It was a frustrating regular season for University of Maine junior Alyssa Derrick. The third baseman, who tied the school record with 15 home runs last season, went into Wednesday’s America East tournament with only five to go with a .219 batting average.
But Derrick belted No. 6 in a tourney-opening 3-1 loss to Binghamton and then snapped a 3-3 tie against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County with a two-run shot in the fifth inning as the Black Bears staved off elimination with a 5-3 victory at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.
Fourth-seeded UMaine (21-24) plays the lowest-seeded team with one loss on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the double-elimination affair.
Sixth seed UMBC finished up at 12-31.
Top seed Albany and No. 5 Binghamton play at 11 a.m. on Thursday and No. 2 UMass Lowell faces No. 3 Stony brook at 1:30 p.m. Albany and UMass Lowell received first-round byes.
In Thursday’s nightcap, Meghan Royle singled to left field with one out in the fifth and Derrick followed with a home run to center field off starter and loser Kim Puccio.
“Alyssa changed her approach today. Instead of trying to overpower the ball and overswinging, she shortened up her swing and just tried to get the barrel of the bat on the ball,” said UMaine coach Mike Coutts.
Ace right-hander and all-conference second-team pick Annie Kennedy, who last only 3 1/3 innings in the opener and took the loss, came on in the third inning in relief of freshman Kyleigh O’Donnell. She pitched five innings of two-hit, two-run ball to notch the win. Both runs were unearned. She struck out three and didn’t walk anyone.
“Annie gutted it out in the second game. She was pitching on fumes,” said Coutts.
UMBC took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a bases-loaded walk but Erika Leonard tied it with a two-out, run-scoring single in the bottom of the first.
Leonard delivered another two-out RBI hit in the third, this one a double to left-center, to make it 2-1.
But UMBC rallied for two unearned runs in the fourth on an error, Sierra Pierce’s single, a groundout, Julie Keffler’s RBI single and her attempted steal of second, which allowed Pierce to score from third.
UMaine tied it in the bottom of the fourth on Rachel Carlson’s triple and Kristen Niland’s RBI groundout.
Leonard and German each had two hits for UMaine.
Tori Alexander doubled for the Retrievers.
In the opener, sophomore right-hander Rayn Gibson tossed a six-hitter and freshman right fielder Lauren Martinez belted a solo homer to key the win. UMaine was held to two runs or fewer for the fourth time in the last five games.
Gibson struck out just one but her teammates played errorless ball behind her and the Black Bears stranded seven runners.
Derrick’s blast to right-center in the bottom of the sixth was UMaine’s only run.
Binghamton had scored single runs in the first, fourth and sixth innings.
The Bearcats loaded the bases with nobody out against Kennedy in the first inning on Jessica Rutherford’s single to center, Jillian Bovitt’s bunt single and a walk before Makayla Alvarez’s double-play grounder produced the run.
In the fourth, Herskowitz and Martinez singled with one out and Carrie Maniccia was hit by a pitch. O’Donnell came on and surrendered a sacrifice fly to Rutherford.
Martinez’s homer to left in the sixth made it 3-0 before Derrick answered in the bottom of inning.
Martinez, with her double and single, paced the Binghamton attack. Rutherford and Bovitt each had two singles.
German had two singles for UMaine.
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