Bears set team record for wins UMaine focus is on capturing league crown

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ORONO – The Binghamton softball team couldn’t have been any more excited to get the final out in Sunday’s 1-0 win over the University of Maine.

Still, the Black Bears got the best of the Bearcats in the three-game series, sweeping a doubleheader Saturday, picking up their sixth America East conference series win, and earning a historic victory in the second game of the doubleheader.

Maine won Saturday’s first game 1-0 and rallied for a 5-3 win in the second game, breaking the school record for wins in a season. The 1994 team logged 32 wins while this year’s squad is now 33-16 with five regular-season games left.

“Obviously we’re very happy to reach that plateau,” said first-year coach Stacey Sullivan. “It says something about the caliber of the team we have this year. … But with all the talk about it, it’s nice to get it out of the way and focus on winning the conference.”

The Black Bears lead the conference with a 14-4 record. Last-place Binghamton goes to 12-30 (5-13).

The loss snapped Maine’s seven-game win streak. It was also the Bears’ first loss at Kessock Field this year.

“When you win that many times people are shocked when you lose,” Sullivan said. “I told the girls that we’re going to learn a lot more than if we had won. This is a good reality check and that’s what we need.”

In Sunday’s game, Jenna Balent had her second stellar pitching performance of the weekend, but Maine’s offense didn’t back her up.

“We were kind of disappointed but that happens,” said Maine’s Molly McKinney, who drove in two runs in Saturday’s nightcap but went 0-for-3 Sunday. “You have to come out ready to play and we didn’t.”

One day after striking out nine in a two-hit shutout, Balent racked up 11 strikeouts, scattered four hits and gave up one unearned run. But the Bears managed only two hits, both two-out doubles, as Binghamton pitcher Kate Hansen countered Balent with six strikeouts.

“We’ve really been struggling with outside pitches lately,” McKinney said. “We’ve got to be able to adjust but we didn’t, and that’s what happened in this game.”

“Seeing them yesterday, she knew what worked,” Binghamton coach Holly Brown said. “She stuck with that and then threw them off a little bit.”

Hansen set down 14 Maine batters in a row. She allowed a Brittany Cheney double in the first, a one-out walk to pinch hitter Meagan Ramos in the sixth, and a double to Amy Kuhl in the bottom of the seventh.

The Bears nearly got something going after Kuhl’s double, but Kristie Hawkins grounded out in a close play at first to end the game.

“If people don’t get on base there’s not a whole lot we can do,” Sullivan said. “That’s been our downfall this season; we’re getting great pitching performances but we’re not putting runs across the plate.”

Balent struck out the side in the sixth, but two Maine errors and Rose Barre’s second single of the game helped Binghamton score its only run.

With one out, Emelie Palmcrantz reached on a fielding error by Maine first baseman Hawkins. Pinch runner Michelle Robb of Cumberland moved to second on Barre’s single, and came around to score when Nicole Vitello hit a ground ball that went through the legs of Maine shortstop Cheney.

“We played well yesterday, so it was nice to get a good win, play well defensively, get a run on the board,” Brown said.

In Saturday’s first game, the Bears looked less-than-inspired offensively but managed to scratch out the only run they would need in the fifth inning.

Beth Foltz started the inning by reaching first on a Binghamton throwing error, and then went to second on a passed ball. Dana Grimm singled her over to third, and Tara Vilardo squeezed Foltz home with an infield single.

Kuhl hit a double for the only extra-base hit of the game.

Balent fired nine strikeouts and didn’t give up a walk en route to her 13th win. She retired 10 straight at one point, fanning six in that span. Outside pitches worked well for her this weekend, too.

“The umpire was giving me the outside corner so I was just going with what was working,” she said. “[Binghamton] had trouble with it.”

In Saturday’s second game, Binghamton’s Meghan Quinn slammed a three-run homer over the 220-foot mark in center field to provide a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth.

But Maine chipped away, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth. In the fifth, McKinney hit an RBI double to drive in Cheney for the eventual game-winning run.

“When we get down lately we have this mentality to attack,” McKinney said. “We’re the comeback kids, I guess.”

Cheney singled to score Erin Provost earlier in the inning, tying it at 3-3, and Kuhl hit a single to plate McKinney for the insurance run.

UMaine pitcher Sarah Bennis struggled at times with four walks but picked up her 18th win of the season.

BLACK BEARS 1, BEARCATS 0

(Saturday’s First Game)

Binghamton Maine

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Palmcrantz, 1b 3 0 0 0 Provost, rf 3 0

Glezen, cf 3 0 0 0 Waters, 2b 3 0 0

Barre, ss 3 0 1 0 Cheney, ss 3 0 0

Vitello, 2b 3 0 0 0 McKinney, lf 3 0 0

Meadows, lf 3 0 1 0 Kuhl, dh 3 0 0

Bieman, dh 3 0 0 0 Joseph, pr 0 0 0

Quijano, c 3 0 0 0 Hawkins, 1b 2 0 0

Dorrell, pr 0 0 0 0 Foltz, c 1 1 0

Quinn, 3b 2 0 0 0 Grimm, cf 2 0 0

Whitaker, ph 1 0 0 0 Vilardo, 3b 2 0 1

Verusio, rf 2 0 0 0

Totals 26 0 2 0 Totals 22 1 5 1

Binghamton 000 000 0 – 0

Maine 000 010 x – 1

E-Barre, Vitello, Verusio; Vilardo 2, Hawkins; LOB-Binghamton 5, Maine 4; 2B-Kuhl; DP-Glezen-Quijano; S-Foltz; SB-Barre; Grimm

Binghamton IP H R ER BB SO

Hansen (L,7-15) 6 5 1 1 0 2

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Balent (W,13-9) 7 2 0 0 0 9

WP-Hansen; Balent; T-1:17

BLACK BEARS 5, BEARCATS 3

(Saturday’s Second Game)

Binghamton Maine

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Glezen, cf 3 0 0 0 Provost, rf 3 1 0

Palmcrantz, 1b 2 0 0 0 Waters, 2b 3 0

Barre, ss 3 0 1 0 Cheney, ss 3 2 1

Vitello, 2b 2 0 1 0 McKinney, lf 3 2 2

Meadows, lf 3 0 1 0 Kuhl, 1b 3 0 1

Bieman, c 2 1 0 0 Ramos, pr 0 0 0

Quijano, c 1 0 0 0 Hawkins, dh 1 0 0

Hansen, p 1 0 0 0 Belmonte, pr 0 0 0

Whitaker, p 2 1 0 0 Soule, c 2 0 1

Quinn, 3b 3 1 1 3 Grimm, cf 3 0 0

Verusio, rf 3 0 0 0 Vilardo, 3b 1 0 0

Gingrich, 3b 2 0 0 0

Totals 25 3 4 3 Totals 24 5 7 5

Binghamton 000 300 0 – 3

Maine 000 230 x – 5

LOB-Binghamton 5, Maine 4; 3B-Cheney; HR-Quinn (1); S-Soule

Binghamton IP H R ER BB SO

Whitaker 4 3 2 2 1 1

Hansen (L,7-16) 2 4 3 3 0 0

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Bennis (W,18-6) 7 4 3 3 4 4

HBP-Hawkins (by Whitaker); WP-Whitaker; Bennis; T-1:23; ATT-313

BEARCATS 1, BLACK BEARS 0

(Sunday’s Game)

Binghamton (12-30) Maine (33-16)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Glezen, cf 3 0 0 0 Provost, rf 3 0 0

Palmcrantz, 1b 3 0 0 0 Waters, 2b 3 0

Robb, pr 0 1 0 0 Cheney, ss 3 0 0

Barre, ss 3 0 2 0 McKinney, lf 3 0 0

Vitello, 2b 3 0 0 0 Kuhl, dh 3 0 0

Meadows, lf 2 0 0 0 Vilardo, pr 0 0 0

Woodcock, lf 1 0 0 0 Hawkins, 1b 3 0 0

Bieman, dh 3 0 0 0 Gingrich, 3b 2 0 0

Quijano, c 3 0 2 0 Foltz, c 2 0 0

Dorrell, pr 0 0 0 0 Grimm, cf-pr 1 0 0

Quinn, 3b 2 0 0 0 Ramos, ph 0 0 0

Verusio, rf 2 0 0 0

Whitaker, rf 1 0 0 0

Totals 26 1 4 1 Totals 23 0 2 0

Binghamton 000 001 0 – 1

Maine 000 000 0 – 0

E-Cheney, Hawkins, Gingrich; LOB-Binghamton 6, Maine 3; 2B-Barre, Quijano; Cheney, Kuhl; S-Glezen, Quinn

Binghamton IP H R ER BB SO

Hansen, (W,8-16) 7 2 0 0 1 6

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Balent (L,13-10) 7 4 1 0 0 11

T-1:29; ATT-336