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The University of Maine softball team will play its final stretch of non-conference games this weekend; the team travels to Fairfield, Connecticut to play Quinnipiac and host team Fairfield.
The Black Bears, who have a 5-14 record, beat Quinnipiac 7-0 when the teams met in Hamden, Connecticut last year. The Bobcats, who play in the Northeast Conference, have a 2-11 record this season. UMaine, who has lost a number of close games, including eight in one run, are determined to pick up a win on Saturday.
“There’s been a lot of close games that could end up going either way in the long run,” said senior third baseman Lauren Dulkis. “We’re hitting a lot better than in the beginning of the season.”
UMaine has not yet won a game on another teams home field. They are 0-7 in road games, but 5-7 on neutral fields. The Black Bears will take on the Bobcats at 9:30 a.m. and then the Stags of Fairfield at 11:30 a.m. this Saturday. Knowing that their conference season starts next April 2 in Binghamton, UMaine knows how important Saturday’s contests are.
“We want two wins,” said Dulkis, who is batting .328. “We should be able to come out of there with two wins. That will be good going into the following weekend on a high note.”
Although she has lost five games, junior pitcher Sarah Bennis knows that tough competition will help prepare her and her team for the America East.
“You take something from every game,” said Bennis, who has a 2.02 ERA and a 3-5 record. “The harder competition we play, hopefully the easier it will make it later on down the road.”
The Stags, who play in the Metro American Athletic Conference, are 9-9. They are coming off of a Wednesday double-header with America East team Stony Brook, who is 6-12 on their season.
Bennis would like to see her team pick up two wins as well. She knows what it will take.
“It would definitely build our confidence going into conference,” said Sarah Bennis, who also said the games are both games that her team can win. “We just hope to go out and play hard.”
The Black Bears will be at Cornell on Friday, April 1. Then they travel a little more than an hour south to play at Binghamton Saturday, April 2. After the double-header on Saturday UMaine will play a single game against the Bearcats on Sunday, April 3.
Dulkis leads the team in hits with 19. She also leads the team with three doubles. Sarah Bennis’s 51 strikeouts is a team high. Second to Bennis in strikeouts is senior Candace Jaegge with 24.
Erin Provost continues to lead the team in batting average with a .340 average. Brittany Cheney hit the teams only home run so far. Her seven runs batted are second in the team to Molly McKinney’s eight.
Bangor Daily News