UM softball squad hopes for quick turnaround Southern trip produces defeats, but team cohesion

ORONO – In some ways, the University of Maine softball team’s recent trip to Florida was frustrating. There wasn’t as much warm weather and sun as in past years. The Black Bears’ offense took time to come around. And Maine returned with a 4-11 record, including several bad-luck losses.

In other ways, the trip was rewarding. The Bears finally got out of the field house in Orono and onto green grass. The pitching was solid. And Maine, the defending America East champion, played well against some of the toughest competition in the nation.

The Black Bears returned home late last week for a couple of days of practice, then go back out on the road this weekend for doubleheaders against Seton Hall and Hofstra.

And they’re not letting their record get them down.

“The attitude of the kids is great,” interim head coach Michelle Puls said. “Usually a team that goes 4-11 starts ripping at the seams. They’re not. They’re staying closer than ever as a team.”

Maine’s early struggles were a combination of bad luck and good opposing pitching.

The Bears’ first two games, which were to be against Furman, were cancelled because of weather. That meant going into doubleheaders against South Florida, ranked 21st in a preseason National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, and Florida State, 21st in the most recent poll, without having faced any live pitching.

Maine opened with six straight losses, including two 1-0 decisions to South Florida and a 1-0 loss and 5-2 loss to Florida State. The Bears dropped another 1-0 game to Jacksonville State and fell to Stetson 9-0 before pounding St. Bonaventure 8-1 for their first win.

After a 5-3 defeat against Stetson, Maine logged three wins in a row against St. Bonaventure, La Salle and Yale.

But the Bears dropped their last four games on the Florida swing, although three of the games were by one run or less.

All told, Maine lost eight games by two runs or less.

In South Florida and Florida State, the Bears faced some of the best pitching they’ll likely see all year. Maine batters had 105 strikeouts on the trip.

“Their pitchers kept us off-balance,” Puls said. “But the one thing the kids learned from their at-bats was to stay off the riseball. Then we got into the Stetson tournament and played better. Sooner or later the ball’s going to fall our way.”

Maine’s offense was slow to catch fire, although mainstays like shortstop Brittany Cheney, second baseman Erin Provost, center fielder Jess Brady of Jackman and third baseman Lauren Dulkis have started to heat up. Cheney is leading the Bears with a .372 batting average, seven RBIs and 16 hits.

“It seems like that’s the same thing that happens every year,” Dulkis said. “We’re playing teams like Florida State, which had played 10, 15 games already and we’re just starting out our season. We left a lot of runners on base and we have to work on executing and moving them over and scoring.”

Brady, who is already 13-for-15 in stolen-base attempts, is batting .326 with 14 hits, 16 RBIs and 10 runs. Provost is now batting .324 with 11 hits and 12 RBIs, followed by Dulkis’ .279, 12 hits and 14 RBIs.

The Black Bear pitching staff returned from Florida with a 3.60 ERA. Junior Sarah Bennis of Pownal has a team-low 2.32 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 31 innings.

“We’re coming along pretty well,” Bennis said. “Everyone’s thrown decent games and kept the team in it for the most part and that’s all you can ask for from a pitching staff. Hopefully the offense will come around.”

The Bears uncharacteristically struggled with errors, particularly in its experienced infield. Cheney, an all-conference first-teamer at shortstop who had an 18-game errorless streak last season, already has three errors, as do Dulkis and Provost.

Sophomore Kristie Hawkins got 10 starts for the Bears and made inroads at first base, where she will likely be sharing time with DH Amy Kuhl.

Maine will open America East play April 2 at Binghamton and come home for the first time April 9 when the Bears host Hartford.

“It’s just a matter of time before we put everything together,” Dulkis said. “The talent’s there. It’s just a matter of putting it all together. I know we’ll do it. We’re going to work our best this week to iron out the kinks.”