GORHAM, Maine -- The Castleton University baseball team wrapped up the 2021 regular season, suffering a non-conference doubleheader sweep to Southern Maine Saturday afternoon at Ed Flaherty Field.

Southern Maine 8, Castleton 1

Matthew Deen earned the start for the Spartans (9-21, 6-10 LEC) but fell behind in the second inning as the Huskies (27-8, 12-4 LEC) gained a two-run advantage. Andrew Olszak ripped a double to right field to start off the inning but the Spartans managed to record outs on the next two batters. Dylan Hapworth's followed with an RBI single to left field, giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead as Olszak came around to score. Jason Komulaine followed with an RBI single to plate Hapworth.

The Spartans cut the deficit in half in the top half of the third inning as Ryan Lawrence scored to get the Spartans on the board. Lawrence led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Armando Cardenas. Reece de Castro followed with a single as Lawrence came around to score due to a fielding error from Brogan Searle-Belanger in left field. 

The Huskies pulled away as the No. 20-ranked team scored three runs in the bottom half of the third inning and tacked on three more runs later in the game. 

Five different Spartans tallied a hit as de Castro, Evan Keegan, Johnny McComas, Jake O'Brien, and Samuel Rodriguez all recorded one hit apiece.

Deen tallied a team-high five strikeouts as he pitched six full innings. Riley Orr pitched the final two innings and tied his season-high in strikeouts with three.

Southern Maine 9, Castleton 5

After the Spartans went down in order to begin the game, the Huskies jumped ahead, taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the first inning. Tom Vesosky began the inning with a leadoff single and scored two batters later as Andrew Hillier ripped an RBI single through the right side of the infield. Hillier later scored to double the lead as Janek Luksza pushed a two-out double down the left-field line.

The Spartans tied the game, later on, scoring two runs in the top half of the third inning. O'Brien led off the with a single to right field and later scored on a de Castro double. Keegan followed up with an RBI single to right field, tying the game at two as de Castro came around to score.

De Castro scored once again scored during the fifth inning as the Spartans gained a 3-2 advantage. After both Lawrence and McComas grounded out, de Castro earned his way on the basepath with a walk. Keegan followed with a single to push de Castro along and Adam Newton tallied an RBI single to center field to give the Spartans the lead. 

The Huskies pulled ahead and regained the lead, scoring five runs in the fifth and sixth innings. The Spartans, however, rallied and cut the deficit to two in the top half of the seventh inning. After McComas singled and de Castro earned a walk, Keegan tallied his third hit of the game, an RBI single to left field, cutting the lead to 7-4. De Castro later scored on a throwing error by Komulaine attempting to throw Keegan out at second base. 

The Huskies tallied two more runs in the eighth inning to solidify the win.

Zack Marlow earned the start for the Spartans and pitched well, allowing just three runs on hit hits in five innings of work. Both Aubrey Ramey and Joseph Voli entered as the duo pitched a total of three innings.

Castleton ends the 2021 regular season with six conference wins and will return to action Thursday, May 13 for the start of the Little East Conference Tournament.