BOSTON, Mass.—The University of Southern Maine struck for 14 hits in each game to earn a doubleheader sweep of UMass Boston softball on Tuesday afternoon at the UMB Softball Field. 
 
THE BASICS
Southern Maine 11, UMass Boston 5
Southern Maine 8, UMass Boston 0 (5 Innings)
(UMass Boston 2-6, Little East 2-6) 
(Southern Maine 24-1-1, Little East 10-0) 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Senior Kelly Danahy (Kingston, Mass.) and Britney Perkett (Pittsfield, Mass.) combined for six of the Beacons eight hits on the afternoon. 
 
Danahy finished 3-6 with a run scored, two doubles and two RBI. Perkett ended the day 3-4 with a pair of runs scored and a stolen base. 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
Southern Maine struck for six runs in the top of the fifth inning en-route to an 11-5 game one victory. 
 
Perkett finished a perfect 3-3 with two runs scored out of the nine-hole. Danahy tacked on two doubles, a run scored and two RBI. Junior Caley Ruggiero (Southbury, Conn.) and Elayna Jacques (North Kingstown, R.I.) each added a hit and a run scored. 
 
Freshman pitcher Brianna Melchionda (Marshfield, Mass.) took the loss after allowing seven hits and eight runs (four earned) in 4.2 innings. Meghan Adams (Portsmouth, N.H.) and Emily Doble (Danvers, Mass.) combined to go the final 2.1 innings. 
 
Southern Maine grad transfer Kirsten Pelletier improved to 9-0 by allowing seven hits, five runs (three earned) in seven innings. 
 
UMass Boston jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, Danahy ripped a liner to right field that the right fielder tried to cut off, but it skipped off of her and into the corner. Danahy raced all the way around the bases and beat the throw home for a 1-0 lead. 
 
The Huskies took a momentary lead in the top of the third. With two on and two outs, Alexis Brown doubled down the right field line to give Southern Maine a 2-1 advantage. 
 
The hosts answered right back in the bottom half of the inning. Perkett led off the inning with an infield single and took second on a throwing error. She moved to third on Ruggiero's single and scampered home on a fielder's choice, when the Huskies were unable to get an out on a Danahy grounder back to the circle. With two runners in scoring position and one out, Pelletier induced an inning-ending double play to keep the game tied at 2-2. 
 
Southern Maine blew the game open in the fifth. They took the lead on a wild pitch and then used run-scoring hits from Rona Scott (two-run double), Hannah Shields (RBI single) and Samantha Hauck (two-run home run) to grab an 8-2 lead. 
 
UMass Boston cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning. UMass Boston loaded the bases to start the inning on hits from Jacques and Perkett and a Ruggiero walk. Jacques raced home on a wild pitch and Danahy made it 8-4 with an RBI double. Melchionda made it 8-5 with an RBI groundout that plated Ruggiero. 
 
The Huskies put the game away in the top of the seventh. With two on and two outs, Erin Martin, Katie Nelson and Ashley Tinsman delivered back-to-back-to-back RBI hits to push the lead to 11-5. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP  
 
Southern Maine scored eight runs in the first 2.5 innings and Brown limited the Beacons to one hit in a five-inning, mercy-rule contest. 
 
Brown allowed just one hit and one walk, while striking out eight to improve to 9-0. 
 
UMass Boston starter Hayley Catania (Amesbury, Mass.) took the loss after allowing 11 hits and seven runs in 2.2 innings. Adams put together her best collegiate outing in relief, as she scattered three hits in 2.1 scoreless innings. 
 
Danahy registered the Beacons lone hit of the game, while Drew Washington (Bordentown, N.J.) worked the Beacons' lone hit. 
 
Brown helped herself in the top of the first inning, when she delivered a two-run triple. Lauren Leidemann-Smith added an RBI single to push the lead to 3-0. 
 
The Huskies added three more runs in the second and two in the third to take an 8-0 advantage. 
 
UMass Boston had their best chance to score in the bottom of the first. Danahy ripped a double to the fence in right field with two outs, but Brown retired the next batter on a pop up to get out of the jam. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Southern Maine leads the all-time series 39-13 and has won four in a row over the Beacons. 
• Danahy is hitting a team-best .583 on the season (14-24). She now has 87 career-hits in 91 career contests. 
• The Huskies have now won 14 games in a row. Southern Maine is recieving votes in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) National Poll. 
• Tuesday's doubleheader marked the beginning of a six-game home stand for the Beacons. 
• Jacques recorded her first collegiate hit and first collegiate start in Tuesday's doubleheader. 

 
WHO'S NEXT 
 
UMass Boston will host rival UMass Dartmouth on Saturday for a doubleheader at 1 and 3 p.m. The Beacons will honor their three seniors Tori Dicenso (Lynn, Mass.), Washington and Danahy after game two.