College softball: CMCC bounces back to earn split with Thomas

AUBURN — Thomas College converted Central Maine Community College’s diamond into a carousel in the opener of a softball doubleheader Tuesday.

Wanting to forget the 20-0 drubbing that just happened, the Mustangs did an about-face in the second game to pull off an edge-of-your seat 9-6 victory.

“Game 1, we just came out really flat,” CMCC coach Bruce Robertson said. “We didn’t start with our normal Game 1 pitcher. Unfortunately, our Game 1 pitcher, Riley McNamara, was sick. She was only able to go two innings. (The Terriers) just hit the ball well. And Game 2, we played our game. We played our game and we didn’t get rattled. We didn’t let Game 1 bother us, and that’s what we needed to do.”

The Mustangs let the Terriers know that first game was well behind them when they rattled off three runs in the first inning of the second game.

CMCC outfielder Olivia Gallen and shortstop Paige Ouellette hammered out back-to-back hits and came home on an RBI single from Emily Woodworm and a walk by Emily Sanfacon after Riley McNamara loaded the bases when she got on base thanks to an error. McNamara also scored on RBI single from Sarah Poli, providing the Mustangs with a 3-0 lead.

The Terriers got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning when Riley Giblin scored McKayla Panich’s RBI single.

Alyvia Perreault scored in CMCC’s half of the fourth after drawing a walk and moving to third base on Gallant’s single. Perreault came home on a fielder’s choice, extending the Mustangs advantage back to three runs, 4-1.

CMCC picked up three more runs in the top fifth inning, helped by two errors and Poli getting on after being hit by a pitch, pushing the lead to 7-2.

Thomas responded with a four-run outburst triggered by two RBI doubles from Katie McIntyre and Cheyenne Simpson. Panich and Kelsey Currier also supplied RBI singles to Thomas’s cause, making it a 7-6 game going into the bottom of the sixth.

But CMCC pulled away, again, with two more runs, using a pair of hits and two walks to its advantage.

The Olivia Scott sealed the win by retiring the side in the top of the seventh.

Scott went the distance on the mound for the Mustangs, striking out five batters.

She said she well aware that the Terriers were closing in with their late-inning heroics.

“In the last inning, I was worried, but I knew that we would get it,” Scott said. “I’ve got good defense behind me. I don’t think we were ready the first game, and we finally got our head in the game and said, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s go out and win.'”

Megan Olberholzer was tagged for the loss but went distance and struck out 10 batters for the Terriers.

The first game was an eye-opener for both teams.

The Terriers (11-8) hammered out 11 hits, batting through the lineup twice and scoring 14 runs in the second inning as they stormed to a lopsided 20-0 mercy-rule victory in five innings.

Thomas finished with 14 hits in the opener, and the winning pitcher, Currier, went the distance, striking out nine batters, walking none and giving up two hits.

After each team’s starting pitcher retired the side in the first inning, Kayla Duhaime triggered the Terriers’ insurrection in the second inning with a three-run triple, and from there the hits and runs kept on coming.

McNamara, Central Maine’s starting pitcher, was relieved in the third by Sage Cormier, who went the rest of the way for the Mustangs.

The Terriers picked up six more runs over the next three innings thanks to several walks and errors.

“The girls hit really, really well (in Game 1),” Thomas coach Jennifer Plourde. “Hit it hard and good things will happen. The second game, we dug ourselves into that one. We were just talking about how many unearned runs there were and that is going to hurt us.”