KENTS HILL – University of Maine at Farmington sophomore Emily Soule fanned a career high 12 batters to lead the Beavers to a 9-2 win over Lyndon State, in game one of the teams’ North Atlantic Conference softball doubleheader Monday at Kents Hill School.
Lyndon State’s bats came alive in the second game, and the Hornets salvaged the split with a 14-3 victory over the Beavers.
UMaine-Farmington improved to 8-6 overall, 6-4 in the NAC, with the two wins, and remained in fourth place in the conference standings with four league games left on its schedule. Lyndon State is now 5-17, 4-6 in conference play.
Soule struck out at least one Lyndon batter in six out of seven innings pitched and struck out the side in the Hornet fourth, on her way to a complete game victory that improved her record to 5-2.
After the Hornets took the lead with a single run in the first on Mindy Carl’s RBI single, the Beavers vaulted into the lead in the second on home runs by sophomore Meryl Bond and senior Jillian Withee.
Each team posted a run in the third and UMaine-Farmington tacked on two runs in the fourth to extend its lead to 6-2. The Beavers put the game away in the fifth with three more runs, including two runs plated on Withee’s one-out single.
Withee went 2-for-3 with four RBI and one run scored, while Shelby Bryant, Amy Jones, Kennadi Grover, and Bond all had two hits.
Lyndon State starter Katie Davis allowed nine earned runs on 12 hits on her way to the loss.
In game two, Lyndon State put up two runs in the second inning on home runs by Carl and Brooke Dolloff, and enjoyed a five-run uprising in the third to take a 7-0 lead through three innings. The Hornets eventually extended their lead to 9-0 before Farmington managed to get on the scoreboard.
Lyndon plated its five runs in the third on five hits, keyed by Davis’ three-run triple.
Shelby Sheridan homered for the Hornets in the fourth inning, and Dolloff belted her second round-tripper of the game, a two-run shot to straightaway center, as part of a five-run Lyndon sixth.
UMaine-Farmington got two runs back in the fifth on a sac fly by Bryant and an RBI triple by Natasha DeRoche, and scored once in the sixth when Bond plated Jones on a single.
Davis allowed eight hits in the circle for Lyndon State, but struck out six Beavers on her way to the win. Jillian Emery went 4-for-4 for the Hornets in game two, while Sheridan, Carl, and Davis all had three hits.
Freshman Courtney Fowler got tagged with the loss for UMaine-Farmington after allowing 10 earned runs. Jones went 3-for-3 at the plate for the Beavers.
Bond’s single in game two combined with her two hits in the first game allowed her to extend her consecutive games hitting streak to 10 games.
UMaine-Farmington continues NAC play on Tuesday, April 22, when it hosts Husson University. Game one of the twinbill is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. at Prescott Field. Lyndon State will have Tuesday off before facing New England College on Wednesday, April 23.
