Merchant rings up solid outings as Maine splits

loading...

ORONO – It’s a rare moment that Jenna Merchant doesn’t have a smile on her face. A strikeout, a walk, hitting a batter, a pitch in the dirt or a perfect toss – the University of Maine sophomore pitcher always seems to be having a good time.

Merchant gave the Black Bears a lot to smile about in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday against Albany, pitching a three-hit shutout and driving in two runs in a 3-0 victory.

She came in to throw the final two innings of the second game – and wound up with her third RBI of the day – but Maine was already down to the Great Danes, who won it 5-3, thus taking three of four in the Friday-Saturday series.

The Black Bears, now 16-16 overall and 5-5 in America East, head to Cambridge, Mass., Tuesday for a rescheduled doubleheader against Binghamton. Maine will face BU in a doubleheader Wednesday.

Albany fell to 22-6 (7-2).

In Saturday’s first game, Merchant and Brittany Cheney were responsible for most of Maine’s runs in the win.

Cheney, a freshman, hit a two-out triple to right-center in the first and scored on a wild pitch. In the third inning she walked, advanced all the way to third on an Amy Kuhl double, and came home when Merchant hit a sacrifice fly to right field.

Those two runs (and four walks) forced Albany to pull starter Danielle Buyea, who entered the game with a 0.81 ERA, after three innings.

Replacement Kristen Couris, who earned a win Friday afternoon, didn’t fare much better as Merchant drove in Cheney again in the sixth. Cheney singled, got to second on a Kuhl single, and crossed the plate after Merchant lofted a ball to right for another single.

“I’m seeing the ball pretty well and they just threw me the pitches to hit,” she said.

Merchant fanned five and walked one along with the three hits she allowed. The righty stayed ahead in the count all game long and allowed just one baserunner get to third.

“She did a great job of keeping them off-balance, basically hitting spots where Lindsey called,” Maine coach Deb Smith said. “She did well, controlled them very well. She did what we needed her to.”

After committing five errors in the Friday games, the Bears were perfect in Saturday’s opener and combined for 14 putouts and flyouts while throwing out a baserunner.

“I felt better today,” Merchant said after struggling Friday. “And my defense came through. … The defense was incredible.”

In Saturday’s second game, the Great Danes scored two runs each in the fourth and sixth innings and Albany pitcher Andrea Lindgren (12-3) made some key outs late in the game.

Already ahead 1-0 going into the fourth, Stacy Kowal hit an RBI double and later scored on a Jen Nolette single for a two-run lead.

The Bears rallied for two runs in the bottom of the inning. Cheney led off with a double down the left-field line, advanced to second on a single by Kuhl, and scored on a Molly McKinney groundout. Christina Belmonte, who was pinch-running for Kuhl, came home on an Erin Provost double.

After Albany added two more, Maine could only get back one run in the bottom of the sixth. That came when McKinney, who had been hit by Lindgren, advanced to second and third on consecutive groundouts and scored on a Merchant single.

The Black Bears had the tying run at the plate in the seventh, but Cheney flied out and Lindgren fanned Kuhl to end it. Kuhl also struck out with two runners on in the fifth.

“The pitcher was throwing a very nice changeup, kind of down and away, and that’s been [Kuhl’s] one weak pitch,” Smith said. “[Lindgren] finally figured her out. … I thought the big out [in the seventh] was when the pitcher was able to get Brittany out, because she hadn’t been able to get Brittany out all day.”

Cheney went 3-for-4 in the two games.

Freshman Sarah Bennis of Pownal picked up the loss, allowing eight hits and five runs (four earned) in five innings.

BLACK BEARS 3, GREAT DANES 0

(Saturday’s First Game)

Albany (21-6) Maine (16-15)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Dunning, 2b 3 0 1 0 Brady, cf 3 0 0

Wieboldt, rf 3 0 0 0 Tibbetts, c 3 0 0

Lindgren, 1b 3 0 0 0 Cheney, ss 2 3 0

Rios, dh 1 0 0 0 McKinney, rf 2 0 0

a-Isaac 0 0 0 0 Kuhl, dh 3 0 0

Meacham, c 2 0 0 0 Asadoorian, 2b 0 0 0

Larsen, ss 3 0 1 0 Merchant, p 2 0 2

Kostenblatt, 3b 3 0 0 0 b-Belmonte 0 0

Busch, cf 3 0 1 0 Taylor, 1b 3 0 0

Nolette, lf 2 0 0 0 Provost, lf 3 0 0

Dulkis, 3b 1 0 0 0

Totals 23 0 3 0 Totals 22 3 6 2

a-ran for Rios in 2nd; b-ran for Merchant in 5th

Albany 000 000 0 ? 0

Maine 101 010 x ? 3

E?Lindgren; LOB?Albany 5, Maine 7; 2B?Dunning, Larsen; Kuhl; 3B?Cheney; S?Dulkis; SF?Merchant

Albany IP H R ER BB SO

Buyea (L, 4-2) 3 2 2 2 4 1

Couris 3 4 1 1 0 4

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Merchant (W, 8-8) 7 3 0 0 1 5

HBP?Rios 2 by Merchant; WP?Buyea; PB?Meacham; T?1:45; ATT?50

GREAT DANES 5, BLACK BEARS 3

(Saturday’s Second Game)

Albany (22-6) Maine (16-16)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Dunning, 2b 4 0 0 0 Brady, cf 3 0 0

Larsen, ss 4 0 1 1 c-Tibbetts 1 0 0

Lindgren, p 4 0 1 0 Dulkis, 3b 4 0 0

b-Isaac 0 1 0 0 Cheney, ss 2 1 0

Rios, dh 3 0 2 1 Kuhl, 1b 4 0 0

Busch, cf 0 2 0 0 a-Belmonte 0 1 0

Gannon, 1b 2 0 1 0 McKinney, dh 2 1 1

Kostenblatt, 3b 2 0 0 0 Stevens, c 0 0

Kowal, c 3 1 1 1 Grimm, rf 3 0 0

Nolette, lf 3 1 2 2 Provost, lf 2 0 1

Burnham, rf 2 0 0 0 Bennis, p 2 0 0

Merchant, p 1 0 1 1

Asadoorian, 2b 3 0 0 0

Totals 27 5 8 5 Totals 27 3 7 3

a-ran for Kuhl in 4th; b-ran for Lindgren in 6th; c-grounded out for Brady in 7th

Albany 001 202 0 ? 5

Maine 000 201 0 ? 3

E?Kostenblatt; Dulkis, Provost; LOB?Albany 4, Maine 7; 2B?Larsen, Lindgren, Kowal; Dulkis, Cheney, Provost; S?Gannon, Burnham; Cheney; SB?Busch

Albany IP H R ER BB SO

Lindgren (12-3) 7 7 3 3 2 5

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Bennis (L, 7-7) 5 8 5 4 1 2

Merchant 2 0 0 0 0 0

HBP?McKinney by Lindgren; WP?Bennis; T?1:50; ATT?80