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ORONO – Instead of kicking off the America East postseason tournament with a win in front of a home crowd, the University of Maine softball team struggled in all aspects of the game against Boston University Thursday.
The top-seeded Black Bears managed just one hit against BU’s Cassidi Hardy while allowing 12 and committing four errors in a 11-1 win for the No. 1 Terriers at a raw, rainy Kessock Field.
The game ended in six innings due to the 8-run rule, the first time Maine has lost a mercy-rule contest.
The loss puts the host Bears, who won the America East regular-season title, in the losers’ bracket. The Black Bears will face No. 3 University of Maryland Baltimore County today at 1:30 p.m.
No. 2 Albany beat UMBC 8-0 in Thursday’s first game and will face BU at 11 a.m.
Should Maine beat the Retrievers, the Bears will face the loser of the Albany-BU game at 4 p.m. Friday.
Winning the tournament is still in within reach, said Maine coach Stacey Sullivan.
“This gives us a lot to think about and a reason to step it up tomorrow,” she added.
“Our goals haven’t shifted. We want to win this tournament and we’ll be ready to play tomorrow.”
The 11 runs allowed were the most Maine has given up all year.
Hardy struck out 10 and walked four in the 1-hitter. It was a similar performance to her 3-hit, 8-strikeout game against Maine on April 26, but the Bears were able to rally for a 6-4 win that day.
Maine scored the game’s first run in the third inning Thursday, but this time it was BU that pulled off the rally. The Terriers rebounded with a run after a rain delay in the fourth, then piled on four runs in the fifth and six more in the sixth.
BU earned their win by taking advantage of Maine’s errors, showing patience at the plate, and by way of a little luck. Josey Mendez, for example, hit a single that hugged the right-field line in the sixth and eventually scored on two Maine errors.
“Everything went right for them today,” Sullivan said. “Their pitching, their hitting, some of the little hits in the infield … the odds were just with them today.”
Liz Alley led BU with three RBIs on a one-run double and her eighth home run of the year, a two-run, 200-yard shot that hit the foul pole in left field in the sixth inning.
“[In the April 26 game] we left quite a few people on base,” BU coach Shawn Rychcik said. “Today we were lucky enough to get a few in. Maine probably didn’t play the type of game they wanted. They threw the ball around a little bit and we put some pressure on them, running and making them make some plays.”
Maine starter Jenna Balent had trouble gripping the ball in the fourth inning and the game went to a 25-minute rain delay with runners on second and third, and BU batter Brooke Hudson facing a 3-1 count.
After the delay, Hudson walked to load the bases. Balent hit the next batter, Shayne Lotito, for the tying run.
Balent walked five and struck out seven. Two of her four runs were earned.
“You can’t be perfect every day, I guess,” she said. “It was just an off-day for everybody.”
Dana Grimm put Maine on the board without a hit. She led off the third with a walk, advanced on a stolen base and a flyout and scored on a wild pitch. Grimm also had a leadoff walk in the fifth and made it to second on a Tara Vilardo sacrifice bunt, but Hardy struck out two Maine batters looking.
Maine’s Kristie Hawkins hit a two-out single in the fourth.
In Thursday’s first game, America East Pitcher of the Year Casey Halloran tossed a no-hitter with seven strikeouts and one walk. It was the tournament’s first no-hitter since 2002.
Maegan Larsen hit a solo home run in the fourth. Ali Meacham hit a two-run single.
UMBC (45-19) 000 00 – 0 0 2
Albany (34-10-1) 300 5x – 8 8 0
Nicholson, Sadowl (4) and Griffth; Halloran and Meacham
TERRIERS 11, BLACK BEARS 1
BU (27-27) Maine (35-18)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Lotito, cf 3 1 1 2 Provost, rf 3 0 0
Benson, dh 5 1 1 0 Waters, 2b 2 0 0
Leath, c 5 0 3 2 Cheney, ss 3 0 0
Shields, 2b 5 2 3 0 McKinney, lf 3 0 0
Alley, 1b 4 1 2 3 Kuhl, dh 2 0 0
Militz, pr 0 1 0 0 Ramos, ph 1 0 0
Mendez, rf 2 1 1 0 Hawkins, 1b 1 0 0
Popravak, pr 0 1 0 0 Foltz, c 2 0 0
Dubay, ss 3 1 1 0 Soule, c 0 0 0
Gallagher, lf 1 2 0 0 Grimm, cf 0 0
Hudson, 3b 1 2 0 0 Vilardo, 3b 1 0 0
Totals 31 11 12 7 Totals 18 1 1 0
BU 000 146 – 11
Maine 001 000 – 1
E-Waters 2, Vilardo, Bennis; LOB-BU 11, Maine 4; 2B-Leath, Shields, Alley; HR-Alley (9); S-Dubay, Gallagher; Vilardo; SB-Shields 2; Grimm
BU IP H R ER BB SO
Hardy (W, 16-10) 6 1 1 1 4 10
Maine IP H R ER BB SO
Balent (L, 14-11) 4 1/3 7 4 2 5 7
Bennis 1 2/3 5 7 2 0 2
HBP-Lotito by Balent, Bennis; WP-Hardy; Balent, Bennis; T-2:53; ATT-322
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