PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The University of Maine at Presque Isle softball team is getting ready to participate in the first-ever American Collegiate Athletic Association conference tournament to be played Saturday, May 6.
UMPI, with a 21-11 overall record, is the No. 2 seed and faces SUNY-Canton in the opening round. That game will be played at 10 a.m. on the campus of SUNY-Canton in Canton, New York.
UMPI wrapped up its regular season Saturday and Sunday against the Fisher College Falcons in the team’s only four home games of the season played at Presque Isle High School. The Owls won two of the four contests as they swept Saturday’s games and were beaten in both ends of the Sunday doubleheader.
Summaries of the four games follow:
Game 1 – UMPI 12, Fisher College 10 — After spotting Fisher a two-run lead in the top of the first inning, the home team sent 12 batters to the plate and plated seven runs. Ayana Walker, a freshman from Columbus, Georgia, blasted a two-run home run over the left field fence as part of the outburst.
Fisher got to within a run with its four-run rally in the top of the third, but the Owls responded with two more runs, scored by Brianna Losee, a junior from Pittsfield, and Ariel Williams, a freshman from Frisco, Texas.
The Falcons grabbed the advantage in the top of the fourth as Corrie Edstrom’s two-run homer keyed the four-run outburst, but Williams ripped a two-run double in the bottom of the inning and a wild pitch led to an insurance run for the Owls.
Jordi Legassie, a sophomore from Presque Isle, and Sara Packard, a junior from St. Albans, joined Williams and Walker with multiple-hit games for UMPI. Packard struck out 10 batters and walked two to collect the pitching win
Game 2 – UMPI 8, Fisher 4 — Nicole Marucci, a junior from Naples, tripled in a run in the first inning, singled and scored in the third and added a hit later in the contest to power UMPI to the game two win.
Williams drove in a run with a single in the third and another on a fifth-inning double. Jackie Peers doubled and scored a run, while Legassie added two hits.
Game 3 – Fisher 8, UMPI 7 (8 innings) — Darien Lavino drove in the winning run in the top of the eighth inning as Fisher came from behind for the victory in Sunday’s opening game.
The Owls led the potential tying run on third base in the bottom of the inning. Williams went 3 for 5 and Losee had two hits and three RBI. Packard went 2 for 3 and scored twice while driving in a run.
Game 4 – Fisher 12, UMPI 11 — UMPI led by four runs entering the sixth inning but could not hold on as Fisher collected the sweep.
Legassie went 3 for 4, including a pair of doubles, and scored three times in the loss. Losee also went 3 for 4 and knocked in a pair of runs. Alexis Levesque, a sophomore from Madawaska, and Packard each added two hits, while Levesque also had two RBI.
