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ORONO – No words were needed to convey what University of Maine softball coach Stacey Sullivan thought of Tuesday afternoon’s 1-0 victory over Colby College of Waterville at Kessock Field.
The way she crumpled the sheet of paper with the boxscore on it into a tight ball pretty much said it all.
“At this point, it’s just good to be back home on our own field,” said Sullivan, whose Black Bears are 6-34. “I’m not too concerned about who the opponent is. As far as the outcome, it was what it was.”
And it was an NCAA Division I scholarship program – averaging 3.3 runs and 6.6 hits per game – squeaking out a 1-0 win with five hits over a Div. III, nonscholarship team.
“It’s about making good adjustments and we didn’t make very good adjustments today,” Sullivan said. “I think we were trying to do too much and hit with too much power, and that will get you every time.”
Luckily, UMaine sophomore starting pitcher Alexis Souhlaris was more than up to the challenge as she flirted with a perfect game for 4 2/3 innings en route to a one-hit shutout.
“Everything was feeling pretty good,” Souhlaris said. “I struck out a lot of girls on the riseball. My curveball hit its spots, my screwball hit its spots, I threw a couple drops, and my changeup was iffy, but it worked here and there.”
Souhlaris struck out 12 batters, walked one, and allowed just two baserunners – one of whom got as far as second base.
Ironically, Colby hitters were doing what Sullivan wanted hers to do, and vice-versa.
“We were taking too many pitches. We don’t face pitching like that. She’s pretty quick, so I told them to get up there and take three good rips,” said Dick Bailey, coach of the 6-11 White Mules. “She throws very well. Course, I’m a Division III coach, but I think she’s pretty damn good. If she wants to transfer to Colby, I’ll take her.”
Souhlaris threw 65 of 100 pitches for strikes.
“That was my fault, more or less,” Souhlaris said of the number of pitches (46) and full counts (three) she had in the first three innings. “I really didn’t start getting control until the middle of the game when I was warmed up.
“I definitely threw a better mix of pitches against them than I have been. I wanted to keep them guessing.”
Colby’s lone threat came in the fifth with two outs as Amanda Roehn singled to right and Barbara Santos followed with a walk, but Souhlaris ended it with a come-backer groundout to the mound.
Maine scored its run in the first as Souhlaris led off with a single to left, stole second, and then scored on Whitney Spangler’s single to right center. Kristen Calvetti led off the sixth with a single and went to third on Ashley Waters’ double to the left-field corner, but both were stranded as Colby starter Brittany Tasi escaped with a groundout to the mound, a strikeout and an infield flyout.
“My little lefthander isn’t the quickest, but her motion and having it come from a different side make a difference,” Bailey said. “She spins the ball well and hits her spots.”
aneff@bangordailynews.net
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BLACK BEARS 1, WHITE MULES 0
Colby (6-11) Maine (6-34)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Lepore, 1b 3 0 0 0 Souhlaris, p 3 1 0
Gillespie, ss 3 0 0 0 Spangler, 2b 2 1
Minichino, 3b 3 0 0 0 Calvetti, ss 1 0
Essman, rf 3 0 0 0 Waters, ss/2b 3 0 0
Puskar, 2b 3 0 0 0 Hall, 3b 3 0 0
Roehn, dh 2 0 1 0 McLain, lf-ph 2 0 0
Santos, lf 1 0 0 0 Hodgson, lf 1 0 0
Poulin, c 2 0 0 0 Burnham, cf 3 0 0
Whitfield, cf 1 0 0 0 Gingrich, 1b 1 0
Cheever, ph 1 0 0 0 Allen, 1b 0 0 0
George, c 2 0 1 0
Iandoli, rf 2 0 0 0
Totals 22 0 1 0 Totals 23 1 5 1
Colby 000 000 0 – 0
Maine 100 000 x – 1
LOB-Colby 2; Maine 5; 2B-Waters; SB-Souhlaris (11)
Colby IP H R ER BB SO
Tasi (L,2-3) 6 5 1 1 1 3
Maine IP H R ER BB SO
Souhlaris (W,2-9) 7 1 0 0 1 14
T-1:10; ATT-74
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