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ORONO – Even with the best start in school history, the University of Maine softball team almost lost their game as quickly as they came back.
A four-run sixth inning was the driving force behind the team’s 6-4 comeback win against America East rivals Boston University on Tuesday afternoon at Kessock Field.
UMaine’s attempt at victory was threatened when BU loaded the bases, only to have reliever Jenna Balent strikeout her last batter.
“It’s still about trying to throw strikes and stay competitive, granted, it’s easier to do when your team is on top,” Balent said. “I was not really worrying about who was on base and I had confidence that I was going to get her out.”
In the top of the sixth, the Black Bears, who improved to 31-15, 11-3 AE had just come off an inning where the Terriers went up 4-2 after UMaine tied the game two innings earlier.
After Ashley Waters led off the inning with a single, her double play companion, Brittany Cheney, cut the lead to 4-3 with an RBI double to center field.
With Cheney on base, fellow senior Molly McKinney drew a walk to give the Black Bears runners on first and second. The following at-bat saw Amy Kuhl slap a double to shallow left field that allowed Cheney and McKinney to score to give UMaine a 5-4 lead.
“We knew it was crunch time and that we wanted to get the job done,” Cheney said. “It was about controlling our at-bats and we were controlling her better than she controlled us.”
Kuhl was removed by coach Stacey Sullivan for the speedy Megan Ramos, which ended up paying dividends later in the inning.
Although UMaine had recorded two quick outs, Ramos advanced to third only to come home after a bad throw from BU catcher Christy Leath went into the outfield, giving UMaine the 6-4 advantage.
Once the Terriers were out of the inning, they made an attempt at a rally of their own as they were able to load the bases with two outs. BU’s last-ditch effort at winning the game was the best offensive surge since Balent came into relieve starting pitcher Sarah Bennis in the fourth inning.
“That’s seven innings of softball,” Sullivan said. “It was a real tug of war today and they wanted to win this game and that was true from the first pitch.”
Earlier in the game, the Terriers had taken a 2-0 lead until an Erin Provost two-run homer in the third inning. As of late, the senior from Peru, N.Y. had been in impressive form, coming off a 6-for-11 series against the Hartford Hawks earlier in the week.
In their last game, the Black Bears were able to finish out their series with the Hawks as they won 3-0 on Monday.
The game was postponed to Monday because of heavy rain and flash flood warnings in the area.
On Saturday, the Black Bears will play Binghamton in a doubleheader in their last home series starting at 1 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday.
The Bearcats are in last place in the America East standings with a 3-11 record, 10-28 overall.
The Black Bears, by contrast, sit on top of the conference table with an 11-3 league mark. Second-place Albany is 8-3, meaning the Great Danes need to win each of their three games-in-hand to keep pace with UMaine, but lost the season series to the Black Bears 2-1, giving UMaine the tie-breaker over the defending champs.
The conference’s regular season champion is afforded the right to host the postseason championship from May 11-13.
The Black Bears won their last America East title in 2004 when the tournament was hosted at Kessock Field.
