Ghazaleh Sailors pitched a six-hit complete game against Valley Forge Christian College Thursday evening in Phoenixville, Pa. to lead the University of Maine at Presque Isle to a 13-1 baseball victory. With the five-inning stint, Sailors made history by becoming one of the very few women to start and record a pitching victory in NCAA play.
Shortened to five innings because of darkness, the Owls took the lead in the first inning by scoring two runs on a Justin Bergeron lead-off hit, an error and a Cam Morrell RBI double.
Valley Forge answered in the bottom half of the first with an RBI double of their own by James Comenzo, but Sailors worked out of a jam and left the bases loaded to end the threat.
The Owls extended their lead in the second with RBIs from Shane Smith, Adam Begos and Alex Csiernik. The Owls offense would add another run in the fourth and pour on six more in the fifth to build an 11-1 advantage.
The Patriots, however, were shut down after the first, as Sailors scattered six hits throughout the game, giving up just the one earned run while striking out eight and walking just one batter.
Begos finished the night with 5 RBIs, going two for four with a double. Bergeron and Csiernik each collected two hits, while Smith scored four runs for UMPI, who collected their only win of last week’s southern swing.
Also during the trip, the team lost single games to Swarthmore, Centenary and Scranton and was beaten in doubleheaders by Elms College and Mitchell College. The Owls fell to 1-16 on the season and next play Friday at Southern Maine Community College, with doubleheaders to follow Saturday and Sunday against Fisher College in Massachusetts.
The UMPI softball team began its spring trip with 10 consecutive losses, but ended on a strong note by sweeping doubleheaders against Trinity in Washington D.C. Thursday and Friday.
The Owls (4-12 overall) topped Trinity by scores of 2-0 and 11-2 in the first twinbill and then recorded 6-1 and 11-0 triumphs the following day.
In the first two victories, senior pitcher Krista Coffin fanned 23 batters in 13 innings of work, while allowing a total of just three hits. Offensively, Coffin and junior Whitney Donovan each had doubles and an RBI to lead the way in game one. Taylor Cochran, Shannon Brown and Kathryn Patenaude drove in two runs each, with Cochran and Brown notching three hits each, as UMPI prevailed in the nightcap.
On Friday, Brown drilled a three-run homer and Donovan chipped in with an RBI single and was the team’s lone repeat hitter in the first contest. Katlyn Dow did the pitching and surrendered just three hits while striking out six batters. The Owls closed out their trip by scoring all 11 of their runs in the first inning in the rout. Amanda Allen had two hits, scored twice and drove in three to spearhead the attack. Donovan pitched a three-hitter with six strikeouts in five innings of work.
UMPI next plays a doubleheader Friday at UM-Farmington. Doubleheaders are planned Saturday at SMCC and Sunday at the University of Southern Maine.
