BANGOR, Maine - The University of Maine at Farmington softball team found themselves down 3-0 after the opening half inning of the ballgame, quickly regained the lead with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the 1st, but could not hold the lead, dropping the first round battle with Thomas College, 8-6.
Layla Pickering reached base to lead off the game on a throwing error by Beavers shortstop
Abby Wrinn (Wolcott, Conn.) to start the rally for the Terriers. Leah Knight followed with an infield single and Maddie Rock delivered a two-run double to the gap in left center. The next batter was Megan Oberholzer who kept the line moving with an RBI double of her own to stake the Terriers to the early 3-0 lead. After a passed ball put Oberholzer on 3rd with still nobody away, first-year starting pitcher
Mack Bergen (Winnipeg, Manitoba) settled in, striking out the next tw batters she faced and induced a groundout to end the threat.
Farmington battle back, responding with four quick runs of their own. Wrinn,
Jojo Daigneault (Canton, Conn.), and
Maddie Pike (Kennebunk, Maine) hit three consecutive singles top open the inning and push across the Beavers first run of the game.
Christa Allen (Harrison, Maine) followed with a walk to load the bases for
Grace Pratt (Rockland, Maine). Pratt came through with a single of her own, scoring Daigneault and Pike to tie the game up at three before an out was recorded.
Bella Miller (Lewiston, Maine) and
Olivia Paradis (Saco, Maine) each followed with fielder's choices that the Terriers recorded outs at the plate to keep the game tied. A wild pitch with two outs allowed the 4th run of the inning to score as the Beavers grabbed their first lead of the game.
After a scoreless 2nd inning, the Terriers knotted the game up in the 3rd. Knight led off with a single and was quickly chased home on an RBI double from Rock. Bergen stranded Rock and 2nd base, striking out two more Terriers and getting a ground out to escape the jam.
Thomas regained the lead in the top of the 4th when Brooklyn Federico hit a one-out triple to center field and scored on an RBI groundout off the bat of Abby Farone.
The Beavers threatened in the bottom half of the 4th as Paradis led off with a single and advanced to 2nd on an error, giving Farmington a runner in scoring position with nobody out. But three straight groundouts to shortstop thwarted the Beavers' opportunity to tie the game.
Carleigh Schievink (Charlestown, Mass.) took over in the circle for Bergen to open the 5th. Knight was the first batter she faced and was able to reach on an error to instantly put traffic on the bases. Knight moved over to 2nd on a ground out and later scored on an RBI single from Oberholzer, extending the Thomas lead to 6-4.
Daigneault, looking to get Farmington right back in the game, led off the bottom of the 5th with a single up the middle. Daigneault moved over to 2nd on a passed ball and came in to score on an RBI knock from Allen to make it a 6-5 ballgame.
After a scoreless 6th, the Terriers clung to a one-run lead entering the 7th. Pickering ripped a single to center field to open the inning. Knight followed looking to drop down a SAC bunt, but her speed down the line allowed her to reach base safely. Pickering didn't stop running and hustled all the way to 3rd on the bunt. The return throw to 3rd allowed Knight to move over the 2nd and gave the Terriers two in scoring position with nobody out. Rock followed with an RBI groundout and Knight scored later on an error as Thomas extended their lead to 8-5.
Pike pulled the Beavers back within a pair, blasting a two-out solo home run to straight away left in the bottom of the 7th. Allen followed with an infield single to bring the tying run to the plate. Oberholzer calmed her nerves and was able to get Pratt to ground out to 3rd to end the game and send Thomas into a second round matchup with SUNY Poly.
The Beavers will have to come out of the losers bracket and face the loser of Husson and SUNY Morrisville tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM.
