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University of Maine at Farmington

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SB 5/10/24 vs. Thomas
5
Me.-Farmington UMF 19-11
6
Winner Thomas (ME) THO 10-22
Me.-Farmington UMF
19-11
5
Final
6
Thomas (ME) THO
10-22
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Me.-Farmington UMF 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 5 8 0
Thomas (ME) THO 0 0 2 0 2 1 1 6 11 3

W: M. Oberholze (5-4) L: Benoit, Rita (4-2)

Game Recap: Softball |

Beavers Bow out of NAC Tournament with Loss to Thomas

BANGOR, Maine - The University of Maine at Farmington softball team's magical 2024 season came to a disappointing end on Friday afternoon, falling in their 2nd game of the day, 6-5 at the hands of Thomas College.

A day after the Beavers fell to Thomas in the opening round of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) tournament, Farmington was unable to avenge the loss and fell to the Terriers for the second time in two days.

The Beavers took an early lead, scoring two in the top of the first inning on a two-run home run blasted off the bat of Christa Allen (Harrison, Maine).

Farmington added to their lead in the top of the 2nd. Bella Miller (Lewiston, Maine) reached base on catcher's interference and was quickly chased home on a long double to the right center field gap from Jessica Dow (Saco, Maine), extending the Beaver lead to 3-0.

Jojo Daigneault (Canton, Conn.) led off the top of the 3rd with an infield single and Maddie Pike (Kennebunk, Maine) followed by reaching base via a hit by pitch to give the Beavers runners of 1st and 2nd. After Allen hit into a fielder's choice that forced out Pike, Grace Pratt (Rockland, Maine) single to right to plate Daigneault and extend the Beaver lead to 4-0 through two and a half innings.

Beaver starting pitcher Melissa Mayo (Bridgton, Maine) cruised through the first two innings but found herself in trouble with the bottom of the Terrier lineup in the bottom of the 3rd. Brooklyn Federico walked to lead off the inning and Abby Farone followed with a bunt single to put runners on 1st and 2nd with the top of the order coming up. Mayo settled in, getting Layla Pickering to fly out and Leah Knight to ground out to record the first two outs of the inning. Just as Mayo looked to be out of the inning, Maddie Rock delivered a clutch two run single to right center, making it a 4-2 game after three innings.

Things remained scoreless until the bottom of the 5th. Federico doubled to lead off the innings and later scored on an RBI triple from Pickering. After Mayo struck out Knight to record the 2nd out of the inning, Rock delivered another two-out knock, singling up the middle to score Pickering and tie the game up at four.

The Beavers loaded the bases in the top of the 6th but did not score as the game stayed tied at four.

Thomas broke the tie game in the bottom of the 6th on a Kayla Duhaime solo home run over the wall in left field. 

Down to their final three outs, the Beavers rallied in the top of the 7th to tie the game up at five. Pike led off the inning with a single and Allen followed with a swinging bunt that was mishandled by the first baseman that allowed Allen to reach safely and Pike to move over to 3rd. Pratt followed with an infield SAC fly to tie the game up at five.

Rita Benoit (Hallowell, Maine), who had taken over in the circle for Mayo, found herself in trouble right away in the bottom half of the 7th. Knight and Rock each single back-to-back and moved over the 2nd and 3rd on the throw-in from the outfield to put the winning run at 3rd base. Benoit struckout Megan Oberholzer with an offspeed pitch up in the zone for the 1st out. The next batter was Jennie Whitten who hit a comebacker right to Benoit, who fielded the ball and threw our Knight at home trying to score the winning run for the 2nd out of the inning. Rock moved over to 3rd on the play. Emily Rock was the next batter. On the second pitch of the at-bat, she hit a ball hard on the ground back up the middle that Benoit could only get a glove on and squirted towards first base allowing Maddie Rock to score the game winning run.

The loss for the Beavers signals the end of their 2024 season. The Beavers finished the season with a 19-11 record, the first playoff appearance since 2018, and the first playoff victory since 2011.
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