Bears salvage split Victory aids playoff berth

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ORONO – Amy Kuhl couldn’t stick around too long to bask in the postgame glow of the Maine softball team’s 2-0 victory over Boston University, but there were plenty of other people willing to talk what the sophomore did to lift the Black Bears to a split in Wednesday’s doubleheader at Kessock Field.

“It was a nice hit,” said Jenna Merchant, who earned the win thanks in part to Kuhl’s two-run double in the top of the 10th inning. “A really nice hit.”

Kuhl had a class to run off to – the Bears probably hadn’t figured on going so late – but she’s more than likely aware of the importance of the split.

The Terriers earned a 3-0 win in the opener, but the win should help Maine inch closer to third-place BU (20-28, 8-5) and fourth-place Binghamton in the America East standings.

The split gives UMaine a 20-19 overall record and a 7-7 mark in the conference. The Bears will face Vermont Saturday and Sunday in a three-game series, their final home games of the regular season.

In the second game, Merchant sparkled in the late innings, ending the bottom of the ninth with two straight strikeouts after giving up a single and a sacrifice bunt.

That set the scene for the top of the 10th. Sara Asadoorian led off with a groundout, followed by Brittany Cheney’s line drive to left. She advanced to second on a Jess Brady groundout.

The Terriers decided to intentionally walk Molly McKinney, who had was 3-for-3 with a double and two singles to that point. With the runners at first and second, Kuhl lined a shot to center field, deep enough to plate both Cheney and McKinney.

“The kid was 3-for-3 and we wanted to be in a situation where we had a forceout,” BU coach Amy Hayes said. “We had two outs. Amy went out and got a pitch. What are you gonna do?”

Lauren Dulkis ended the inning with a flyout, but two runs was all Merchant needed despite a scare in the bottom of the inning as the sun was nearly set and the field doesn’t have lights. She gave up a leadoff single, then struck out two batters in a row, walked another, and finally got a groundout to end it.

“I was really concerned with the sinking sun. I didn’t know what was going to happen and I very concerned about just getting outs and I wanted to get out of here before they called it,” said Merchant, who finished with 12 strikeouts, five walks and just seven hits allowed in the complete game.

BU, which was the home team in the second game because of an earlier postponement, stranded 11 baserunners in the loss.

“We really wanted to take two,” said a disappointed Hayes. “We feel like we just keep battling and battling and we’re not getting the breaks. Hopefully we will soon, because we’re running out of time.”

In the first game, Sarah Bennis surrendered just three hits and struck out seven, but the Black Bears couldn’t respond on the offensive end.

Maine hit four singles against BU starter Ashlee Freeman and had trouble moving the runners who did get on base – a problem that has plagued the Bears all season.

Brady, Cheney, McKinney and Asadoorian each hit a single.

Bennis did walk five BU players, two ended up scoring runs. Two of the Terrier runs were earned.

Freeman helped herself with an RBI single in the fourth, and she eventually scored on a wild pitch later in the inning. Liz Alley singled to plate Abbey Pauley in the first.

Freeman struck out four and walked two.

TERRIERS 3, BLACK BEARS 0

(First Game)

BU (20-27) Maine (19-19)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Pauley, cf 1 1 0 0 Cheney, ss 3 0 0

Haas, ss 4 0 0 0 Brady, cf 3 0 0

Alley, 1b 4 0 1 1 Dulkis, 3b 3 0 0

Williams, lf 3 0 1 0 McKinney, rf 3 0 0

Louie, 2b 2 1 0 0 Kuhl, dh 2 0 0

McDonald, dh 1 0 0 0 Provost, lf 3 0 0

King, 3b 0 0 0 0 Taylor, 1b 2 0 0

Freeman, p 3 1 1 1 Tibbetts, c 2 0 0

a-Varga 0 0 0 0 Asadoorian, 2b 3 0 0

Detwiler, rf 3 0 0 0

Hodge, rf 0 0 0 0

Mendez, c 3 0 0 0

Totals 24 3 3 2 Totals 24 0 4 0

a-ran for Freeman in the 6th

Boston University 100 200 0 ? 3

Maine 000 000 0 ? 0

E?Taylor 2; LOB?BU 6, Maine 7; 2B?Alley, Williams, Freeman; S?McDonald; Taylor; SB?Pauley

BU IP H R ER BB SO

Freeman (W, 13-13) 7 4 0 0 2 4

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Bennis (L, 6-9) 7 3 3 2 5 7

HBP?Kuhl by Freeman; WP?Freeman 2; Bennis 4; PB?Mendez; T?2:18; ATT?100 (est.)

BLACK BEARS 2, TERRIERS 0

(Second Game, 10 innings)

Maine (20-19) BU (20-28)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Cheney, ss 5 1 1 0 Pauley, cf 5 0 0

Brady, cf 4 0 0 0 Haas, ss 4 0 0

McKinney, dh 3 1 3 0 Alley, 1b 3 0 0

Soule, c 0 0 0 0 d-Varga 0 0 0 0

Kuhl, 1b 4 0 1 2 Williams, lf 4 0 0

Dulkis, 3b 3 0 0 0 Louie, 2b 5 0 0

a-Foltz 1 0 0 0 Freeman, dh 4 0 0

Merchant, p 4 0 1 0 -Myrill 0 0 0 0

Provost, lf 4 0 1 0 King, 3b 0 0 0

Grimm, rf 3 0 0 0 Detwiler, p 3 0 0

b-Tibbetts 1 0 0 0 Mendez, c 2 0 0

Asadoorian, 2b 4 0 0 0 c-McDonald 1 0

Hodge, rf 4 0 0 0

Totals 36 2 7 2 Totals 35 0 7 0

a-struck out for Dulkis in the 6th; b-reached on fielder’s choice for Grimm in the 7th; c-grounded out for Mendez in the 7th; d-ran for Alley in the 8th; e-ran for Freeman in the 9th

Maine 000 000 000 2 ? 2

Boston University 000 000 000 0 ? 0

E?Detwiler; LOB?Maine 9, BU 11; 2B?McKinney, Kuhl; S?Brady, Dulkis; Detwiler; SB?Haas

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Merchant (W, 6-4) 10 7 0 0 5 12

BU IP H R ER BB SO

Detwiler (L, 5-10) 10 7 2 2 3 6

WP?Merchant; Detwiler 2; T?3:05; ATT? 75 (est.)