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The University of Maine softball team spent Spring Break in Florida this year. While they enjoyed the warm weather, they were certainly not on vacation. They were hard at work. While scheduled to play 19 games in 13 days, four of those games were canceled. The 15 games they did play were a grueling test against some of the country’s best competition.
The team brought home, to snowy Orono, a 4-11 record. Their trip was highlighted by a March 7 double-header against LaSalle and Yale. The Black Bears beat LaSalle with four runs in the top of the seventh and then defeated Yale 6-4 later that afternoon.
In the season opener against the University of South Florida, UMaine pitcher Sarah Bennis pitched a complete game. She gave up eight hits and allowed just one run. The Black Bears got five hits but left eight runners on base and were unable to score, falling to the Bulls 1-0.
After starting their season 0-6, including two close losses to no. 20 Florida State, the Black Bears picked up their first win against St. Bonaventure 8-1. They beat the Bonnies again a day later 5-4.
“Obviously we didn’t come back with the record that we hoped for,” said UMaine head coach Michelle Puls. “The level of competition that we played this year was at a much higher level than it’s been in years past.”
Puls says the four games that were canceled hurt her team. She said that last year’s team was 9-11 when they came back from Florida, and did not have any games canceled.
“I’d love to have those games back because if we get those four games back and we win, we’re doing a lot better, we’re 8-11 instead of 4-11,” said Puls, who was an assistant last year and is in her first year as head coach this season. “You never know. We could have lost all four of them too.”
The Black Bears won the America East Championship last season, and while they would like to defend their conference title, Puls admits that her team got off to a slow start.
“We’re moving in the right direction to be successful, but it was a hard first 15 games out of the gate,” she said.
While her team faced tough competition in Florida, Puls knows that it is not going to get any easier. Her team will take on Hofstra, Massachusetts, Cornell, and Seton Hall, all teams that made the NCAA tournament last season.
“As far as competition level it’s definitely not dropping off,” said Puls. “It’s actually getting more competitive.”
After seven more games against tough non-conference opponents, the Black Bears will dive into their conference season. The first America East game for the Black Bears is April 2 at Binghamton.
The Black Bears are the returning champions, they were predicted to finish second this year to Boston University. Puls believes that is a fairly accurate prediction.
“You never know who’s going to win it,” she said. “Hopefully playing against good teams will be able to prepare us and we’ll be able to take America East again.”
The Black Bears first home game is scheduled for April 9 against Hartford.
