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In a game that served as a warm up for Wednesday’s showdown with Boston University, the University of Maine softball team easily defeated Division III Colby College 7-1 Tuesday.
Colby pitcher Lauren Olmsted was able to keep Maine scoreless in the first two innings, but then gave up three runs in the third and four in the fourth to drop the decision.
Maine scored when sophomore Brittany Cheney hit a triple off the right center wall, scoring senior Sarah Asadoorian from first. An RBI infield single by Jess Brady proceeded to bring Cheney to the plate, and give Maine the 2-0 lead. Amy Kuhl , who has been strong offensively for the Black Bears, finished off the inning by hitting an RBI single. The hit scored Brady from second.
Colby tried to counter in the top of the fourth, but could only get one run on the board, when Maine pitcher Sarah Bennis loaded the bases and walked in a run, scoring freshman Miki Starr. Bennis picked up the win improving to 6-8 on the season. In the outing, Maine used all four of its pitchers in the game. Candace Jaegge got the start giving up three hits and no runs in the first two innings. She was followed by Bennis, who pitched the third and fourth, and was followed by Alexis Pullen, who pitched two hitless and scoreless innings. Jenna Merchant closed out the game in the seventh.
Maine added four runs in the bottom of the fourth to put away the White Mules 7-1. Lauren Dulkis had a base hit in the inning, which brought home two runs, scoring Cheney and sophomore Kate Joseph.
Maine improved to 19-15 overall on the season and 6-6 in conference play. With the defeat, Colby fell to 13-11-1. Head coach Deb Smith was able to get nearly all of her players in the line-up in the decision.
Maine collected hits from nine different players, a total of 13 hits on the day including three from Brady, and two each from Erin Provost and Assadorian. Brady also had two steals in the game, moving her stolen base total to 43, one shy of the Maine team record of 44. She will have her chance to tie or even break it against the Terriers on Wednesday. But, it will take more than base running to pick up a win against a tough BU team.
“We’ve come together a lot as a team, and we know what we have to do,” Dulkis said . “Whether we win or lose, it’s going to be together.”
Maine looks to move to at least 5-3 or 6-2 down the stretch to make the America East tournament, which will be held May 13-15 on Kessock Field in Orono. Maine leads the conference with a .964 fielding percentage.
“We’re actually leading the conference right now in defense,” Smith said. “That’s been one of our sources of pride.”
After BU, Maine is set to host Vermont for a three-game series beginning at noon Saturday with a doubleheader. They will play a single game on Sunday, also at noon. Vermont is 2-10 in conference play and 22-29 overall. It stands in second to last in the conference standings, while Maine is in currently in fifth place.
