ORONO. Maine – The University of Maine softball team will return to action this weekend with the Orange and Black Classic, hosted by Idaho State.
 
Maine will play five games, facing Southern Utah and Idaho state on Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7 before wrapping up the tournament with a single game against Idaho State on Sunday, March 8. The schedule is subject to change.
 
All the games are set to be streamed on ESPN+. For the most up-to-date game times, stat links and watch links, visit GoBlackBears.com/softballschedule.
 
Orange and Black Classic (All times listed ET)
Game 15 | Maine vs Southern Utah
Friday, March 6 | 12:30 p.m. | Pocatello, Idaho
 
Game 16 | Maine at Idaho State
Friday, March 6 | 5:30 p.m. | Pocatello, Idaho
 
Game 17 | Maine vs Southern Utah
Saturday, March 7 | 12:30 p.m. | Pocatello, Idaho
 
Game 18 | Maine at Idaho State
Saturday, March 7 | 5:30 p.m. | Pocatello, Idaho
 
Game 19 | Maine at Idaho State
Sunday, March 8 | 12:00 p.m. | Pocatello, Idaho
 

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS…

• Idaho State sits at 10-10 overall on the season and is coming off a 2-3 performance at the Oregon Classic … the Tigers fell to #20 Oregon, 403, in eight innings while splitting matchups with Samford (13-4, 0-8) and Stetson (5-2, 2-7).
• Southern Utah, who plays at University of Utah on March 4, enters the week at 9-12 … last weekend, the Thunderbirds went 2-3 at the Southern Utah Shootout … SUU swept a double header with Weber State to close out the weekend.

 
AMERICA EAST ACCOLADES!

• After helping Maine to a 3-1 record at the Battle at the Bay, Keira Inman and Alli Goetz earned America East awards on Feb. 24 … Inman was named the Player of the Week while Goetz was tabbed the Rookie of the Week.
• Inman had a team-leading five hits and a .455 average while also sporting a .571 on-base percentage and 1.000 slugging percentage … she recorded a double, triple and home run on the weekend while earning five walks and scoring three runs.
• Goetz hit .400 on the weekend while owning team-leading .667 on-base percentage … she had two hits, including a triple, while earning four walks and scoring two runs and tied for the team lead with three RBI while sitting third among all conference players with a .733 slugging percentage.

ABOUT THE BLACK BEARS

• Maine sits at 4-10 overall but has a 3-2 mark in the last five games.
• Keira Inman leads Maine with her .333 batting average and is tied for the America East lead with three home runs … Inman's 1.207 OPS leads Maine and ranks third in the conference.
• Eviana Robles is hitting .300 and is tied with Anna Carlson for the team lead in doubles with three.
• In the circle, Alysen Rieth leads Maine and the conference with 35.2 innings pitched and a 2-4 record … her 20 strikeouts ranks fourth in America East … Ava Zettlemoyer is 1-2 with a 3.55 earned run average while sitting tied fifth in America East with 17 strikeouts.
• The Black Bears won three consecutive games at the Battle at the Bay for Maine's first three-game winning streak during the regular season since 2019.

WHAT'S BACK FOR THE BLACK BEARS…

• Francesca Guerrera, a member of the 2025 America East All-Rookie Team is back after starting all 49 contests at second base last year … she second on the team with 37 hits,13 runs scored and 24 RBI.
• Alysen Rieth returns in the circle … last year, tied for fourth in the America East with a career-high 121 strikeouts and had at least five strikeouts in 10 games … Rieth was third with a team-leading 143.1 innings pitched and tied for fourth in the conference with a career-high 11 complete games.
• Behind the plate, Morgan Pool is back after throwing out a nation-leading 25 runners on base … Pool was also fifth in the America East with a .992 fielding percentage, making just two errors in 242 chances.
• Last season, Madison Simmerman ranked second among America East rookies with her six wins (6-13) and led all rookies with her 111.2 innings pitched.

 
BLACK BEARS BUILDING UP…

• Maine went 12-37 overall and 3-17 in America East play in the 2025 season in the first year of head coach Kimberly Stiles … the Black Bears 12 wins marked a seven-game improvement from 2024.
• With a series win over Merrimack in March, Maine earned its first three-or-more game series win since going 3-1 against Binghamton in a four-game set in April 2021 … in April, Maine took a weekend series against UMass Lowell in April for its first America East series win since that April 2021 series.
• On March 8, 2025, the Black Bears had a 9-0 win over Sacred Heart and a 3-0 win over Yale to earn Maine's first back-to-back shutouts since April 2018.

 
UP NEXT

• The Black Bears will finally play in New England next week, playing a doubleheader at Merrimack on Wednesday, March 11.