The Maine softball team only had one regular season conference win entering the America East Tournament. That came against Bryant University back on April 7. The Black Bears did it again at the Maine Softball Facility in Orono on Wednesday afternoon, upsetting the third seeded Bulldogs 9-7 in eight innings and moving on to face #2 seed Binghamton on Thursday.
Bryant (32-16), who also went 14-7 in America East during the regular season, got off to a quick start. Megan Marcel hit a two-run double in the bottom of the first inning, and a solo homerun from MaKenna Coleman to left centerfield in the second made it 3-0.
Maine, still down 3-0, began their comeback in the top of the sixth. With one out, Gabby Papushka walked and Anna Margetis got hit by a pitch. After Katie Jo Moery was retired for the second out, pitcher Caitlyn Fallon helped her own cause and tied the game with a three-run homer to centerfield. It was only the ninth homerun for the Black Bears, and the third by Fallon. Maine really turned it on in the seventh to take the lead for the first time. Kyra Haba-Dailey led off with a double, and pinch hitter Kyli Hernandez singled in the go-ahead run. Krista Francia then bunted for a hit, and Hernandez was able to move over to third base. Papushka followed by laying down a perfect squeeze bunt, scoring Hernandez to make it 5-3, reaching base herself and sending Francia to third. Margetis lifted a sacrifice fly to center to allow Francia to cross the plate, and Papushka would score when Fallon reached on an error to extend it to a 7-3 advantage. Bryant had the answer however in their last at bat needing at least four runs to extend the game, and they did just that. Coleman, Aleix Hudson, and Alexis Larrow started the rally with three singles in a row, scoring Coleman. Marcel walked, and so did Sam Rohwer with the bases loaded to cut it to 7-5. McKenzie McAloon sent it to the eighth inning at 7-7 with a two-run single to center.
Maine would load the bases in the top of the eighth with three walks, and then on a ball hit by Margetis to the Bryant shortstop Rohwer, the throw to home plate to try to cut down the runner went over the catchers head for an error allowing two unearned runs to score that turned out to be the difference. Bryant threatened with two outs in the last of the eighth when Hudson singled and Amira Rainer was hit by a pitch. But the Black Bears ended it when Larrow flied out to rightfield, earning their fifth win of the season and just their second over a conference opponent. The Bulldogs are now 0-3 in the America East postseason since joining the conference last spring.
Fallon (2-9) picked up the win in the circle for Maine allowing seven runs on nine hits with seven walks and one strikeout in 7.0 innings. She threw 158 pitches, also adding the huge timely three-run homer with her bat. Isabelle True got her first save by pitching the eighth. Rylee Kent had three hits, while Haba-Dailey and Francia had two each. The Black Bears, now 5-39 on the season, are the last place team in the six team double elimination tournament. Hudson had four hits for Bryant, while Coleman had two. Caroline Paolantonio (3-4) took the defeat in the circle in relief of starter Grace McKillop. McKillop gave up five runs (three earned) on five hits with five walks and five strikeouts in 7.0 innings. The Bulldogs were scheduled to face #4 UMBC Wednesday at 6 p.m. in an elimination game. The Retrievers lost to #5 UMass-Lowell 4-2 in the tournament opener. Maine will take on Binghamton on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. The Bearcats, who went 32-16 and 14-6 in America East during the regular season and earned a first round bye, swept a three game series over the Black Bears back on April 14 and 15.
Recap by Chris Lessner
