The University of Maine softball team opened up their America East schedule on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader at Varsity Field in New York against the Stony Brook Seawolves.
In the first game, Stony Brook got a 16 strikeout and one walk no-hit pitching performance by Dawn Bodrug (10-4) and cruised to a 5-0 win. Alyssa Costello provided all the offense needed with a three-run homerun in the fourth inning. Emily Reid (1-6) took the loss for Maine allowing three runs on four hits in 4.0 innings. In the second game, the Black Bears built a 6-1 fifth inning lead only to see the Seawolves battle back to tie it. Corinne Badger hit a three-run homer in the fifth for Stony Brook, and then pinch hitter Ashley Jacobson evened it 7-7 with a three-run shot to center in the sixth that eventually forced extra innings. Maine had the answer when pinch hitter Keely Clark led off the eighth with a solo homer as the guests took the split with an 8-7 victory. Reid (2-6) got the win in the circle in relief. Brianna Neely and Kya Enos had two hits each and Gabby Papushka had three RBI. The Black Bears are now 5-24, 1-1 in America East and the Seawolves go to 17-10, 1-1. The rubber game of the series is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday.
At Alumni Field in Catonsville, Maryland the Maine baseball team would build a 14-4 lead and then held on for a 15-14 win over UMBC.
In a wild game, Maine took an early 1-0 second inning lead before UMBC scored two in the third and one in the fifth to take a 3-1 advantage. The Black Bears offense then took off as they scored six runs in the sixth helped by two runners scoring on wild pitches, a two-run single by Jeremiah Jenkins, and a two-run homerun by Joe Bramanti. They would score seven more times in the seventh to make it 14-4 on RBI singles by Jeff Mejia, Jenkins, and Quinn McDaniel and a grandslam by Scout Knotts. The Retrievers came back with seven of their own in the bottom half, and a two-run single by Myles Nicholson in the eighth cut it all the way down to 14-13. Mejia had the eventual game winner with an RBI single in the ninth.
Noah Lewis (1-2) picked up the win in relief of starter Caleb Leys. Matt Pushard got the three inning save, his third of the season. Jake Marquez had five hits, Mejia and Bramanti had three each, while Jenkins, McDaniel, and Knotts (four RBI) had two a piece. Evan Selmer (2-2) was tagged in the pitching loss for UMBC. Nicholson was their offensive leader with two hits and four RBI. The Black Bears improve to 9-13, 6-2 in America East while the Retrievers are now 12-14, 4-4. Maine will go for the three game sweep on Sunday at 12 p.m.
