UMaine softball team comes back to defeat Bryant in extra innings

The University of Maine softball team did the seemingly impossible in its first America East tournament game on Wednesday, coming back to beat Bryant 9-7 in Orono.

The No. 6 Black Bears entered Wednesday’s game with a 4-39 overall record and just one conference victory — which happened to be against No. 3 Bryant (32-15) on April 7.

Down 3-0 in the sixth inning with two outs, two strikes and two runners on, fifth-year pitcher Cat Fallon altered the course of UMaine’s season with one swing of her bat, slugging a homer to dead center and blowing the lid off the UMaine softball complex.

“I had popped up twice earlier in the game, so I was trying to hit something hard on the ground,” Fallon said. “I did not accomplish that goal, but the alternative was even better.”

Fallon and company continued their rally in the seventh with the help of some approaching rain clouds, parlaying a double, four singles and a Bryant error to make it 7-3 Black Bears.

Freshman pinch-hitter Kyli Hernandez started the seventh-inning outburst with a two-strike RBI single to score junior Kyrah Haba-Dailey (2-for-3, two doubles, one walk) and crossed the plate herself on a Gabby Papushka (1-for-3, two walks) bunt single two batters later.

But the inclement weather was equally unfair to Fallon (seven innings, seven earned runs, one strikeout) as it was to Bryant’s pitchers, as she conceded four Bryant runs in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extras knotted at 7-7.

“I was definitely struggling with my control,” Fallon said. “I pitched in the rain earlier in the year, but it was coming down harder [today]. Things went downhill, but it ended up working out. Coach [Fitzpatrick] had faith in me.”

The Black Bears finally broke away in the eighth, as senior Anna Margetis put the ball in play with the bases loaded, scoring one on a fielder’s choice and another on Bryant’s second error of the game.

UMaine fifth-year Isabelle True came in to relieve Fallon in the bottom of the frame, stranding two runners and punching the Black Bears’ ticket to day two of the America East tournament.

“Isabelle was there to lock it down. It was awesome for everyone to have a part in today’s win,” Fallon said. “Our season hasn’t been a fairy tale — we’re a young team and it’s been tough on all fronts — [so] I think day two is such an awesome achievement for all of us.”

In last year’s America East tournament at UMBC, the last-place Black Bears lost their first game of the double-elimination contest, but proceeded to win three in a row and finish in third place.

This time around, they head into day two well-rested, without a loss, and with their home fans in their ears.

“Playoffs are a different animal. We came into today with a lot of energy, with a lot of fight,” UMaine head coach Jordan Fitzpatrick said. “There was such an energy from the crowd. You could just tell they were invested in today, whether it was raining or when it was sunny at the beginning of the game.”

The Black Bears will square off with No. 2 Binghamton (32-16) in Orono at 1:30 p.m. They previously lost to the Bearcats three times in a row in mid-April.