MANSFIELD, Conn. – The University of Southern Maine scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning of the opener, then handed the Eastern Connecticut State University its worst regular-season loss in this series in 17 years in the nightcap en route to a 7-5, 14-4 Little East Conference sweep of the Warriors Saturday afternoon at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.

Southern Maine (15-3, 2-0 LEC), last year's conference regular-season and tournament champion, has won nine straight. The Huskies have played all but one game this year away from home. Eastern (13-8-1, 1-3 LEC) is 1-4-1 in its last six. The Warriors have played 12 of their last 14 at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.

Junior lefty Logan Carman (5-0) allowed only two earned runs in pitching the first seven innings of the opener, and sophomore righty Andrew Richards tossed two scoreless innings for his second save as the Huskies won a game which featured undefeated starting pitchers in Carman and Eastern senior righty Evan Chamberlain (Amston), now 4-1.

The Huskies took the lead for good by scoring three runs in the seventh inning with two outs on four hits, with senior leftfielder and No. 3 hitter Tucker White plating the tying run with a sacrifice fly, and senior third baseman and cleanup hitter Nick Grady and junior DH and No. 5 hitter Chris Bernard following with two-out RBI doubles. Grady (.493) and White (.463) are the leading hitters for a team batting .349.

Southern Maine pounded out 17 hits in the nightcap, chasing senior lefty Tom Darby (Middletown, RI)  after moving out to a 4-0 lead after three innings. The loss was the first for Darby (3-1) in ten career decisions.

The top six hitters in the USM lineup accounted for 15 hits, 12 runs scored and 11 RBI in the nightcap as Southern Maine posted its most lopsided victory against Eastern in the regular season since a 17-4, seven-inning verdict in 1996.

Five of Southern Maine's hit went for extra bases in Game 2, with freshman  leadoff hitter Sam Dexter doubling three times among his four hits, scoring three runs and driving in one. Junior catcher Matt Verrier was 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Grady and starting pitcher Bernard each had two hits, two RBI and both scored a run.

On the afternoon, freshman outfielder Peter Gonski (East Lyme), junior DH Gavin Lavallee (New Milford) and senior centerfielder Mike Riemer (Ellington) all had two hits for Eastern, with Lavallee and sophomore catcher Cory DeMedeiros (Fall River, MA) each scoring twice.

Bernard had three doubles in the first game and finished with five hits, four RBI and two runs scored in the doubleheader. Verrier, Dexter, Grady and junior first baseman Forrest Chadwick all finished the day with four hits, Verrier matching Bernard with four RBI.

Eastern hosts Babson College Monday at  4 p.m.