Black Bears hope weather doesn’t derail key series with Albany

The weather forecast isn’t promising, but the University of Maine softball team is hoping neither rain nor Albany’s monster offense keeps the Black Bears from gaining some ground in the America East race as the Great Danes are scheduled for a three-game series at Kessock Field this weekend.

It’s the biggest conference series of the year so far for Maine, and it’s a meeting of the top two teams in the conference.

Albany (23-9, 9-1 in America East) sits atop the conference standings, followed by the Black Bears (12-18, 6-2).

“We’re facing the best team in the conference, so we need to be ready to go,” Maine interim head coach Michelle Puls said before practice Thursday.

If the rain holds off, the teams will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at noon and a single game Sunday at 11 a.m.

So what makes the Great Danes so dangerous? They’re leading the league in team batting average (.327) while their pitchers have a combined earned-run average of 2.17, fourth-best in America East.

Although Maine’s offense hasn’t really come around yet, the Bears do have four regular position players batting better than .300 in conference play.

“We have a couple of kids who are hitting great overall but haven’t had a hit in conference,” Puls said. “It’s just getting patience, and maybe this is the weekend we break out. We’ve been getting more consistent as far as our top five hitters. Our lower half has been getting on [base].”

While Albany’s pitching has been strong, Maine’s has been that much better. The Bears’ 1.87 team ERA is second-best in the league and Maine had a strong effort in last weekend’s three-game series against Vermont. The Black Bear pitchers didn’t allow a walk and gave up just one earned run.

Based on Albany’s results so far this year, Puls said the Danes seem to hit off-speed pitchers well and are a bit less effective against fastball pitchers. That means Maine could start junior Sarah Bennis, who is among the league’s strikeout leaders, in Saturday’s opener and again in Sunday’s game.

Jenna Merchant has been starting the nightcap of Saturday doubleheaders this year, and the Bears have come back Sunday with Candace Jaegge, who throws a lot of off-speed pitches.

“The one thing that’s been there all year long is our pitching staff,” Puls said. “[Assistant coach Kristy Goodrich] has done a great job.”

Puls has also stressed another issue this weekend – the Great Danes likely will be looking for revenge after losing to Maine 1-0 in the first round of last year’s America East tourney in Orono.

“They’re going to come in with a little revenge on their mind,” she said. “It was a game on paper they should have won. So we can’t take them lightly and we have to be prepared.”

The decision about whether to play the weekend series will be made sometime Friday before the Albany team leaves for Maine.

The Black Bears also have rescheduled a doubleheader against Boston University that was postponed because of weather. Maine will play a doubleheader at BU on Wednesday, April 27, and then a single game the next day.

The following day the Bears will be at the University of Maryland Baltimore County for a doubleheader, followed by a single game Saturday, April 30.

UMaine’s Pullen to transfer

UMaine athletics spokesman Brent Williamson has confirmed that Vandy Pullen, a freshman on the women’s basketball team, is planning to transfer.

Pullen, a 5-foot-10 guard from Arlington, Va., appeared in only six games last season for the Black Bears. She scored four points and grabbed five rebounds.

Pullen had been touted as a defensive specialist by former UMaine coach Sharon Versyp.