ORONO – Near the tail end of an imperfect game, Brittany Cheney stepped into the perfect spot for a bit of heroism for the University of Maine softball team.

Cheney’s two-out single in the bottom of the seventh plated pinch runner Tara Vilardo, boosting the Black Bears to a 4-3 victory in the second game of a doubleheader at Kessock Field and a sweep of the Retrievers in the three-game America East Conference series.

The Bears took the first game 2-0 on the strength of Jenna Merchant’s two-hitter, plus RBI singles by Dana Grimm and Sara Asadoorian.

And Friday’s 6-1 victory means UMaine moves into third place with a 6-3 conference record. Maine is 18-14 overall.

“It’s really good to take three this weekend,” Cheney said. “We won one game where the run spread was big, and then we won a game in the bottom of the seventh. So it helps our confidence to know that we can pull a game out in the bottom of the seventh.”

In the second game, Cheney struggled to hit UMBC starter Kelly Claar, going 0-for-3 before her game-winning RBI single. Cheney, who was an All-America East second-team shortstop last year, uncharacteristically committed two errors for an even worse start to the game.

But the sophomore was in a great spot for redemption as the Bears rallied in the final inning.

Maine’s Nikki Taylor opened with a strikeout, but Shannon Sirois singled to right field. After pinch-hitter Beth Foltz flied out, Asadoorian hit a line-drive single to left, putting Sirois at second. Vilardo went in to run for Sirois, and a wild pitch by Claar put Vilardo at third and Asadoorian at second.

Cheney, who had flied out twice and grounded out once in her previous plate appearances, hit a 1-1 pitch into left, bringing in Vilardo for the winning run.

“I had been waiting for my perfect pitch, because I had been so overanxious early in the game,” Cheney said. “I saw it, it was perfect, probably a little inside, and I just hit it as hard as I could. It felt really good coming off the bat.”

UMBC coach Joe French said even though Cheney had struggled at the plate the Retrievers were still worried about her.

“We thought about walking her intentionally but the next kid [Jess Brady] gave us so much trouble with the slap, you just have to pick your poison,” he said.

UMBC was down a run going into the seventh and tied the game when Kristie Pickeral singled and pinch-runner Kristi Troster eventually scored on Cheney’s second error, a fly ball that tipped off her glove.

The Bears scored three runs in the first inning. Lauren Dulkis and Molly McKinney hit back-to-back RBI doubles and Grimm had an RBI single.

Sarah Bennis (5-7) picked up the win, her second of the series, in relief of starter Candace Jaegge. Bennis allowed three hits and one unearned run with two strikeouts and no walks in 3 1/3 innings.

Jaegge had her second straight rough outing. She gave up six hits and two earned runs with a walk and two strikeouts.

“They were hitting Candi pretty hard and [Bennis] came in and just really basically started getting them to swing defensively again,” UMaine coach Deb Smith said. “Yesterday she had a strong game and today she picked up right where she left off.”

Claar struck out two and walked none in the loss.

In the first game, Merchant fanned eight and relied on her defense to help get out of a jam in the fourth inning.

After an inning-opening flyout, Pickeral singled and pinch-runner Troster moved to second when Merchant walked Reilly Ward. Merchant struck out Claar, then walked Crystal Beveridge to load the bases.

But Merchant threw a screwball to pinch-hitter Heather Bennett, inducing a flyout to end the threat.

Screwballs worked well for the Bears this weekend – Bennis threw a lot of them against UMBC in Friday’s win.

“This team had really slow hands, so we could jam them,” said Merchant, who goes to 5-2. “I wasn’t too worried about [the fourth inning]. [Catcher Lindsey Tibbetts] called an incredible game.”

Asadoorian, who was 0-for-8 in last week’s series against Binghamton, hit a groundball single to right in the second inning to plate Grimm. In the fourth, Grimm singled up the middle to score pinch-runner Vilardo.

Grimm and Cheney each had two singles in the game.

“It’s nice to see us put pressure on from the No. 1 hitter in the lineup down to the No. 9 hitter in the lineup,” Smith said. “And that’s key for us because the moment we start depending on our top three [or] four hitters we’re in trouble.”

UMBC’s Pickeral went 5-for-7 in Saturday’s games, but had no RBIs and one extra-base hit – a poor outing for the power hitter, French said.

“[Maine] did a nice job on her,” he said. “She didn’t have much to hit. … I thought considering we didn’t play well [Friday], we did OK. We emphasized playing hard to the last out, and we did that. I’m just glad the girls battled back.”

Lauren Nicholson picked up the loss for UMBC.

BLACK BEARS 2, RETRIEVERS 1

(Saturday’s First Game)

UMBC (20-25) Maine (17-14)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Crowell, rf 2 0 0 0 Cheney, ss 3 0 0

Bile, lf 2 0 0 0 Brady, cf 2 0 0

Pickeral, 3b 3 0 2 0 Dulkis, 3b 2 0 0

a-Troster 0 0 0 0 Merchant, dh-p 3 0 0

Ward, ss 2 0 0 0 Kuhl, 1b 3 0 0

Claar, dh 3 0 0 0 c-Vilardo 0 1 0

Beveridge, 1b 1 0 0 0 Provost, lf 2 0

SanFilippo, c 1 0 0 0 d-McKinney 1 0

b-Bennett 1 0 0 0 Grimm, rf 2 1 1

f-Sadowl 1 0 0 0 Tibbetts, c 2 0 0

Olivieri, 2b 2 0 0 0 e-Taylor 1 0 0

g-Lindsey 1 0 0 0 Asadoorian, 2b 2 0 1

Oursler, cf 2 0 0 0

h-Taylor 1 0 0 0

Totals 22 0 2 0 Totals 23 2 7 2

a-ran for Pickeral in the 4th; b-flied out for SanFilippo in the 4th; c-ran for Kuhl in the 4th; d-struck out for Provost in the 6th; e-flied out for Tibbetts in the 6th; f-reached on fielder’s choice for SanFilippo in the 7th; g-struck out for Olivieri in the 7th; h-flied out for Oursler in the 7th

UMBC 000 000 0 ? 0

Maine 010 100 x ? 2

LOB?UMBC 6, Maine 6; DP?Bile (unassisted); S?Bile; Dulkis; SB?Cheney

UMBC IP H R ER BB SO

Nicholson (L, 7-8) 6 7 2 2 2 1

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Merchant (W, 5-2) 7 2 0 0 4 8

T?1:36; ATT?100 (est.)

BLACK BEARS 4, RETRIEVERS 3

(Saturday’s Second Game)

UMBC (20-26) Maine (18-14)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Crowell, rf 4 0 1 0 Cheney, ss 4 0 1

Bile, lf 3 2 2 0 Brady, cf 3 1 0

Pickeral, 3b 4 0 3 0 Dulkis, 3b 3 1 1

b-Troster 0 1 0 0 McKinney, dh 3 1 1

Ward, ss 4 0 1 1 Grimm, lf 3 0 1

Beveridge, lb 3 0 1 0 Taylor, 1b 3 0

Bennett, dh 3 0 0 1 Sirois, rf 3 0 0

Keenan, c 0 0 0 0 d-Vilardo 0 1 0

Claar, p 3 0 1 0 Soule, c 2 0 0

a-Oursler 0 0 0 0 c-Foltz 1 0 0 0

Olivieri, 2b 2 0 0 0 Asadoorian, 2b 1 0 0

Lindsey, cf 3 0 0 0 Provost, 2b 2 0 0

Totals 29 3 9 2 Totals 28 4 9 4

a-ran for Claar in the 6th; b-ran for Pickeral in the 7th; c-flied out for Soule in the 7th; d-ran for Sirois in the 7th

UMBC 101 000 1 ? 3

Maine 300 000 1 ? 4

E?Cheney 2; LOB?UMBC 9, Maine 4; 2B?Dulkis, McKinney, Grimm; S?Olivieri; SF?Bennett; SB?Oursler; Brady

UMBC IP H R ER BB SO

Claar (L, 6-10) 6 2/3 9 4 4 0 2

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Jaegge 3 2/3 6 2 2 1 2

Bennis (W, 5-7) 3 1/3 3 1 0 0 2

HBP?Beveridge by Jaegge; WP?Claar; Bennis; T?1:51; ATT?100 (est.)