Owls finally at home
After 27 straight road games, the University of Maine-Presque Isle softball team could have considered it a mini-victory on Saturday just to be playing a home game. Buoyed by being in front of the home crowd at Presque Isle High School, the Owls swept a doubleheader from Fisher College of Lynn, Mass., 8-0 and 4-1.
The Owls improved to 7-22 overall and finished the season with a 3-2 record against their former Sunrise Conference foes. UMPI finishes up its schedule with three more home games this weekend. Eastern Maine Community College will be in the Star City on Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Then on Sunday, EMCC will stick around to play the Owls at noon before heading back downstate.
In game one, after holding the Falcons scoreless in the top of the first, the Owls jumped out to a lead in the bottom of the inning. Ashley Laking led off with a bunt single and after stealing second and advancing to third on a ground out, scored on a Megan Hannigan RBI double.
UMPI added to its lead in the third. With one out, Kellie Peers reached on an error. After a strikeout, Peers put herself in scoring position by stealing second. Krista Coffin then grounded a single through the hole on the left side. Peers rounded third and made a nice slide at home to get in under the tag of the catcher and give the Owls a 2-0 advantage.
After playing a relatively clean game through the first four innings, the Falcons defense let them down in the final two frames. Seven Fisher miscues allowed Presque Isle to score six runs and end the game after six.
Laking was 3 for 4 in the game with three runs scored and two stolen bases.
Cochran spearheaded a solid UMPI defensive effort at first base, making some great stretches and scoops to save would-be errors and keep the Falcons from ever threatening the Owls’ lead.
Meanwhile, Coffin was lights out on the mound in game one. Playing on the same field she roamed while at Presque Isle High School, Coffin looked right at home by tossing a complete game one-hit shutout. She struck out a season-high nine Falcon batters.
In the nightcap, Coffin was again dominant on the mound. Seeming to get stronger as the afternoon wore on, the junior hurler struck out five of the first seven Falcon batters she faced. Roughly two hours after setting a season-high with nine strikeouts in game one, Coffin blew a called third strike past Ashalya Burrell in the seventh inning to give her 10 strikeouts in game two.
The only run Fisher could muster against the dominant righty was on an RBI groundout in the sixth after the Owls had built a 3-0 lead.
UMPI quickly pushed the advantage back to three runs in the bottom of the sixth. This time it was Coffin getting the job at the plate, drilling her second double of the game to lead off. Two batters later, a mishandled bunt off the bat of Cochran allowed her to reach first and for Randi Kaplan, who had come in to pinch run for Coffin, to score from second.
Coffin then pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to complete the sweep and earn her third pitching victory of the season against 12 losses. She gave up three hits and walked one in seven innings.
Laking and Coffin had two hits apiece to lead the Owls’ offense.
On the baseball diamond over the weekend, the Owls hosted Newbury College in Bangor Saturday and Sunday for a pair of a doubleheaders.
The first games went to UMPI by identical scores of 4-3.
In game one, Dylan Worster improved his individual pitching record to 3-2 by going 6-2/3 innings and allowing seven hits and a walk while striking out seven batters. Jordan Perry came on to retire the final two batters in the seventh to earn the save.
Offensively, the first three batters in the Owl lineup combined to go 6 for 11, with Justin Bergeron, Jordan Duffy and Carlos Villoria each collecting two hits. Logan McLaughlin also had two hits for the winners.
The second game saw UMPI score a run in the bottom of the eighth to break a tie. Bergeron knocked in the winning run with a single, his third hit of the game. Villoria also had three hits for the winners. Five pitchers combined on the pitching duties for the Owls, combining to allow just one hit.
Newbury bounced back on Sunday, winning 8-3 and 6-2. The Owls fell to 12-22. The team played at UM-Orono Tuesday and hosts doubleheaders against EMCC Saturday and Sunday.
