UMPI softball team splits 4 games
The Owl softball team improved to 3-5 after sweeping a doubleheader Monday, winning 4-1 and 6-0 over the Knights of Southern Virginia in games played in Buena Vista, Va.
In the first game, UMPI showed some two-out perseverance in the third inning by scoring the first run of the day with on a Shannon Brown double that plated Amanda Allen.
The Owls tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth, a rally which began with a leadoff walk from senior Dani Smith and some creative small ball from the Owl lineup, UMPI loaded the bases without the ball leaving the infield before Carly Bell singled in a run, with Nicole Marucci also touching home on a Knights’ throwing error. Jessica Campbell then scored on a passed ball to give the Owls a 4-0 lead.
Pitcher Sara Packard gave up eight hits while earning the complete game win for the Owls. She was able to squash a potential big fourth inning for the Knights by stopping the momentum after allowing two singles and an RBI double to the middle of the Southern Virginia lineup. They would strand two runners on after Packard used her drop ball to induce a pair of ground ball outs.
She cruised the rest of the way, giving up only two more hits to Southern Virginia the rest of the way.
The trio of Brown, Packard and Smith combined to score all six runs and all three registered hits to lead the Owls to a 6-0 win in game two. Marucci, Campbell and Katie Patenaude also added hits and Patenaude drove in a run.
Senior Whitney Donovan picked up her sixth career win for the Owls, giving up only five hits in her five innings of work, before Packard came on for the two-inning save. Donovan and Packard also added RBIs to the Owl offensive attack.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle women were swept by St. Joseph’s College of Brooklyn in a Sunday afternoon doubleheader.
The Owls lost game one, 6-5, despite coming out of the gates by smacking the ball all over the field. They collected five hits, including doubles from Katie Patenaude, Sara Packard and Jessica Campbell, to take a 5-1 lead that would hold until the late innings.
Freshman mound ace Packard was effectively wild early in the game, cruising with the four-run lead until the bottom of the sixth inning when she allowed three consecutive doubles that plated two runs for the Bears.
Senior catcher Dani Smith would help stop the momentum of the Bears by gunning down a pinch runner at third base for the first out. Packard would throw quality pitches down in the zone to secure the final two outs via the ground ball and ended the rally with the Owls still on top, 5-3.
In the bottom of the seventh, Packard gave up a game-tying double to designated hitter Jackie Perillo after allowing a walk and a single.
With one out, the Bears’ Destiny Marino singled into right field to score Perillo for the walk-off win.
In the second game, the Owls again struck first, capitalizing on a double into the left center gap by Packard and an RBI single from third basemen Nicole Marucci to make it 1-0 in the second inning, but the Owls could not hold down the Bears, who scored four times in the bottom of the frame.
The Owls’ Whitney Donovan would take over the pitching duties from Packard and allowed 10 hits and five earned runs in her five innings of work.
Amanda Allen and Patenaude had RBI singles for the Owls.
In the doubleheader, Smith and Campbell collected three hits each, while Packard went 2 for 6 with three runs and two RBI. Donovan and Patenaude each had two hits and an RBI.
