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ORONO – The University of Maine softball team entered the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader at Kessock Field with a pair of dilemmas.
Their names are Robyn Horrick and Julie Henneke. They’re pitchers. Nobody’s had much luck against them. And they’re two of the big reasons the Boston University Terriers entered the game with a gaudy 16-2 league record.
Before the day was over, the Black Bears would chase Horrick early in a 7-5 win, fall to Henneke in a 1-0, 10-inning thriller and in the process prove something that could be valuable when the America East tourney rolls around on May 9.
“[We can] say we’re right up at their level,” said senior Erica Sobel, who reached base seven consecutive times [a single, a double and five straight walks] in the twinbill. “We’re happy with the split right now. We would have liked to have gotten two, but we’ll take the split.”
The Black Bears are 20-26, 8-8 in America East play, while the Terriers are 23-20, 17-3. BU entered the day with a six-game lead over second-place Hartford in league play, while Maine occupied the fourth spot, two games ahead of fifth-place Binghamton. Four teams qualify for postseason play.
In the first game, UMaine rattled the league’s top hurler, Horrick, by scoring two runs in the first and four more in the second en route to the win.
Horrick entered the game with a sparkling 0.67 earned run average and exited after 3? innings, having allowed five earned runs on six hits, four walks and two BU errors.
Maine set the tone in the first, when leadoff batter Aliesha Rautenberg reached on an infield error, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Asadoorian, and scampered home on Sobel’s double over the third base bag.
Leigh Ann Hlywak, who had walked in front of Sobel, scored on Jenna Merchant’s single that a diving BU second baseman – Kristin Kenesek – couldn’t flag down.
The Bears tallied four more in the second. The key play: Sobel ripped a bases-loaded single that got through left fielder DeKenya Williams and cleared the bases.
BU coach Amy Hayes said she was disappointed with the fact that Horrick lost focus on the mound.
“She let [the umpire’s] calls affect how she wanted to throw the game. … and then you’ve got eight other kids on the field watching that.”
Merchant, who had a double, a single and two RBIs, and also earned the pitching win (seven hits, eight strikeouts, one earned run), said getting involved in the offense while she’s pitching suits her fine.
“I love to hit,” she said. “It’s nice to know that if my team’s not helping, at least I’m not helping, too. I’m part of the slump, as well as the rest of the team.”
In the second game, Maine’s Candace Jaegge pitched nine shutout innings, but it wasn’t enough: Henneke pitched 10.
Maine coach Deb Smith said the game was a typical Jaegge outing.
“Other than the BU game [earlier in the season] when she lost it 2-0 on a home run, every one of her losses has been a one-run game,” Smith said.
Jaegge scattered nine hits, striking out six and walking just two. But Henneke allowed just three hits with eight strikeouts and five walks, and induced 20 groundouts.
BU won it in the top of the tenth, when Christy King led off with a double to deep left, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored when Abbey Pauley chopped a single over the glove of third baseman Hlywak.
“She just got a weird hop,” Jaegge said. “You can’t do anything about ’em. Unfortunately, you can’t grow, instantly.”
BLACK BEARS 7, TERRIERS 5
(First Game)
Boston University Maine
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Haas, ss 3 1 2 1 Rautenberg, rf 2 3 0
Pauley, rf 3 0 1 0 Asadoorian, 2b 2 1 0
Henneke, cf 4 0 1 1 Hlywak, 3b 3 1 1
Shields, c 4 0 0 0 Sobel, ss 2 1 2
a-Harner 0 0 0 0 Taylor, lf 3 0 0
Finateri, dh-p 4 2 2 0 Merchant, p 3 2
Knesek, 2b 0 0 0 0 b-Steranko 0 0 0
Williams, lf 1 1 0 0 Churchill, 1b 4 0 0
Abney, 3b 2 1 0 0 Bain, c 3 0 0 0
c-Widerberg 1 0 0 0 Brady, cf 3 1 0
Horrick, p-dh 2 0 0 0
Kurker, dh 1 0 1 1
Totals 29 5 7 3 Totals 25 7 7 5
a-ran for Rangel in sixth; b-ran for Merchant in sixth; c-struck out for Abney in seventh
Boston U 000 013 1 ? 5
Maine 240 001 x ? 7
E?Williams, Abney; Rautenberg, Sobel; LOB?Boston U. 9, Maine 9; 2B?Finateri; Sobel, Merchant; 3B?Haas; S?Asadoorian; SF?Haas; SB?Brady
Boston U. IP H R ER BB SO
Horrick (L,10-6) 3? 6 6 5 4 4
Finateri 2? 1 1 1 2 3
Maine IP H R ER BB SO
Merchant (W,14-10) 7 7 5 1 3 8
HBP?Rautenberg by Horrick, Merchant by Finateri; Williams, Merchant by Finateri; WP?Finateri; Merchant 3; PB?Bain; T?2:05
TERRIERS 1, BLACK BEARS 0
(Second Game, 10 innings)
Boston University (23-20) Maine (20-26)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Haas, ss 4 0 3 0 Rautenberg, rf 5 0 0
Pauley, cf 4 0 1 1 Asadoorian, 2b 5 0 0
Henneke, p 5 0 1 0 Hlywak, 3b 3 0 0
Kurker, dh 5 0 2 0 Sobel, ss 1 0 0
Knesek, 2b 0 0 0 0 Mather, lf 2 0 0
Rangel, 1b 3 0 0 0 Taylor, dh 4 0 0
Finateri, lf 4 0 0 0 e-Steranko 0 0 0
Williams, rf 4 0 1 0 Churchill, 1b 3 0 0
Abney, 3b 3 0 0 0 b-White 1 0 0 0
d-Horrick 1 0 0 0 Tibbetts, c 3 0 0
King, c 2 1 1 0 c-Sherwood 1 0 0
a-Valente 1 0 0 0 Brady, cf 3 0 0
Totals 36 1 9 1 Totals 31 0 3 0
a-struck out for King in seventh; b-grounded out for Churchill in seventh; c-grounded out for Tibbetts in seventh; d-struck out for Abney in ninth; e-ran for Taylor in ninth
Boston U. 000 000 000 1 ? 1
Maine 000 000 000 0 ? 0
E?Asadoorian, Sobel; LOB?Boston U. 10, Maine 8; 2B?Kurker, Williams, King; S?Haas, Pauley, Rangel; Mather 2;
Boston U. IP H R ER BB SO
Henneke (W,8-3) 10 3 0 0 5 8
Maine IP H R ER BB SO
Jaegge (L,6-14) 10 9 1 1 2 6
WP?Henneke; Jaegge; T?2:30; ATT?150
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