyssa Dunn '11 (Standish, ME) went 5-7 with two doubles and Emily Leverone '11 (Hampton, NH) cracked her fourth home run of the year in game two. Madylan Kluna '12 (Standish, ME) went the distance in the opener and allowed no earned runs and six hits while fanning five to improve to 5-4 on the season. Michelle Prevost '12 (Topsham, ME) tossed six solid innings and notched her first collegiate victory in the closing contest.
For the Huskies, Cerise Humphrey '12 (Fryeburg, ME) and Alexandra Perdomo '12 (Portland, ME/Portland) both recorded a pair of hits in the opener and Sarah Cusack '11 (Wells, ME) went 3-3 with a double in the nightcap. Sarah Deroche '11 (Portland, ME/Deering) pitched all 13 2/3 innings for USM and allowed eight earned runs while walking two and striking out six in the pair of setbacks.
GAME ONE
St. Joe's earned a 1-0 lead in the first inning without recording a base hit. Anna Willis '10 (Gorham, ME) reached and advanced to second on an error by Deroche to lead off the frame. After Liz Jordan '09 (Sandwich, ME) moved her to third with a sac bunt, Willis scored on a groundball to short off the bat of Leverone.
The Huskies gained a 2-1 advantage by plating two runs on one hit and three SJC errors in the top of the fourth. Molly Hopkins '11 (Augusta, ME) reached on an error by Leverone at third and was moved to second by a Jessica Hayden '12 (Madison, ME) bunt. The next batter, Anita Dixon '09 (Limington, ME), tripled to score Hopkins and wound up scoring on an error by St. Joe's shortstop Liddy van der Linden '10 (Worcester, ME) on the play.
The teams then traded runs in their next two turns at bat. In the bottom of the fourth, van der Linden and Dunn smacked back to back doubles to tie the game. USM regained the lead when Cusack scored on a Humphrey two-bagger in the top of the fifth.
St. Joe's catcher Maria Labbe '12 (Lewiston, ME) opened the bottom of the fifth with a double and ended up scoring the tying run on a Leverone sacrifice fly. Both teams managed to get a pair of runners on base in their next turns, but were unable to capitalize.
Hayden was placed on second to begin the top of the eighth, stole third and scored on a two-out single by Perdomo to put the Huskies on top, 4-3. In the bottom of the frame, Dunn singled to move van der Linden, who began on the inning on second base, to third. Jillian Kimball '10 (Albany Township, ME) grounded out to Humphrey at second to plate van der Linden while Dunn moved up a base. After Ashley Geel '12 (St. George, ME) popped out, Labbe came up with a clutch two-out single to send Dunn scrambling home and give the Lady Monks their first victory over the Huskies in their last six tries.
Labbe was 3-4 with a run and an RBI and Leverone notched a pair of RBI's in the extra-inning triumph.
GAME TWO
St. Joe's never trailed in the nightcap and scored a run in the third, two in the fourth and three in the sixth inning. The lone USM run came in the sixth frame.
After 2 ½ scoreless innings, St. Joe's punched home the first run in the third when Willis , who led off the inning with a single, scored on a van der Linden base knock with two out. The Lady Monks added two more in the fourth to secure a 3-0 lead. Samantha Gray '12 (Yarmouth, ME) led off with a double and scored on a Jordan single and Alysn Ludwig '09 (Waldoboro, ME) scored on an error to cap the scoring in the frame.
Hopkins scored the only run for the visitors in the sixth when, after leading off the inning with a single, she scrambled home on a groundout to short off the bat of Dixon .
Leverone's towering blast came in the bottom of the sixth. Ludwig and Jordan both singled before the sophomore third baseman turned on a Deroche pitch and sent it over the left field fence, closing out the game scoring with the Royal Blue on top 6-1.
Jordan and van der Linden both recorded a pair of hits and Ludwig and Willis both swiped two bases in the victory. Christy Wezowicz '10 (Benton, ME) closed out the game with an inning in relief and allowed one hit.
Saint Joseph's will travel to Saint Joseph College (CT) on Wednesday to take on the Blue Jays in a 3:00 PM conference twin bill. Southern Maine is set to host Salem State in a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday at 3:00 PM.
