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Softball Drops Series Finale to Binghamton on Sunday
April 30, 2006
ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine softball team's seven-game winning streak was halted on Sunday as it dropped a tough 1-0 decision to Binghamton at Kessock Field. The Black Bears fell to 33-16 on the season, but are still in first place in America East with a 14-4 record. Binghamton improved to 12-30 on the season and 5-13 in the conference. The loss was also the first for Maine in 10 home games this season. Redshirt freshman hurler Jenna Balent (Conifer, Colo.) turned in a strong pitching performance for the Black Bears. Despite being tagged with the loss, which dipped her record to 13-10 on the season, Balent went the distance and yielded just one run on only four hits. She struck out 11 and issued no walks. In her two starts against the Bearcats this weekend, Balent combined to work all 14 innings, allow just one run on six hits and strike out 20 with no walks. At one point during Sunday's outing, Balent retired 10 straight batters. However, Maine's offense could only produce a pair of hits, which were doubles by Brittany Cheney (Abington, Mass.) and Amy Kuhl (Phoenix, Ariz.). Cheney's double came with two outs in the first inning, while Kuhl's also came with a pair of outs in the seventh. Katie Hansen earned the win for Binghamton as she struck out six and walked just one batter over seven innings of work. She retired 14 batters at one point during the contest. The Bearcats plated the game's lone run in the sixth inning on a pair of Black Bear errors. Michelle Robb, who was pinch running for Binghamton, scored on a Cheney error.
Maine returns to action this Tuesday when it travels to Amherst, Mass., to play Massachusetts in a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. Fans wishing to follow the game can view real-time stats as they happen on Gametracker. To follow the contest on Gametracker, fans can visit www.GoBlackBears.com and click on the link on the softball team's schedule page.
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