BIDDEFORD — The University of New England women’s softball team didn’t bring the warm weather from its trip to Florida back to Maine.
But the Nor’easters certainly brought their winning ways.
UNE opened its Commonwealth Coast Conference schedule with a sweep over Gordon College under windy, cold conditions at Dubois Field Tuesday afternoon. The Nor’easters defeated the Fighting Scots 8-0 in the first game and held on to a 7-5 win in the second contest.
UNE recently returned from its annual trip from Florida, finishing with a 6-4 record over its 10-game run. After Tuesday, the Nor’easters are now 8-4, with a 2-0 record in CCC play.
“When you start going against conference competition, you want to go right after them and take it to them,” UNE head coach Dan Letellier said.
Freshman pitcher Kelly Reid got the start in the first contest, striking out six batters while giving up five hits. Reid has already been a contributor to the Nor’easters’ pitching staff so far this season, with a 4-1 record and a 1.08 ERA, with 29 strikeouts in 32.1 innings of work.
“She pitched a good game,” Nor’easters catcher Ashley Gott said. “Her movement pitches were on. With the (windy) conditions, we had been in Florida with the warm weather, so it was hard, but she did a good job today with the cold weather.”
Offensively, UNE took advantage of the pitching woes of Scots relief pitcher Skylar Bareford, who walked nine batters and allowed three runs in 3 1/3 innings. Starting pitcher Claire Bennett took the loss for Gordon.
The Nor’easters scored a run or more in each inning except the fifth. Gott led UNE offensively, going 2 for 3 at the plate.
UNE scored all seven of its runs in bunches in the second game, all coming within the second and third innings. The Nor’easters took a 3-0 lead in the second on a three-run double by Allie Frazier. UNE added four more runs in the third, thanks to a two-run double down the right-field line by Maegan Johnson, then a two-run single to center by Frazier to up the score to 7-0.
Frazier led the Nor’easters offensively, going 2 for 3 with five RBIs.
“I was pretty pleased with all their at-bats,” Letellier said. “We’ve just been working on taking good swings, and even when we take pitches, take them fundamentally sound. We don’t want them leaning, bending over or doing anything different than they normally would.”
Julie Bigelow started on the mound for UNE and pitched well, allowing one earned run in seven innings of work, striking out two batters. The Scots put up a rally in the seventh and final inning, scoring four runs, but Emily Borden grounded out to UNE second baseman Lauren Rousseau to end the contest and seal the win for the Nor’easters.
UNE hits the road for its next contest against Curry on Saturday, then returns home on Sunday for an early season meeting against Endicott, the No. 1 ranked team in the CCC. The double-header against the Gulls is scheduled for noon.
— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535, Ext. 323 or follow on Twitter @Dave_Dyer.
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