Junior righthander Molly Flowers, pitching her second game of the day, scattered seven hits and junior center fielder Rachel Carlson threw out the potential tying run at the plate in the seventh inning as the University of Maine softball team nipped top seed Binghamton 2-1 in an elimination game at the America East Tournament in Vestal, New York, on Friday.
Second seed UMaine, now 2-1 in the double elimination tournament and 18-24 overall, advanced to the championship round and will face 3-0 Albany (26-15 overall) beginning at noon on Saturday.
The Black Bears will have to beat fourth seed Albany twice to repeat as conference titlists.
Albany beat UMaine earlier in the day 8-2.
In the nightcap, UMaine junior right fielder Meghan Royle’s fourth homer of the season, a blast to left field, snapped a 1-1 tie in the third inning.
Tourney host Binghamton put the first two hitters on in the seventh when Kate Richard was hit by a pitch and Bridget Hunt walked.
UMaine first baseman Kristen Niland made a nice catch on a Sara Herskowitz’s foul popup for the first out, reaching over the fence to make the play.
Crysti Eichner then singled sharply to center but Carlson charged the ball and threw a perfect strike to the plate to Maddie Decker, who blocked the plate and applied the tag on pinch-runner Stephanie Ragusa. Decker is playing in place of suspended catcher Rachel Harvey.
UMaine head coach Mike Coutts called the plays by Niland and Carlson “huge.”
He said he was surprised they tried to score Ragusa “but I’ll take it.”
Flowers then induced Carrie Maniccia to fly to left to end the game.
The Black Bears took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Royle drew a one-out walk and Alyssa Derrick doubled her home.
Binghamton, which had swept a three-game series from UMaine during the regular season, tied it in the bottom of the first on a walk, Stephanie Bielec’s base hit, a fielder’s choice and Richard’s RBI single.
Hunt reached on a bunt single to load the bases but Flowers struck out Herskowitz and got Eichner to fly out to center to prevent further damage.
With ace lefty Erin Bogdanovich sidelined by a forearm injury suffered in Thursday’s 9-1 win over Hartford, Flowers was forced to take the circle again after going 5 2/3 innings in the loss to Albany in the first game of the day.
She struck out five and walked six. She surrendered six singles and a double.
“Molly was able to make a big pitch and get a big out when she needed it, better than she ever has,” said Coutts. “That’s the first time Molly has beaten Binghamton in three years.”
Coutts said Bogdanovich warmed up before the game but didn’t feel well. However, he said she may be able to pitch this weekend.
Maniccia and Bielec each had two hits for Binghamton, which finished at 22-25. One of Maniccia’s hits was a double.
Derrick had a single to go with her double for the Black Bears, who were limited to three hits by freshman Rozlyn Price.
Price struck out two and walked five.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the way the girls responded. It was awesome,” said Coutts.
He also praised his wife, Lynn, the pitching coach, for doing an outstanding job calling the pitches.
In the UMaine-Albany game, junior right-hander Devin Durando, who gave up four hits and three runs in 1 2/3 innings of relief against UMaine a week ago, got a healthy measure of revenge by firing a complete-game six-hitter.
Durando struck out five and walked three and junior center fielder Donna Conrad hit a triple and two singles to pace Albany’s attack.
The Great Danes scored two unearned runs in the third and broke the game open with three-run rallies in the fifth and sixth innings.
UMaine pushed across its runs in the bottom of the sixth.
In the third, Kelly Spear reached on a one-out infield single and Elizabeth Snow was hit by a Flowers pitch.
Conrad singled to load the bases and, after Flowers struck out Chelsea Henige for the second out, a fielding error by UMaine second baseman Sarah Coyne allowed two runs to score.
In the fifth, Snow walked, Conrad singled and Henige sacrificed them over before Sarah Petzold doubled them home. Kelly Barkevich’s base hit drove in Petzold.
In the sixth, Snow was hit by a pitch with two outs, Conrad tripled her home and Henige belted a two-run homer to right.
UMaine scored its runs in the bottom of the sixth on Felicia Lennon’s double and Derrick’s 14th homer of the season, a shot to right field.
Conrad was Albany’s only repeat hitter while Derrick had a single to go with her homer for UMaine.
Flowers allowed nine hits and eight runs, six earned, over 5 2/3 innings. She struck out five and walked three. Nikki Misner pitched 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief.
“We didn’t put any pressure on them offensively,” said Coutts. “We struggled, hitting-wise. [Durando] had a good screwball and was able to keep it in our our hands. And we swung at her rise ball a lot early in the game.”