HARTFORD, Conn. – Brian Donahue went the distance, scattered eight hits and allowed one run as Amherst College downed Bowdoin College 4-1 in NESCAC Baseball Championship Saturday afternoon.

The Lord Jeffs advanced to the championship game Sunday against Williams College.

Bowdoin was eliminated from the tournament when Williams handed the Polar Bears a 9-3 setback in their second game.

Bowdoin’s Ricky Leclerc went the distance in Game 1 while Mark Bulger took the loss in Game 2, going six innings before giving way to Travis Dube in the seventh.

USM drops pair

GORHAM – Eastern Connecticut State swept a doubleheader, 6-3 and 14-7, from the Southern Maine to capture the Little East Conference regular-season title Saturday.

In Game 1, the Huskies (27-11-1) took a 3-1 lead into the top of the ninth, but the Warriors (31-9) rallied for five runs to pull out the win. Tip Fairchild, who had 10 strikeouts and allowed nine hits, two walks and three earned runs through eight and two thirds innings, gave up back-to-back home runs to Dwight Wildman and Leon Galemba to lead off the ninth frame. Fairchild suffered his first loss of the season.

In Game 2, the Warriors broke open a back-and-forth contest with six runs in the fifth. The Huskies had rallied from a 5-0 deficit after two and one half innings with a combined six runs in the home half of the third and fouth. Freshman Joe Ganley led the Huskies’ offense with three singles.

Maine drops pair

ORONO – The fourth inning in each game of a doubleheader was not kind to Maine as the Black Bears dropped a pair, 6-2 and 4-1, to Stony Brook.

The Black Bears (25-18) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and held on until the fourth, when Stony Brook responded with four to take the lead for good.

In Game 2, the Black Bears matched Stony Brook run for run in the second inning, before the visitors snapped up a pair in the fourth.

Greg Creek, who had three hits in Game 1, led Maine’s offense in the nightcap with a pair and scored the lone run in the loss.

Softball
Maine sweeps Hartford

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Maine clinched the final spot in the 2004 America East softball tournament Saturday as they swept Hartford 6-2 and 4-0.

Hartford jumped out to a quick two-run lead in the first inning, but Maine tookthe lead for good in the fourth when Erin Provost led off the inning with a double and scored on an RBI single by Jessica Brady. The Black Bears (24-20) padded the lead in the seventh inning with three more runs.

Jenna Merchant settled down after the first, throwing six scorless innings to register the win.

The nightcap saw Maine pitcher Sarah Bennis throw a two-hitter with seven strikeouts. Bennis retired the first 10 batters she faced, sending the Hawks down in order every inning but the fourth and seventh.

Southern Maine splits

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Melissa Henderson tossed a two-hitter and Kristen Tong stroked a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the University of Southern Maine to a 1-0 win over the Coast Guard Academy in the opener, but Smith College pinned a 3-2 setback on the Huskies in the nightcap of the four-team double elimination ECAC Tournament.

The Huskies will face the Coast Guard Academy in an elimination game Sunday.

In the opener Henderson fanned nine, walked none and allowed two hits.

In Game 2 the Huskies tookma 2-0 lead but failed to hold it as Smith scored three times in the fourth inning.

Katie Manville took the loss.

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