UMPI shut out in Classic
The University of Maine at Presque Isle softball team opened its season at the 2011 Fast Pitch Dreams Spring Classic in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. March 5. The Lady Owls dropped both games of a double-header, 5-0 and 12-0, to the Spartans of York College in Pennsylvania.
In the first game of the day, UMPI was led by sophomore Lainey Herring, who finished 2 for 3 at the plate and had the only hits for the Owls. Freshman Krista Coffin took the loss on the mound, allowing five runs on six hits, striking out two and walking two.
York College scored two runs in the third, one in the fourth, and two more in the fifth to bring them to the shutout victory.
The Lady Owls battled to a 12-0 loss in the second game of the doubleheader, a game that lasted only five innings. UMPI was paced offensively by junior Desiree Smith and sophomore Kellie Peers, who each provided a single. Coffin took the pitching loss, allowing 10 runs on 12 hits, while striking out one and walking three batters.
York moved to 7-1 on the season, thanks mostly by exploding for seven runs in the second inning.
“We played a solid first game against a very competitive and talented team,” commented UMPI coach Terry Cummings. “The second game got away from us, but I am confident once we get our bats going, we will win some games down here.”
The Owls have been practicing in Wieden Gymnasium on the UMPI campus since January, but this was their first time on an outside diamond.
UMPI registered an 11-1 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology of Boston March 6. Behind Coffin, who struck out nine and gave up just two hits in her five innings of work, the Owls cruised by scoring six times in the third inning and adding four more runs in the sixth.
Juniors Cassie Green and Kathleen Higgins had two hits each, with Green scoring two runs and Higgins driving in a pair. Peers added an RBI double.
UMPI had two other games scheduled later that day rained out.
On March 7, UMPI notched another win over Wentworth, this one by a 7-4 score. Emily Moore handled the pitching duties and tossed a complete-game four-hitter. Smith’s two hits led UMPI’s offense.
The Owls lost to Penn State University of Altoona, 5-2, and then to Milligan College of Tennessee, 10-1, in their other two games that day.
The team concluded its spring trip by winning one of three games last Tuesday. The Lady Owls dropped the first game of the day against Penn State Altoona, 14-6, before splitting a doubleheader against Penn State Beaver. The opener resulted in a 9-1 loss, but the Owls came back for a 6-5 extra inning victory in the second game.
In the win, the Owls were down 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh before staging a rally to force extra innings. With Kathleen Higgins on third base in the bottom of the eighth, Kellie Peers ripped a single to plate the winning run and complete the Owl comeback.
Moore earned her second pitching win of the season, going the distance.
“It was a very successful trip,” Cummings said. “Being able to head back north with a 3-6 record is a great start to our 2011 season.”
The Owls are next scheduled to take on Maine Maritime Academy in a doubleheader at the University of Maine’s dome stadium March 19 beginning at 11 a.m.
