University of Maine
Cal St. Fullerton
Eight Run Fifth Inning Propels Maine Past Cal State Fullerton, 11-3
2/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The University of Maine softball team posted a five-inning 11-3 victory over the Cal State Fullerton Titans on Tuesday night. The win lifts the Black Bears' record to 2-6 while the Titans fall to 6-11. Dagmar Ralphs (O'Fallon, Ill.) paved the way for Maine, hitting 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs while Kristen Koslosky (Castro Valley, Calif.) and EmJ Fogel (Vienna, Va.) each went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Cal State took an early lead in the bottom of the first inning when Nicole Johnson drove in Adriana Martinez on a single up the middle, giving the Titans a 1-0 lead. Johnson came around to score after Morgan LeMond singled to left field. LeMond was then driven in when Tiffany Sheffler knocked a double to right-centerfield, putting Cal State up 3-0 at the end of the first inning.
The Black Bears resilient offense battled back in the top of the fourth inning, starting with a single to center by Hilary Kane (Concord, N.H.). Dagmar Ralphs advanced Kane to second base when she single to right, followed by a walk drawn by Jessica Burk (Warrenton, Va.) to load the bases. Jenny MacDowell (Littleton, Mass.) got Maine on the board when she single to right field, driving in Kane on the play. Margaret Hilton (Lyndonville, Vt.) grounded into a double play in the next at bat; however was able to drive in a run, scoring Ralphs. Maine grabbed their third run of the inning on a Lindsey Jenkins (Greenwich, Conn.) single, knocking in Burk to tie the game at 3-3.
Maine tacked on an additional eight runs in the top of the fifth inning. Dagmar Ralphs led the Black Bear charge after she doubled to left center, driving in Hilary Kane and EmJ Fogel; both having reached on singles. Margaret Hilton struck next for the Black Bears when she drove in a pair of runs on a double. Kristen Koslosky kept the inning going after she singled through the left side to drive Jenny MacDowell home, giving Maine an 8-3 lead. Fogel then made her second appearance at the plate of the inning, successfully driving in Koslosky and Hilton to add two more runs to Maine's total. Jennifer Eberhardt (Glendale, Ariz.) capped off the scoring for after she singled to center field, driving Fogel in and giving the Black Bears the lead, 11-3.
Ashley Kelley (Hermon, Maine) threw a solid five innings, giving up no earned runs as the three runs score resulted from an error. Kelley walked one batter and struck out another while surrendering six hits. Her record improves to 1-2. Desiree Ybarra was credited with the loss for Fullerton after giving up eight runs, seven of which were earned on eight hits through one inning pitched. She struck out two of the batter she faced. Her record falls to 2-4.
Maine returns to action tomorrow when they face Long Beach State for a doubleheader. Game one has a set time of 4 PM while game two will start at 6 PM.
