Power struggles at plate continue for UMaine

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ROCKLAND – No matter where the University of Maine softball team has been forced to play this spring, one thing has remained painfully constant.

From Florida … to Maryland … to Delaware … to Philly, the Black Bears have searched for a way to jumpstart their anemic offense.

Apparently, returning to Maine for its first in-state games of the year didn’t help, either.

Junior righthander Andi Miller one-hit UMaine in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader en route to a 5-1 win and classmate Liz Nadeau followed up with a three-hitter and a 1-0 win in the nightcap as the Hartford Hawks began the weekend series with a sweep of the Black Bears at Rockland Middle School.

The teams played there because the field was one of the few in-state facilities that is playable due to a late thaw.

The Black Bears salvaged a split with the Hawks in Sunday’s doubleheader, dropping the first game 1-0 and winning the nightcap 2-1.

Hartford coach Todd Randall gave his bookend juniors all the credit for the Saturday sweep.

“It makes me look smart. I know that,” he said. “The only thing I did was I was smart enough to recruit those two kids.

“I would, honestly – and as humbly as I can say it – put them up against anybody in the conference.”

Miller relied mainly on a lively fastball (and mixed in an occasional tantalizing changeup) en route to a dominant performance. She struck out 12 and walked three.

The Hawks (8-6) had played only ten games before the weekend due to bad weather and poor field conditions. Miller wasn’t worried.

“We had been playing really well before the break that we’ve had, so I didn’t expect anything less [than the way we played],” Miller said.

The only blemish in Miller’s gem was Amanda Stevens’ third-inning RBI double. Layman, who was running for catcher Rachel Bain, trotted home with the run. Bain had reached on a one-out error.

But that run only made it 4-1, and the Bears only got one baserunner beyond second base after that.

Hartford broke through against starter and loser Carrie Green in the second, turning six singles and a bases-loaded walk into a 4-0 lead.

Green exited after two innings and reliever Ashley Yuhas held the Hawks hitless until the Hawks nicked her for a run in the seventh.

In Saturday’s second game, the UMaine freshman Candace Jaegge’s tossed a nifty five-hitter, but the Bears weren’t able to string together any hits against Nadeau.

The result: UMaine’s 13th shutout loss of the season.

“[We got] a great pitching performance, and just no offense whatsoever,” Maine coach Deb Smith said. “When you don’t hit, you don’t win.”

In fact, the only Black Bear to reach base against Nadeau was junior shortstop Erica Sobel. She rapped three singles, but was stranded at first twice and at second once.

Nadeau struck out six and didn’t walk a batter.

Jaegge, meanwhile, was nearly as dominant despite missing the entire week of practice due to a sore neck that required chiropractic help: she struck out seven and walked just one. Four of her strikeouts came off her nasty changeup – one of seven different pitches in her repertoire.

“It’s an odd pitch,” Jaegge said proudly. “It’s just so weird. … The bottom drops out of it. It’s the funniest-looking pitch ever.”

The Hawks scored the game’s only run in the fourth, as Abbey Toich reached base on a fielders choice, moved to second on Monica Evrard’s soft single to center, and scored on Marci Simoneau’s ground single.

Sobel dove for the ball and nearly gloved it, but the Bears may have been better off it she’d missed it entirely: Sobel deflected the ball and slowed it down enough that by the time left fielder Erin McCabe got to it, she didn’t have a legitimate shot at gunning down Toich at the plate.

Jaegge, who lowered her ERA from 2.99 despite the hard-luck loss, was frustrated by the loss. Still, she thinks the Bears can bounce back.

“It’s hard knowing that you can keep a team as good as this down to one run and not be able to [win],” Jaegge said. “It’s something we’re going through as a team right now, but we’ll get through it.”

In Sunday’s second game, Brieann Layman took advantage of Hartford miscues to score the Bears’ game-winning run in the third inning. She got to first after being hit by a pitch from Liz Nadeau, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and went all the way home on an infield error. Sobel drove in Lauren Dulkis on a first-inning groundout for the first Maine run.

Nadeau allowed just two hits while striking out five and walking one in the loss.

In Sunday’s first game, Maine pitcher Yuhas had a perfect game going until the seventh inning, when Bryn Weller drew a leadoff walk, advanced on a groundout, and scored on a Jodiann Palmieri double to center field.

Dulkis and Sobel registered the only Maine hits. Yuhas struck out four and walked one in the one-hitter.

Hawks 5, Black Bears 1

(Saturday’s First Game)

Hartford (6-5) Maine (7-27)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Weller, c 4 0 1 1 Stevens, rf 3 0 1

Nadeau, dh 4 1 2 2 Dulkis, cf 2 0 0

Palmieri, lf 4 0 2 1 Sobel, ss 2 0 0

Toich, 1b 4 0 0 0 Hlywak, 3b 3 0 0

Evrard, rf 3 0 1 0 Churchill, 1b 3 0 0

Simoneau, 3b 3 1 1 0 Yuhas, dh-p 2 0 0

Picillo, 2b 3 1 1 0 b-McCabe 0 0 0

Prue, cf 3 1 0 0 Sherwood, lf 3 0 0

Hayes, ss 2 1 0 1 Bain, c 2 0 0 0

a-Layman 0 1 0 0

c-Jaegge 1 0 0 0

Asadoorian, 2b 1 0 0 0

Totals 30 5 8 5 Totals 22 1 1 1

a-ran for Bain in third

b-ran for Yuhas in seventh

c-struck out for Bain in seventh

Hartford 040 000 1 ? 5

Maine 001 000 0 ? 1

E?Hayes; Hlywak, Sobel; LOB?Hartford 5, Maine 4; 2B?Palmieri; Stevens; S?Asadoorian; SB?Nadeau

Hartford IP H R ER BB SO

Miller (W, 3-2) 7 1 1 0 3 12

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Green (L, 2-8) 2 6 4 4 1 1

Yuhas 5 2 1 1 0 5

WP?Miller 4; T? 1:40; ATT: 250

Hawks 1, Black Bears 0

(Saturday’s Second Game)

Hartford (7-5) Maine (7-28)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Weller, c 2 0 0 0 Stevens, rf 3 0 0

Nadeau, p 3 0 1 0 Dulkis, cf 3 0 0

Palmieri, lf 3 0 1 0 Sobel, ss 3 0 0

Toich, 1b 3 1 0 0 Yuhas, dh 3 0 0

Evrard, rf 3 0 1 0 Bain, c 0 0 0 0

Simoneau, 3b 3 0 1 1 Hlywak, 3b 3 0 0

Picillo, 2b 3 0 0 0 Churchill, 1b 2 0 0

Prue, cf 3 0 1 0 Jaegge, p 1 0 0

Hayes, ss 2 0 0 0 a-Kelly 1 0 0 0

Asadoorian, 2b 2 0 0 0

McCabe, lf 1 0 0 0

b-Sirois 1 0 0 0

Totals 25 1 5 1 Totals 23 0 3 0

a-struck out for Jaegge in fifth

b-struck out for McCabe in sixth

Hartford 000 100 0 ? 1

Maine 000 000 0 ? 0

E?Asadoorian; LOB?Hartford 4, Maine 3; DP?Toich unassisted; Sobel to Churchill; SB?Hayes

Hartford IP H R ER BB SO

Nadeau (W, 4-2) 7 3 0 0 0 7

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Jaegge (L, 3-10) 7 4 1 1 1 7

WP?Nadeau; T? 1:45; ATT?85 (est.)

(Sunday’s First Game)

Hartford 000 000 1 ? 1 1 0

Maine 000 000 0 ? 0 2 0

Miller and Weller; Yuhas and Bain

(Sunday’s Second Game)

Hartford (8-6) 010 000 0 ? 1 5 2

Maine (8-29) 101 000 x ? 2 2 1

Nadeau and Weller; Jaegge and Bain