UMaine softball hosts America East tourney starting Wednesday

The last-place University of Maine softball team has one last opportunity to salvage its season this week, when it plays host to the annual America East conference tournament.

The Black Bears have a 1-20 conference record (4-39 overall) so far this season, but automatically qualified for the tournament alongside the other five America East softball teams in No. 1 Albany, No. 2 Binghamton, No. 3 Bryant, No. 4 Maryland-Baltimore County and No. 5 UMass-Lowell.

UMaine notched its only America East win on April 7 versus Bryant (14-7 in-Conference, 32-15 overall), who it will play in the first round at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

UMaine beat Bryant 5-1, but also lost 10-2 and 7-1 to the Bulldogs.

The Black Bears have ideas of duplicating their surprising 2023 tournament run — they entered as the No. 6 seed with a 4-15 conference record and 13-37 record overall — in which they lost their first game but rallied to win three straight and finish in third place.

The Black Bears hope playing at their home field — built two seasons ago with funding from the Harold Alfond Foundation — will provide them with a much-needed boost.

“Typically we have a tough traveling schedule during the season, so we’re lucky to sleep in our own beds and have our routine,” fifth-year captain Cat Fallon said. “Hopefully it’ll help us settle in and make that same run that we did last year [at UMBC].”

The four-day tournament is formatted as a double elimination competition with first-round byes for Albany (14-6, 30-12 overall) and Binghamton (14-6, 32-16 overall). UMass-Lowell plays UMBC in the tourney opener at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

If UMaine beats Bryant on Wednesday afternoon, its next game will be against Binghamton at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. If UMaine loses, it will play for its tournament life against the loser of UMBC and UMass-Lowell at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.