FARMINGTON, ME

Owls Softball continues their great season with a big time sweep of the UMaine Farmington Beavers, a team that swept the Owls with relative ease a year ago, proving just how far this UMPI team has come. Good defense combined with great pitching and clutch-time hitting gave the Owls two more huge conference wins.

Game 1: 3-1 Owls

Game one flew by due to some great pitching from the Owls' Gracelyn Walsh and the Beavers' Emma DeBoer. Neither team scored or even threatened through the first three full innings until the Owls got some traffic on base thanks to a single and a walk, followed by a fielder's choice moving runners to the corners with one out. Abby Doughty came through with SAC fly in foul territory, scoring Zoe Stewart and putting the Owls on the board 1-0.

The Owls went away quietly in the 5^th, but Walsh continued to deal and keep the Beavers off the board. In the 6^th, UMPI grabbed some insurance, loading the bases after a leadoff double from Hailey Saylor. Keira Greene beat out an infield hit, then an RBI groundout from Megan Buchholz put UMPI on top 3-0.

That was all the run support Walsh needed, as she would run into some trouble in the bottom of the 7^th, but now had three runs to work with. Farmington added one but couldn't get more across, as the Owls hung on for a 3-1 victory.

Top Performers:

Hailey Saylor was great from the leadoff spot, going 2-4 with a double and a run scored. Gracelyn Walsh also had a double and a 1-1 day, including two walks and a run scored. Keira Greene, Abby Doughty, and Megan Buchholz all had an RBI, for the Owls. UMPI was lighter hitting in the game with just five hits but showed great situational hitting, and productive outs as they truly manufactured their way to a win. Gracelyn Walsh in the circle pitched the Owls to another win as well, bouncing back from her rocky start at Augusta the day before. She went all seven innings, allowing just four hits and no earned runs on two strikeouts. The Owls' defense was also huge behind her, committing just one error.

Game 2: 4-2 Owls

The Owls drew first blood early in game two, unlike game one that took a while to get off the ground. An RBI double from Keira Greene made it 1-0 in the top of the 1^st. Farmington got it back in their half of the 2^nd however, and tied things up at one. But the very next frame, the Owls came through with their biggest inning of the day. Briana Perez led off the frame with a single, followed by Hailey Saylor doing the same thing. Gracelyn Walsh came up with one out and launched a big-time three-run homer to make it 4-1. That was then all the support Madison Boynton would need, as she tossed a gem, not allowing another run until the 7^th, but with the added insurance she had some breathing room. The Owls picked up another two-run victory, and swept Farmington for their first time since 2021.

Top Performers:

Several players had multiple this in this one, none more important than Gracelyn Walsh who knocked the game-winning three run home run. She went 2-4 with a run scored. Hailey Saylor went 2-3 with two runs scored, Keira Greene, 2-4 with a double and an RBI. And Briana Perez did a great job from the nine spot, going 2-3 with a run.

Up Next:

The Owls improve to 12-13 on the year and 6-2 in conference, and will head to New York for their final road trip of the regular season when they take on SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Delhi this weekend. Those games have been bumped up to Friday and Saturday due to inclement weather in New York.