Bears pound Colby; play BU today

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ORONO – Coming off of a disappointing conference weekend and heading into what should be a tough conference day, the University of Maine softball team got a bit of a lift with a 7-1 victory over Colby College Tuesday.

The Black Bears pounded out 13 hits and four Maine pitchers combined to allow five hits and one run while striking out seven. And almost everyone on the UMaine roster got to play against the Division III White Mules of Waterville.

It was almost a warmup for Wednesday’s doubleheader against Boston University, which starts at 2 p.m. at Kessock Field.

The Bears were coming off an 0-4 weekend with a loss against UMass and three to Albany.

“I think a lot of it was not to get everyone in [against Colby] but to get everyone going again because we didn’t do that much this weekend,” said Jess Brady, who was 3-for-4 with three singles and an RBI Tuesday afternoon. “[BU is] gonna be tough, no doubt about it. They’re always ready to play.”

It took the Bears once through the lineup to get a read on Colby starter Lauren Olmsted, but once No. 9 hitter Sara Asadoorian opened the third inning with a single, Maine’s offense took off.

Brittany Cheney drove in Asadoorian with a triple that hit the top of the center-field fence. Brady followed with an RBI single, and Amy Kuhl singled later in the inning to drove in Brady.

“It’s a little different than the pitching we’re used to seeing, especially after coming out of the [weekend],” said Maine’s Lauren Dulkis, who hit a two-run single in the fourth. “But we made our adjustments and we did what we had to.”

Colby (13-11-1) answered in the top of the fourth when Maine reliever Sarah Bennis walked Miki Starr with the bases loaded. Kara Fagan, who led off the inning with a walk, scored the run.

The Black Bears got a hit from every batter in the lineup. Erin Provost and Asadoorian each hit two singles.

“I told [Maine coach Deb Smith] that there were two success stories,” Colby coach Dick Bailey said. “One, we scored a run, and two, we went seven innings with her team. They’re Division I players, they’re supposed to hit our pitchers.”

Maine went through its entire pitching lineup, with Candace Jaegge starting the first two innings. Sarah Bennis threw the third and fourth innings and picked up the win to run her record to 6-8. Alexis Pullen was in the circle for the fifth and sixth, and Jenna Merchant closed out the game.

All five Colby hits came in the first four innings. Kate Hurd went 2-for-4 with two singles.

Lindsey Toomey relieved Olmsted in the fifth, giving up three hits and no runs in her two innings.

BLACK BEARS 7, WHITE MULES 1

Colby (13-11-1) Maine (19-15)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Starr, rf 3 0 0 1 Cheney, ss 3 2 1

Hurd, 2b 4 0 2 0 Brady, cf 4 2 1

Riley, 1b-c 4 0 0 0 Dulkis, 3b 2 1 2

Bonner, 3b 4 0 0 0 Vilardo, 3b 1 0 0

Olmsted, p-1b 3 0 1 0 McKinney, dh 3 1

a-Robbins 0 0 0 0 Hawkins, dh 1 0 0

Fagan, c-lf 1 1 0 0 Kuhl, 1b 3 0 1

d-Bovill 1 0 0 0 c-Foltz 1 0 0 0

Widlanski, dh 3 0 0 0 Provost, lf 2 1

Caswell, cf 0 0 0 0 Belmonte, lf 1 0 0

Palmer, ss 2 0 1 0 Grimm, rf 2 0 0

Shea, lf 1 0 1 0 Sirois, rf 2 0 0

Toomey, p 1 0 0 0 Tibbetts, c 2 0 0

b-Joseph 0 1 0 0

Soule, c 1 0 1 0

Asadoorian, 2b 2 1 2 0

Totals 27 1 5 1 Totals 30 7 13 7

a-ran for Olmsted in 2nd; b-ran for Tibbetts in 3rd; c-flied out for Kuhl in 6th; d-struck out swinging for Fagan in 7th

Colby 000 100 0 ? 1

Maine 003 400 x ? 7

E?Palmer; Vilardo; LOB?Colby 11; Maine 9; 3B?Cheney; S?Asadoorian; SB?Brady 2, Provost

Colby IP H R ER BB SO

Olmsted (L,6-5) 4 10 7 7 3 4

Toomey 2 3 0 0 0 2

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Jaegge 2 3 0 0 1 2

Bennis (W,6-8) 2 2 1 1 3 3

Pullen 2 0 0 0 2 1

Merchant 1 0 0 0 0 1

WP?Bennis; T?1:55; ATT?100 (est.)