ORONO. Maine – The University of Maine softball team will return to the New England area this week, traveling to face Merrimack on Wednesday, March 11.
 
The Black Bears and Warriors will play a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. at Martone-Mejail Field. For the most up-to-date game times, stat links and watch links, visit GoBlackBears.com/softballschedule.
 
Game 20 | Maine at Merrimack
Wednesday, March 11 | 12:00 p.m.
North Andover, Mass. | Martone-Megail Field
 
Game 21 | Maine at Merrimack
Wednesday, March 11 | 2:00 p.m.
North Andover, Mass. | Martone-Megail Field

ABOUT MERRIMACK

• The Warriors will enter Wednesday's doubleheader with an overall mark of 2-9 … Merrimack opened up MAAC action last weekend, dropping two games at Mount St. Mary's.
• Merrimack has picked up wins over Morgan State (10-1) and Cornell (8-4).
• Caity Lemay leads Merrimack with a .360 batting average … Lemay has a .560 slugging percentage and a team-leading nine hits and eight RBI.
• In the circle, Anna Gedacht has thrown a team-high 29.1 innings … Merrimack has used five other pitchers but none more than 9.2 innings.

ABOUT THE BLACK BEARS

• Maine sits at 4-15 overall after going 0-5 at the Orange and Black Classic this past weekend.
• The Black Bears opened up the season with 16 consecutive games of scoring at least one run before having that streak snapped against Southern Utah on March 7 … it was the longest such streak to open the season since the 1999 season.
• Keira Inman leads Maine with her .275 batting average and is tied for the third in the America East with three home runs … Inman's 1.020 OPS leads Maine and is good for ninth in the conference.
• Alli Goetz is slashing .250/.432/.357, leading the team with that .432 on-base percentage.
• In the circle, Alysen Rieth leads Maine and is second in the conference with 40.0 innings pitched … Ava Zettlemoyer (30.0 IP) and Rieth are tied for fourth in the conference with 21 strikeouts each.
• 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.

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.

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.

UP NEXT

• The Black Bears will be off this weekend before continuing non-conference play next week, traveling to face Saint Peter's (March 17), Monmouth (March 18) and Iona (March 19).