ORONO – When Brooke Clyde made her second plate appearance for the Towson Tigers on Sunday afternoon, she did so with the modest goals befitting a former softball slugger who hadn’t hit a home run in 49 games this season.

“I was just trying to get a hit,” Clyde said. You’re just looking for anything when you’re in a slump, you know?”

Especially when the bases are loaded. And your team’s losing by a run.

Clyde socked six homers as a sophomore but entered a weekend doubleheader against the University of Maine with a .255 average and no long balls.

No taters. No dingers. No jacks. Nothing of the sort.

That ended when she hit a wind-defying bullet into a 25-mph breeze and over the left-field fence. That second-inning grand slam helped propel the Tigers to a 6-3 win over the Bears. Towson won Sunday’s second game 5-0 and split a Saturday doubleheader, winning 3-1 and losing 8-3.

“It was a laser,” Towson coach Lisa Costello said of Clyde’s first homer of 2001.

Towson, which entered the weekend four games out of the fourth and final America East tourney slot, improved to 28-23, 11-12-1 in league play. The Black Bears dropped to 10-38, 5-17 and were officially knocked out of playoff contention.

The Black Bears broke through early against Towson starter Beth Miller in Sunday’s opener, turning four singles, a walk and a Towson error into three first-inning runs.

The Bears wouldn’t score again for the rest of the day.

“I would say we outright did not play well at all,” Maine coach Deb Smith said. “We didn’t look sharp defensively. We didn’t do anything offensively. The other games I could say we were close. But we outright got beat today.”

In Sunday’s second game, Towson junior Julie Hughes (who earned a save in the first game) came back to spin a masterful one-hitter.

The hard-throwing Hughes kept the Bears off-balance all game long: Only three balls were hit out of the infield in the contest. She walked five and struck out seven, but the Bears stranded nine baserunners, including six in scoring position

Hughes, who improved to 7-4, said the weekend (she also pitched two scoreless innings in Saturday’s loss) provided a breakthrough effort for her.

“I’ve been struggling a bit lately, and I felt that today everything came together,” Hughes said.

UMaine’s Sobel said Hughes’ quirky delivery made it difficult to see the ball coming off her hand.

“Yesterday when she came in she fooled us [too],” Sobel said. “We just couldn’t time her.”

On Saturday, the Black Bears dropped a 3-1 decision in the opener before beating up the Tigers 8-3 in the second game.

In the first game, Clyde rapped a double and a single to pace the Towson attack and Beth Miller spun a three-hitter, striking out four and walking none. Maine got singles from Sobel, Lauren Dulkis and Katherine Churchill.

In Saturday’s second game, UMaine scored two runs in the first and blew the game open with a four-run third. Sobel collected a double and two singles and drove in two runs while Leigh Ann Hlywak drove in two more with her two doubles. Karen Sherwood doubled and singled.

(Saturday’First Game)

Towson 000 021 0 – 3 8 2

Maine 100 000 0 – 1 3 1

Miller and Cappelli; Green and Bain

(Saturday’s Second Game)

Towson 001 002 0 – 3 4 1

Maine 204 200 x – 8 10 4

O’Hara, Wilcox (3), Hughes (6) and Cappelli; Green, Yuhas (2) and Stevens

Tigers 6, Black Bears 3

(Sunday’s First Game)

Towson Maine

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Pollock, ss 3 1 1 1 Asadoorian, 2b 4 0 0

Cappe, cf 4 0 1 0 Dulkis, cf 2 1 0

Clyde, 3b 4 1 2 4 Sobel, ss 4 0 0

Smith, 1b 3 0 0 0 Stevens, rf 4 1 0

Navarro, 2b 4 1 1 0 Hlywak, 3b 3 1 1

O’Hara, rf 3 1 1 0 Churchill, 1b 3 0 0

Cappelli, c 3 0 0 0 Sherwood, dh 3 0 1

Moore, dh 2 1 1 0 Bain, c 2 0 1 1

Wilson, lf 2 1 0 1 a-Layman 1 0 0

Mather, lf 3 0 0 0

Totals 28 6 7 6 Totals 29 3 8 3

a-singled for Bain in sixth

Towson 060 000 0 ? 6

Maine 300 000 0 ? 3

E?Navarro; Sobel 2; LOB?Towson 5, Maine 7; 2B?Moore; HR?Clyde 1; S?Smith, Wilson;

Towson IP H R ER BB SO

Miller (W, 11-5) 6 8 3 1 1 3

Hughes (S, 1) 1 0 0 0 1 2

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Green 7 7 6 6 2 2

T?1:45

Tigers 5, Black Bears 0

(Sunday’s Second Game)

Towson (28-23) Maine (10-38)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Pollock, ss 4 1 2 1 Asadoorian, 2b 4 0 0

Cappe, cf 4 1 1 0 Dulkis, cf 2 0 0

O’Hara, rf 4 0 1 2 Sobel, ss 2 0 0

Clyde, 3b 3 0 1 1 Stevens, c 2 0 0

Navarro, 2b 3 0 0 0 Hlywak, 3b 3 0 0

Cappelli, c 2 0 0 0 Churchill, 3b 3 0 0

Smith, 1b 3 1 1 0 Sherwood, dh 3 0 0

Hughes, p 3 0 0 0 Mather, lf 3 0 0

Wilson, lf 3 2 1 0 Layman, rf 2 0 0

Totals 29 5 7 4 Totals 24 0 1 0

Towson 003 020 0 ? 5

Maine 000 000 0 ? 0

E?Pollock, Navarro, Hughes; Sobel, Hlywak 2; LOB?Towson 4, Maine 9; 2B?O’Hara, Clyde; DP?Yuhas-Sobel-Churchill; S?Cappelli; SB?Pollock, Cappe

Towson IP H R ER BB SO

Hughes (W, 7-4) 7 1 0 0 5 7

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Yuhas (L, 3-15) 7 7 5 4 0 2

HBP?Dulkis by Hughes; WP?Hughes 2;;

T?2:00; ATT?125

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