After a tough week of four straight losses, the USM softball team took one of two from the Little East Conference second place Keene State Owls in an LEC doubleheader on Friday afternoon at Towers Field in Gorham.
With help from a tremendous performance from sophomore third basemen Katie Davis (Woburn, Mass.), the Huskies pulled off a 6-3 win in the first game of the doubleheader, but the Owls answered back in the nightcap with a 13-2 win.
In the first game, Davis was almost unstoppable at the plate as she drove in five runs on two hits, including her team-leading fourth home run of the season.
After getting down 2-1 to the Owls, the Huskies pounded out four runs in the bottom of the third to take a 5-2 lead. Davis got the scoring started with her home run, a three run blast to right center. USM senior Sarah Deroche (Portland) then tripled down the right field line and scored a wild pitch, giving the Huskies a commanding lead heading into the fourth.
USM tacked on an insurance run when Davis singled up the middle to drive in freshman Stephanie Stockwell (Buxton) to make the score 6-2. Keene scored a run in the top of the seventh, but Deroche shut the door on the Owls by getting Nicole Dupuis to ground out to shortstop, securing her third win of the season.
In the second game, the Owls received tremendous performances on both offense and defense. Sophomore designated hitter Kayla Joyce hit two of three Keene’s home runs in the game, and junior Sarah Stocklinski struck out six and walked two, while only giving up five hits to the Huskies en route to a 13-2 win. With the win, Stocklinski’s record on the mound improved to 10-0.
The Huskies, who are now in seventh in the LEC with a conference record of 2-8 and and overall record of 4-30, will play a doubleheader Wednesday at UMass Boston at 3:30 p.m., and then travel to Colby on Thursday for a 4 p.m. doubleheader before ending their 2011 regular season at home on Saturday in a doubleheader against UMass Dartmouth at 1 p.m.