University of Maine at Presque Isle

BANGOR, ME

UMPI Softball continued their amazing season at the North Atlantic Conference Tournament hosted by Husson University in Bangor. The 6^th seeded Owls took on #3 SUNY Cobleskill in the first round, pulling off an upset in extra innings, before falling just barely short against #2 Thomas College in the second round. UMPI will now compete in the loser's bracket on Friday morning.

Game 1: 5-2 Owls

The Owls drew first blood against SUNY Cobleskill – a team they were swept by in the regular season. UMPI scored one in the 1^st inning on a Kiera Greene sac fly, manufacturing a run. Cobleskill got it back, however, in the bottom of the second, tying it at one. The Fighting Tigers came back with another run in the 4^th, breaking the tie and making it 2-1 as the epic pitcher's dual was on.

With at bats running out, the Owls were able to tie it in the 6^th inning on a solo home run from their player of the year candidate Gracelyn Walsh. Neither team scored in the 7^th, setting the stage for extra inning drama. Both teams went down in order in the 8^th, before UMPI finally chased Cobleskill's starter Madelynn Orosz, when Sam Lawton relieved her in the top of the 9^th.

Gracelyn Walsh came through in the clutch once again, doubling to center field to lead off the inning. After a Keira Greene ground out moved Walsh over, it was another senior's turn to come through. Megan Buchholz doubled down the right field line, scoring Walsh with ease and putting UMPI on top. Abby Doughty singled the next batter, scoring Buchholz from third after she moved up on a passed ball. The Owls played textbook small ball again, as Doughty stole second, then moved to third on a groundout from Michaela Carney. Doughty then scored on a wild pitch, grabbing a 5-2 UMPI lead.

In the last of the 9^th, Cobleskill threatened, but Gracelyn Walsh was able to work out of the jam, and didn't allow any runs, giving UMPI a huge victory in round one.

Top Performers:

Gracelyn Walsh put the team on her back on both sides of the ball. She pitched the complete game in the circle for UMPI, tossing all nine innings, allowing seven hits, and only one earned run on three strikeouts. She hurled 129 pitches in the outing. The Owls' defense stood tall, making just one error and getting outs for their starter all game long. Walsh was fantastic as usual in the box, extending her hitting streak to 28 games, while going 3-4 at the plate with a home run and a double. Hailey Saylor was the only other Owls with multiple hits, going 2-4 with a run scored, while Megan Buchholz and Abby Doughty each had an RBI hit. Keira Greene had the other RBI for UMPI.

Game 2: 10-8 Terriers

Game two was just as exhausting as game one, but the Owls unfortunately did not come out on the better end of it this time. Both offenses came out hot, scoring three times in the first inning, with RBI hits from Zoe Stewart and Abby Doughty at the forefront of the Owls' top half of the 1^st. UMPI kept the foot on the gas, scoring another in the 2^nd on a Megan Buchholz single, before scoring three more in the 3^rd, thanks to a monster three-run home run by Zoe Stewart as another UMPI senior rose to the occasion.

The Owls had a 7-3 lead, but started to run out of gas. Hailey Saylor left after three and a third innings pitched in the circle, giving way to Madison Boynton in the 4^th. Thomas got three runs back, making it a 7-6 ball game. UMPI scored in the top of the 5^th, to make it 8-6, but Thomas took advantage of an error in their half of the 5^th, to score three more runs and take a 9-8 lead. They'd add one more in the 6^th for insurance purposes, and UMPI's offense didn't have enough left in the tank to mount a comeback. Thomas took the game 10-8.

Top Performers:

Gracelyn Walsh made it 29 games hitting safely, and her 8^th three-hit game of the season – 20^th multi hit game in total. She went 3-4 again, with an RBI and a double. Zoe Stewart was awesome right before her in the order, going 2-4 with four RBI thanks to a three run home run and an RBI double as well. Hailey Saylor – another senior – went 2-5 with a double. Sabrina Kauffman went 2-3, while Abby Doughty went 2-3 with two RBI.

Next Up:

UMPI enters the loser's bracket after winning their first game but dropping their second. They will take on #5 SUNY Delhi at 11am on Friday morning. The Owls split with Delhi in their regular season doubleheader, winning the first game 18-0, but losing the second game 8-0. With a win over Delhi, they would play the winner of #3 Cobleskill and #4 Farmington at 3pm, and if they win that contest, they would then play a third game on Friday at 5pm, taking on the loser of #1 Husson and #2 Thomas.