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UMaine off to strong start

By Tyler Francke

Posted on Thursday, March 1st, 2007, 12:00 am

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The University of Maine softball team kicked off it’s season this weekend with the five-game Panera Bread Challenge tournament at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. They got off to a somewhat bumpy start, losing their first two games, but bounced back and won their last three to take fourth place in the tourney. Two weeks ago, UMaine’s season was slated to start with a three-game series against the University of Kentucky, but all three games were cancelled due to inclement weather.

Luckily, the weather in Chatanooga was, according to head coach Stacey Sullivan, “gorgeous.” She said they came into the tournament with the mindset that they “knew we could do really well.”

Some opening day jitters got the best of them and led to their early losses in the tournament. The team lost a whopping eight seniors last year and has 11 freshmen on the squad this year, so some mistakes due to nerves can definitely be expected early in the season. Sullivan started five first-years in the first game and said she’ll be “starting five or six freshmen throughout the season.”

“We played very strong in the last three games and finished the tournament like we knew we could,” added Sullivan, last year’s America East coach of the year.

The team’s first two games were on Friday, as they faced off against Bowling Green and Miami, Ohio. The Black Bears gave up a tough loss to Bowling Green with a score of 2-0. Reigning America East Rookie of the Year Jenna Balent took the mound as the starter for the Black Bears and pitched all seven innings in the loss. Despite starting the season off with a loss, she threw a solid game, allowing just two runs on five hits, with five strikeouts. UMaine managed only four hits in the game, and scored no runs.

In the second game of the doubleheader, two freshmen hurlers made their debuts and nerves may have gotten the better of them as the Black Bears fell by a score of 8-2. Christine McGivney got the start and yielded four runs on six hits in four innings. Jessica Ghazali came in for relief and allowed four runs on three hits and had two strikeouts. The lone RBI of the day for UMaine was knocked in by Whitney Spangler. Tara Vilardo scored once and Erin Iandoli scored Maine’s second run. The Black Bears were pleased with the way the newcomers were able to step in and perform effectively so quickly.

“The freshman had a great weekend,” said Sullivan. “Some of the upperclassmen have also really developed their game.” Sullivan was particularly impressed by freshmen McGivney and batters Whitney Spangler and Alexis Souhlaris.

The Black Bears rebounded with wins against Eastern Kentucky, UT-Chatanooga and Saint Francis. The scores were 5-3, 5-2 and 12-3. The pitchers in the two games on Saturday were Balent and McGivney again, who both went the distance and improved their records to 1-1. McGivney’s win was the first of her collegiate career. Balent struck out six with only one walk, and McGivney had five strikeouts and allowed only two runs on four hits.

Balent also got the win on Sunday to improve her record to 2-1. She had a season-high seven strikeouts in five innings.

For the Black Bears offense, Whitney Spangler and Alexis Souhlaris both batted over .400 in the tournament, and the freshman left fielder Souhlaris paced the team with seven hits and four runs scored. Ashley Waters batted .312 and led the team with three RBIs, while Jennifer Puccini also knocked in three and had the team’s only homer.

The team’s 3-2 record in the tournament this year is identical to their record last year, but Sullivan said the field was larger this season and the competition was tougher. “We beat [the host team] Chatanooga, which was one of the strongest teams there,” Sullivan said, adding that things are looking good for the team so far, and that there are high expectations for the season among the coaching staff and the players.

The team is headed down to Florida on Friday for two weeks to participate in the nine-game Florida State Tournament. Sullivan boldly predicted her girls should and would “dominate in the tournament.” She also said she thinks the tournament will be a good measuring stick to show where they are and where they stand when they come back to the conference schedule.

Sullivan said that the biggest challenge in the upcoming season will be remaining consistent, adding that it’s “hard for them to get anywhere” if they can’t, as a team, learn from their mistakes.

“We [the coaching staff] have just been telling the girls to not set standards and to continually try to raise the bar for themselves and each other,” said Sullivan. “We think we’re capable of being a very successful team this year.”