BRUNSWICK – Joe Pace escaped a first-inning jam and pitched three-hit shutout ball the rest of the way to lead Bowdoin to a 5-1 baseball triumph over Southern Maine.

USM (22-11) took a 1-0 lead on Ryan Bourque’s RBI single and threatened to score more, but Bourque was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Joe Koperniak.

The Polar Bears (17-12) tied it in the first before taking control on Mike Buckley’s 2-run single in the fourth. Auburn’s Nick Lawler, who had a double, added a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Brady Blackman, who pitched for St. Dom’s, took the loss.

Softball
Bowdoin 9, Bates 3

LEWISTON – Bowdoin scored seven times in the sixth inning to rally for a 9-3 victory over Bates in the regular-season finale.

Liz Stahler’s RBI double highlighted a three-run third inning for the Bobcats. But Bowdoin chipped away before sending 11 batters to the plate in the sixth, helped by two Bates errors.

Katie Franklin led Bates with three hits to end the year with a .406 batting average.

UMF 9, Lesley 8

FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington rallied four different times, overcoming two, three-run deficits, until Holly Tripp brought home Kelly McDonough with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, defeating Lesley 9-8 to advance to the semifinals of the NAC Softball Championships.

Lesley scored in the top of the first, but UMF knotted the game in the bottom half when Sarah Defillipp, who pitched all nine innings to earn the win, singled and scored on an RBI single from Megan Goodrow.

After UMF held Lesley scoreless in the ninth inning, McDonough reached on a fielder’s choice and then score dwhen Tripp’s ground ball was mishandled for the win.

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