LEWISTON — No. 11 nationally ranked Colby College controlled the game from start to finish, and downed the No. 17 Bates women’s lacrosse team 10-6 in the regular-season finale for both teams Wednesday evening at Garcelon Field.
The Mules (8-5, 6-4 NESCAC) finish in a tie for fifth place in the NESCAC with Tufts. The Mules will be the sixth seed in the NESCAC Championship, and will play at third-seeded Middlebury in the conferece quarterfinals on Saturday.
Bates (8-7, 4-6 NESCAC) finishes in a tie for seventh place with Bowdoin. The Bobcats earned the eighth seed in the NESCAC Championship, and will play at top-seeded Trinity in the conference quarterfinals on Saturday at noon. Bates won 6-3 at Trinity on March 15 in a major upset.
Sarah Lux got the Mules off to a 2-0 lead with the game’s first goal, followed by an assist to Abby Hatch. Lux finished with three assists and a goal, while Hatch scored three times to lead the Mule attack. Lindsey McKenna and Katharine Eddy added two goals apiece.
Blair Shrewsbury led the Bobcats with two goals and two assists, and Alex Briody added a goal and an assist. Wally Pierce had game highs of four ground balls and four draw controls.
Men’s lacrosse
Colby 12, Bates 9
WATERVILLE — The Colby College men’s lacrosse team won the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin (CBB) title for the second time in four years and received big games from Austin Sayre and Tyler Will in a 12-9 victory over Bates College on Wednesday at Bill Alfond Field.
The Mules last defeated Bates and Bowdoin College in the same season in 2011. Colby won 11-7 at Bowdoin on April 8.
Colby moved to 7-7 overall and finished 4-6 in NESCAC play heading into Saturday’s league quarterfinal game at top-seeded Tufts. The Mules had already earned the eighth seed in the playoffs before the game with Bates. The league playoffs will be announced Wednesday night after all games are completed.
Wednesday’s contest also marked the 1st Annual Flahive-McDuffee Memorial Game in honor of Derrik Flahive (Colby) and Morgan McDuffee (Bates). Flahive died in a drowning accident in 2011, while McDuffee was killed while breaking up a fight in Lewiston in 2002. Colby head coach Jack Sandler played with McDuffee under current Bates head coach Peter Lasagna.
Sayre finished with six goals and one assist while sparking Colby’s comeback from a 9-6 deficit. Meanwhile, Will stopped 19 shots on the other end of the field after missing the last game due to illness.
Bates had leads of 5-2 and 9-6 in a game of scoring runs. The Bobcats trailed 6-5 at halftime after the Mules scored four straight goals to end the half.
Softball
Colby sweeps UMF
WATERVILLE — The Colby College softball team only had 10 hits in two games, but the Mules had one big inning in each contest to earn a 7-2 and 5-4 doubleheader sweep of University of Maine at Farmington on Wednesday at Crafts Field.
Megan Michie allowed one earned run, struck out six, and walked two in a complete game victory in the opener. She entered the game in relief in the second game and earned the win when Colby fought back for the win.
The Mules improve to 7-16 overall, while the Beavers drop to 10-8.
Colby scored all seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to turn a 2-0 deficit into a victory. In the nightcap, the Mules trailed 4-0 before scoring five times in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Katherine Zafirson reached on an error to start the sixth inning in the second game. After an out, Erica Pulford singled to right field. Emily Schatz followed with another single to drive in Zafirson. A groundout by Brianne Wheeler advanced the runners up a base and Meaghan Lewia doubled to center field to bring in both runners. After a walk to Tori Sansone, Lewia and Sansone both stole bases. Carylanne Wolfington drove in both runners with a single for a 5-4 lead.
UMF scored a single run in the second, two in the fourth, and one more in the sixth inning. Kennadi Grover led off the second with a single and later scored on a fielder’s choice by Natasha DeRoche. In the fourth, Meryl Bond led off with a double, Dayle Jordan had a two-out walk, and both runners scored on a triple by Shelby Bryant. Jordan added the fourth run when she reached by error and later scored on a single by Emily Soule.
In the second game, UMF scored twice in the top of the fifth to take the lead. Alison Hamilton and Bryant both singled and later scored on a two-run single by Katie Clark.
Robin Spofford and Katie McLaughlin got the Colby seventh off to a good start with back-to-back walks. UMF had two straight errors that brought in both runners. Lewia came up with a two-run double to score Schatz and pinch-runner Julia Perlmutter. Sansone followed with a single to bring in Lewia and suddenly it was a 5-2 game. Wolfington had a double to bring in Sansone and Grace Farnkoff had a single to plate Wolfington for the final run.
UMF pitchers did not allow an earned run in either game. Soule took the tough 5-4 loss, while Kristen Manzo dropped the second game.
Husson sweeps Bates
BANGOR — Bates softball dropped a pair of games to Husson University, 11-6 and 5-3, despite tying both games in the late innings, in a doubleheader at O’Keefe Field on Wednesday afternoon and evening.
The Bobcats (8-17) tied both contests in the top of the sixth, but the Eagles (21-9) plated five runs in the bottom of the sixth in game one and two runs in the same frame in game two to pull out the victories.
Husson’s Kayla Merrill homered twice in game one while Breanna Martin and Sami Schultz each hit a home run. Bates sophomore Melissa Paione hit a two-run blast in game two, and the Eagles’ Lyndsey Merrill also went deep in the contest.
Next, Bates plays at Bowdoin on Friday at 4 p.m. before hosting the Polar Bears for a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon.
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