After winning 10 of their last 12 games in Florida, the Polar Bears again traveled south of Brunswick to Hartford, Conn., to battle the Trinity Bantams for their first three NESCAC games.
The squad went 1-2 against the Bantams, losing the final two games of the series.
In the first game, the Polar Bears attacked first with an Ali Coleman '09 two-run home run in the second inning, and added one more in the inning after a Trinity error.
In the top of the fourth Bowdoin scored three more runs on two sacrifice flies and a wild pitch. The Bears' six runs were enough to hold off the struggling Bantams.
"Friday was really exciting because we came into the game with a ton of energy and jumped on them early," said Kaitee Daley '09. Trinity scored just two runs in Bowdoin's third straight win.
Kara Nilan '11 started the first game on the mound for the Polar Bears after earning the No. 1 spot in the pitching rotation following a strong Florida trip. Nilan gave up just three hits on the day and one earned run. She also struck out four Bantams.
The next day Bowdoin and Trinity matched up again for the final two games of the series. Trinity pitcher Katherine Poulos was the kryptonite for the Polar Bear bats. In game one Poulos gave up just five hits and struck out four in a five-inning complete game outing. Poulos pitched 12 innings on the day and was the winning pitcher in both games.
Shavonne Lord '10 led the team in game one with two of the five Bowdoin hits. Julia Jacobs '10 took the loss for Bowdoin, giving up seven hits and four earned runs. Trinity scored in every inning of the first game of day two on its way to a 9-1 win and a game three that would decide the series.
The rubber-match was a toss up as the game went into extra innings.
At the end of the second inning, with the help of a Lord two-run double, Bowdoin led 3-1. Trinity struck back in the fourth inning when Nicole Nardella '11 blasted a two-run homer over the left field wall. In the bottom of the ninth inning Bantam Melanie Orphanos '11 stepped up to the plate with a runner on second base. After five strong, scoreless innings pitched, Nilan gave up a single to Orphanos that scored the runner from second. The Orphanos RBI won the game 4-3 and the series for Trinity.
"Saturday was a tough day for us," Daley said. "Trinity physically and mentally out competed us in game one, and it felt like we were always just one big hit away from taking the series in game two," Daley said.
"We didn't perform at the level we're capable of," Lord said.
The upcoming weekend of non-conference play will give the Polar Bears a chance to redeem themselves after losing the series to Trinity. They will host their first home game this Saturday against Husson (2-8). They will then travel to Brandeis (9-9) for a doubleheader on Sunday and will play two more at home on Monday against University of Maine-Farmington (0-0).