VESTAL, N.Y. – After falling to UAlbany in the first game of the 2025 America East Championship the University of Maine softball team rebounded for a win over UMass Lowell on Wednesday at the Bearcat Sports Complex. 

The Black Bears will now face a to-be-determined opponent at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 8.

Game 47
Score:  UAlbany 7, Maine 3
Stadium: Bearcat Sports Complex
How it Happened

• The Black Bears took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Gabby Papushka doubled to right center, bringing in Bailey Snowberger.
• UAlbany responded in the bottom of the second, taking a 2-1 lead on the back of two errors.
• In the top of the third, Maine went back up 3-2 when a Kyrah Haba-Dailey single scored two runs.
• UAlbany again took the lead, going up 5-3 in the bottom of the third ... the Great Danes padded the score an inning later with a two-run fourth.
• The Black Bears left two runners on in the fifth and couldn't scratch anything across in the sixth or seventh.

Game Notes

• Gabby Papushka finished 2-for-2 with two doubles … her RBI double in the top of the first marked her 100th career hit.
• Abby Rhee and Kyrah Haba-Dailey also collected hits for the Black Bears.
• Madison Simmerman started, throwing 2.0 innings while Alysen Rieth threw 4.0 innings in relief.

Game 48
Score:  Maine 3, UMass Lowell 0
Stadium: Bearcat Sports Complex
How it Happened

• After two scoreless innings, the Black Bears took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Madison Hand came home on a wild pitch … Hand had reached base on a single.
• Maine made it 2-0 in the fourth when Keira Inman doubled home Kyrah Haba-Dailey.
• Gabby Papushka tripled in the top of the fifth to score Bailey Snowberger for a 3-0 lead.
• Meanwhile, in the circle, Madison Simmerman 14 consecutive runners from the bottom of the second to the bottom of the seventh … Maine stranded two runners, ending the game on a grounder to short.

Game Notes

• Madison Simmerman started, throwing the complete-game shutout … she allowed just three hits while walking one and striking out one … it was her eighth complete game of the season.
• Abby Rhee went 2-for-4 while Francesca Guerrera, Gabby Papushka, Keira Inman and Madison Hand collected hits.
• Papushka knocked her fourth triple of the season, tying for the America East lead … Papushka finished the day 3-for-6 with two doubles, a triple, one walk, one run scored and two runs batted in.
• Rhee was 3-for-7 while Bailey Snowberger earned four walks and scored three runs.

Up Next

• The Black Bears will face a to-be-determined opponent tomorrow in the sixth game of the tournament, tentatively set for 4 p.m. at the Bearcat Sports Complex.