Black Bears rally to avoid series sweep Albany’s victories in Saturday doubleheader hurt Maine’s playoff chances

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ORONO – It was rainy and cold. The field was wet. And the University of Maine softball team was in what seemed like a deep hole against a dominating Albany squad.

Considering the weather and field issues alone, it might not have been out of the question for the umpires and UMaine officials to call off Sunday’s America East conference game.

But there was never any indication of that – in fact, during the fifth inning the umpire asked that the grounds crew work on the field between the fifth and sixth innings – which turned out to be a good thing for the Black Bears.

Maine rallied from a seven-run deficit in the late innings, including a three-run bottom of the seventh, as the Black Bears earned an 8-7 victory and avoided a series sweep.

The Bears dropped Saturday’s doubleheader to Albany 5-0 and 4-3.

Maine’s playoff future is in doubt now after going 1-2 against the Great Danes (26-14, 9-8 in America East) but the Bears (22-25, 7-10) savored Sunday’s comeback against the defending conference tournament champs.

“We had our backs against the wall so this is a big win for us,” said Maine sophomore Ashley Waters, who had the game-tying double Sunday. “In the last inning we were like, let’s do it for our seniors, and we stepped up.”

In Sunday’s game, the Black Bears chipped away at the Danes’ 7-0 lead until Maine went into the bottom of the seventh just two runs behind Albany.

“For the first time in a long time we were able to scrape some runs when we were down and come back slowly but surely,” Maine head coach Stacey Sullivan said. “We were in a great situation there in the seventh.”

The comeback happened fairly quickly and with good timing as the Bears only had to get their No. 9 hitter aboard before reaching the top of the order. It helped, as Albany coach Chris Cannata conceded, that Great Danes ace Casey Halloran, who had given up two home runs in the fourth, was starting to wear out.

Maine pinch-hitter Stephanie George drew a leadoff walk after which Halloran was replaced by Albany freshman Leah McIntosh who then allowed another walk to senior Tara Vilardo. After a Maine strikeout, Waters rapped a double to deep center field to plate both senior pinch-runner Alexis Pullen and Vilardo, tying the game.

Waters advanced to third on a passed ball while Maine’s Kristie Hawkins was at the plate. Then, with a full count, McIntosh fired a pitch high over the head of both Hawkins and catcher Kat Smith, allowing Waters to scramble home for the winning run.

“I had no idea it went over [Smith’s] head. I was going to first because I thought it was a walk. But I heard everyone going nuts and I knew [Waters] had scored,” said Hawkins, a senior from Portland.

Waters and Kristen Calvetti each hit solo homers in the fourth – it was Calvetti’s second of the weekend – while Vilardo and Hawkins each had an RBI single in the fifth.

Halloran fanned 10 but also walked three.

“She said her arm was getting a little stiff,” Cannata said. “We went to a freshman, which probably wasn’t the best decision. We thought we were going to get a little more out of her.”

Maine’s Jenna Balent picked up the win. She allowed four runs in the fourth inning but settled down from there and didn’t give up any more runs.

The game started 1 hour, 8 minutes late because of the weather and field conditions. The grounds crew came out every few innings to put down more Turface, a brand of a crushed clay material that absorbs moisture quickly.

In addition to their seniors, the Black Bears also honored Northeast Harbor’s Alan Joseph, the father of senior right fielder Kate Joseph. He spearheaded recent additions to Kessock Field including an expanded grandstand, more bleachers and a permanent press box. Alan Joseph threw out the first pitch.

In Saturday’s second game, Maine also tried to rally in the seventh but fell short.

Alexis Souhlaris got the rally started with a single, followed by a stolen base. After advancing to third on an error, she scored on a Waters triple. Calvetti then hit her third homer of the season but McIntosh struck out the final two batters.

The Bears’ defense had a letdown with four errors. Losing pitcher Christine McGivney gave up just one earned run.

McIntosh had a no-hitter going until Souhlaris’ single. The pitcher struck out nine and walked one. Halloran came on for the save but did give up the homer.

In Saturday’s first game, Halloran dominated the Bears, striking out 10 and allowing just three hits. Vilardo singled twice.

The Danes scored a run in the first and tacked on four more in the fifth.

BLACK BEARS 8, GREAT DANES 7

(Sunday’s Game)

Albany (26-14) Maine (22-25)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Maisonet, lf 3 1 2 2 Vilardo, lf 3 2 1

Kothe, cf 2 0 0 0 Souhlaris, cf 3 1 0

Connors, 2b 3 1 1 2 Waters, 2b 4 2 4

Ogden, 3b 4 1 1 0 Hawkins, 1b 3 0 1

Butsch, ss 3 0 1 1 Calvetti, ss 3 1 1

Gremillion, ph 1 0 0 0 Spangler, dh 2 0

Tillman, 1b 4 0 0 0 Foltz, c 1 0 0

Powell, dh 2 1 1 0 Soule, c 2 0 0

Smith, c 3 1 2 0 Joseph, rf 3 1 0

Pais, pr 0 1 0 0 Corssino, 3b 1 0 0

Van Deest, rf 2 1 1 1 Iandoli, ph 1 0

George, ph 0 0 0 0

Pullen, pr 0 1 0 0

Totals 27 7 9 6 Totals 26 8 7 7

Albany 021 400 0 – 7

Maine 000 230 3 – 8

E-Butsch; Hawkins; LOB-Albany 5, Maine 3; 2B-Maisonet, Butsch, Van Deest; Waters; HR-Connors (8); Waters (3), Calvetti (4); DP-Waters-Calvetti; S-Kothe, Connors, Van Deest; SB-Vilardo

Albany IP H R ER BB SO

Halloran 6 6 6 3 3 10

McIntosh (L, 8-5) 1/3 1 2 2 1 1

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Ghazali 3 5 3 2 2 0

Balent (W, 8-11) 4 4 4 0 1 2

Halloran faced one batter in 7th

WP-McIntosh; PB-Smith; Foltz; T-2:15; ATT-106

GREAT DANES 5, BLACK BEARS 0

(Saturday’s First Game)

Albany Maine

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Maisonet, lf 4 1 1 1 Vilardo, lf 3 0 0

Kothe, cf 3 0 1 1 Spangler, dh 3 0 0

Connors, 2b 3 0 1 1 Waters, 2b 3 0 0

Ogden, 3b 3 0 0 1 Hawkins, 1b 2 0 0

Butsch, ss 3 1 1 0 Souhlaris, cf 3 0 0

Tillman, 1b 2 0 2 0 Calvetti, ss 3 0 0

Pais, pr 0 1 0 0 Joseph, rf 3 0 0

Powell, dh 3 1 0 0 Foltz, c 3 0 0

Smith, c 3 1 1 0 Corssino, 3b 1 0 0

Van Deest, rf 1 0 0 0 Iandoli, 3b 0 0

Gremillion, ph 1 0 0 0

Pechacek, rf 1 0 0 0

Totals 27 5 7 4 Totals 24 0 3 0

Albany 010 040 0 – 5

Maine 000 000 0 – 0

E-Butsch; Waters; LOB-Albany 5, Maine 5; 2B-Butsch; DP-Corssino-Hawkins; SF-Ogden; SB-Kothe, Tillman; Vilardo, Souhlaris

Albany IP H R ER BB SO

Halloran (W, 14-8) 7 3 0 0 2 10

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Ghazali (L, 8-4) 5 7 5 4 0 2

Balent 2 0 0 0 3 1

T-1:59; ATT-154

GREAT DANES 4, BLACK BEARS 3

(Saturday’s Second Game)

Albany Maine

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Maisonet, lf 4 2 1 0 Vilardo, lf 3 0 0

Kothe, cf 3 0 1 0 Souhlaris, cf 3 1 0

Connors, 2b 4 1 1 0 Waters, 2b 3 1 1

Ogden, 3b 3 1 2 2 Hawkins, 1b 2 0 0

Butsch, ss 2 0 1 1 Calvetti, ss 3 1 2

Tillman, 1b 3 0 1 0 Joseph, rf 3 0 0

Powell, dh 3 0 1 0 Soule, c 2 0 0

Smith, c 3 0 0 0 Iandoli, ph 1 0 0

Pais, pr 0 0 0 0 Spangler, dh 1 0 0

Van Deest, rf 2 0 1 0 Corssino, 3b 1 0

Pechacek, rf 1 0 0 0 Gingrich, 3b 1 0 0

Totals 28 4 9 3 Totals 23 3 3 3

Albany 100 210 0 – 4

Maine 000 000 3 – 3

E-Tillman, Pais; Calvetti, Corssino 3; LOB-Albany 5, Maine 1; 2B-Maisonet; 3B-Ogden; Waters; HR-Calvetti (3); SB-Maisonet 2, Connors, Ogden; Souhlaris

Albany IP H R ER BB SO

McIntosh (W, 8-4) 6 2 2 2 1 9

Halloran (S, 2) 1 1 1 1 0 2

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

McGivney (L, 6-10) 7 9 4 1 2 3

McIntosh faced two batters in 7th

HBP-Spangler by McIntosh; PB-Soule; T-1:58; ATT-154