UMBC

Kaela Mason drove in five runs with a triple and a homer.

ORONO, Maine—Senior Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) went 5-for-8 and sophomore Kaela Mason (Bel Air, Md./Harford Tech) drove in five to lead the UMBC softball team (22-20, 3-8 AE) to a doubleheader split with America East rival Maine (19-22, 8-3 AE) Saturday afternoon at Kessock Field. The Retrievers dropped the first game, 3-2, on a walk-off home run, before taking the nightcap, 4-1.

Game 1: Maine 3, UMBC 2

Mason was responsible for both UMBC runs, as she plated Fefel with her first triple of the season with two outs in the first, then gave the Retrievers a 2-0 lead with an RBI groundout in the third.

Maine shortstop Kristen Calvetti’s two-out single in the bottom of the inning made it 2-1, and she tied the game in the fifth with an RBI double.

The Retrievers had runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh innings but could not push a run across, and in the bottom of the seventh, Maine second baseman Alexis Souhlaris, the 2009 America East co-Player of the Year, hit a walk-off home run over the center field fence to give the Black Bears the 3-2 win.

Ashley Kelley (10-3) allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out five in the complete game victory. Junior Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) suffered the loss in relief, as she entered the game to start the seventh and faced just one batter, allowing the game-winning hit. Fefel gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits and struck out four in six innings but did not factor into the decision.

Game 2: UMBC 3, Maine 1

The Retrievers again took a first-inning lead, as back-to-back one-out singles by Fefel and senior right fielder Emily Thompson (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) set the stage for Mason’s three-run homer.

The Black Bears got on the board in the fifth on a two-out RBI single by third baseman Terren Hall, but they stranded two runners on base and never got any closer.

Fefel and Thompson led off the seventh with a double and a single, respectively, and a fielder’s choice by junior first baseman Malorie Weller (Round Hill, Va./Loudoun Valley/Kennesaw State) drove in Fefel with an insurance run to make it 4-1.

Weigman (11-11) allowed one run on five hits and struck out seven in the complete game victory, while Souhlaris (5-4) gave up four runs on 10 hits in seven innings in the loss.

Fefel and Thompson each went 3-for-4 to pace the Retrievers at the plate, while Souhlaris was on base in all four of her plate appearances for Maine, as she had two hits and also walked twice.

The teams meet in the rubber match Sunday at 11 a.m.