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BANGOR – The game seemed to last about as long as it took one of Husson College’s home runs to clear the outfield fence in Wednesday afternoon’s North Atlantic Conference quarterfinal softball playoff game.
The top-seeded Eagles put it all together Wednesday with offense (11 hits, three homers), defense (no errors and one unassisted double play), and pitching (seven-hit shutout by Tammie Arsenault) as they eliminated No. 8 Maine Maritime Academy 8-0 at O’Keefe Complex.
“You can slice it any way you want, but I think the better team won today,” said MMA coach Katrina Dagan. “They made plays, they hit the ball and they won.”
The win means the 29-10 Eagles (18-3 NAC) will host the rest of the conference tourney starting Friday. Husson will start things off by hosting No. 4 University of Maine-Farmington at 10 a.m.
The Eagles got off the ground quickly by scoring once in the first inning on a hit batter, a Carolyn McAvoy single, and a wild pitch.
Jenika Kelley made it 2-0 in the second with one swing of the bat as she mashed a 1-2 pitch from Amanda Barker down the line for a 200-foot home run.
McAvoy did the same thing to a 3-1 pitch for a 210-foot solo shot in the third.
“We were very excited about the way the wind was blowing out,” McAvoy said. “I think as we got the bat on the ball early, that really helped get us going.”
The Eagles broke it wide open in the fourth, courtesy of another big blast. This time it was leadoff hitter Dottie Cameron, who ripped a 1-1 fastball 210 feet to dead center for a three-run homer. The Eagles added two more via an error, a single and two steals (one of home) by Cassie Berry, and a passed ball.
Arsenault was efficient as she routinely got ahead of hitters and allowed only one baserunner as far as third.
“It was all working pretty well for me,” Arsenault said. “The wind was giving me more spin, so that helped. I think my drop ball was my best pitch.”
Arsenault had four strikeouts and one walk.
“She did a great job of going inside-outside and that’s kind of hard for our kids to handle,” Dagan said. “Plus she was hitting her first strike every time and when we didn’t jump on that, we were getting behind.”
The Mariners, who wind up their season 8-18, had at least one baserunner on in each inning, but the only true threats they mounted came in the second and fifth.
“She maintains composure whether the bases are loaded, one runner’s on, or nobody’s on,” said Husson coach Amanda Davey. “We kept a lot of her pitches low and away so if their batters did get on, they were going to have to reach for it and put it in the infield.”
The strategy paid off, thanks to an inning-ending strikeout in the second, a popout to the mound in the fourth, and an unassisted double play by Berry in the fifth.
“Our first two batters would be outs most innings, so when we did get two on, we couldn’t bunt them around,” Dagan said. “We just didn’t have any room for error.”
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EAGLES 8, MARINERS 0 (5 inn.)
Maine Maritime (8-18) Husson (29-10)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Russell, cf 3 0 1 0 Cameron, rf 3 1 3
Barker, p 3 0 1 0 Adams, c 3 1 0
Poland, lf 3 0 2 0 Berry, 2b 2 2 0
Stanley, 2b 3 0 0 0 McAvoy, ss 2 1 1
Seamans, 1b 2 0 0 0 Bell, dh 3 0 0
Hunt, ss 2 0 0 0 Richard, pr 0 0 0
Arris, c 1 0 1 0 Rollins, 3b 3 0 0
Richard, dh 2 0 2 0 Kelley, lf 2 1 1
Ross, 3b 0 0 0 0 Bradstreet, cf 3 1 0
Rheaume, rf 2 0 0 0 Pietras, 1b 2 1 0
Totals 21 0 7 0 Totals 23 8 11 5
Maine Maritime Academy 000 00 – 0
Husson 111 5x – 8
E-Barler, Stanley; LOB-MMA 6; Husson 7; HR-Cameron, McAvoy, Kelley; DP-Husson 1; S-Pietras, Bradstreet; SB-Arris, Richard; Berry, Bradstreet 2
Maine Maritime IP H R ER BB SO
Barker (L) 4 11 8 7 2 5
Husson IP H R ER BB SO
Arsenault (W) 5 7 0 0 1 4
HBP-Berry by Barker; WP-Barker 2; Arsenault; PB-Adams; Arris; T-1:18; ATT-200 (est.)
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