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The University of Maine softball team was defeated four times over the weekend. The team started its road trip on Friday, losing to the University of Massachusetts 8-5. On Saturday, the Black Bears began a three game series against the University of Albany with a 4-3 loss to the Great Danes.
Maine and Albany took the second game of the Saturday afternoon double-header into extra innings and played a total of 21 innings on the day. Albany won in the bottom of the fourteenth inning 4-3.
On Sunday, a tired Maine team played another close game against Albany, who is in first place in the America East. Maine lost 2-0. Andrea Lindgren pitched the complete game shutout for Albany, allowing just four hits.
What proved to be a long and tiring weekend for the Black Bears began with an 8-5 loss to the Minutemen. However, Maine head coach Deb Smith had only hoped her team would be competitive against a team like UMass, who was ranked in the top 25 at the beginning of the season. Maine was down in the beginning 3-0, but came back in the top of the fourth on four hits and three UMass errors to take the 5-3 lead. UMass scored five runs in the sixth inning and left Maine down 8-5 in the top of the seventh, and Maine could not answer. Sarah Bennis started the game but allowed three runs in four innings. Alexis Pullen and Jenna Merchant each pitched as well. Pullen allowed three runs in one and a third innings, and took the loss for Maine. Maine and UMass were supposed to play a double-header, but the second game was canceled due to darkness.
Albany got on the board first in the first game on Saturday taking a 2-0 lead. Maine manufactured a run on a Jess Brady RBI groundout that scored Sarah Asadoorian, who reached base on a double. Maine scored on an Albany miscue in the fifth and tied the game at three on a Lindsey Tibbetts RBI single. A single by Kelly Ogden in the bottom of the sixth scored a runner for the Great Danes, which gave them a 4-3 lead. Andrea Lindgren pitched her first of two complete games on the weekend, allowing six hits and three runs as she picked up the win for Albany. Sarah Bennis took the loss, as she pitched the entire game for Maine but gave up 11 hits and four runs.
In the second game against Albany, Maine got off to an early start. The Black Bears grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first inning, when Amy Kuhl brought home Molly McKinney and Jess Brady, with a three-run homer. The homerun for Kuhl, a sophomore, was the first of the season for her. The hit nearly doubled her RBI total on season. She now has seven. Albany fought its way back and eventually tied the game at three. Maine failed to produce much offense the rest of the way and did not score another run. The game was tied until the bottom of the14 inning when Albany loaded the bases and Jen Nolette came home to score to end the game. Nolette was 6-for-11 on the day with a triple and four runs scored.
Maine’s Jenna Merchant pitched all 14 innings allowing 10 hits and four runs. She walked five and struck out four in the loss. Merchant is now 5-4. Casey Halloran pitched the entire game for Albany, allowing 11 hits but only three runs. She had nine strikeouts in the loss.
Maine tried to come back on Sunday and salvage a win against Albany to avoid going home 0-4 on the weekend. Again the Black Bears came up short, falling again to Lindgren, who shut them out. Candace Jaegge again struggled a bit, allowing 10 hits. Her record fell to 8-5.
While Maine’s bats struggled for the most part, Kuhl went 4-for-10. She led the team in batting on the weekend.
Maine returns home to play Colby on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. on Kessock Field. The Black Bears take on Boston University the following day also at home at 2 p.m. and then host Vermont for a three game weekend series with two games on Saturday beginning at noon and a single game on Sunday at noon.
Bangor Daily News