Ben Drummey, a sophomore from Biddeford, became just the second male athlete from the University of Southern Maine to win an indoor track national championship when he prevailed in the pole vault Friday at the NCAA Division III championships in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Drummey was one of two vaulters to clear 16 feet, 63/4 inches and won the title with fewer misses. He joins Jamie Ruginski, a two-time triple jump champion, as USM’s only men’s indoor champs.
BASEBALL
NORTH DAKOTA STATE 9, MAINE 4: North Dakota State scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally for a 9-4 baseball win over Maine.
Joe Bramanti was 2 for 5, with a home run, for Maine (2-8). Jake Marquez had a double and single.
Tristen Roehrich got the win in relief for North Dakota State (7-6), going the final 31/3 innings while allowing one run on two hits, striking out three and walking one
ST. JOE’S, WPI SPLIT: Matt Theriault lined a solo homer to break a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the fifth and Ben Gravel added a three-run blast as St. Joseph’s (5-3) pulled away to a 10-5 win for a doubleheader split against Worcester Polytechnic Institute (2-4) at Winter Haven, Florida.
Gravel went 3 for 4 with four RBI, while Peter O’Brien added three hits and scored three runs. Matt Poff earned the victory with a pair of shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out two.
In the opener, Everett Wonson went the first six scoreless innings, scattering four hits for the Engineers in an 8-0 win.
SOFTBALL
BETHANY (WV) 1, ST. JOSEPH’S 0: Paige Allen scored on an infield grounder by Jennifer Oberthur in the first inning and the Bison made it stand to beat the Monks (3-5) at St. George, Utah.
Hannah Grover had a double for St. Joseph’s. Meredith Pence took the loss, allowing a run on seven hits, striking out six and walking three.
Jennica Levermann and Josie Wise combined for a four-hit shutout.
ST. JOSEPH’S 10, MCLA 2: Sylvia Foley lined a two-run single to right center in the bottom of the first to stake the Monks (3-4) to an early lead as they cruised past Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (0-1) in five innings at Leesburg, Florida.
Ashley Emery was 3 for 4 for St. Joseph’s, while Lydia Goodnough, Olivia Howe and Rylee Page all with two hits. Emily Eagleston allowed two earned runs on three hits for the Monks, striking out three and walking two.
WISCONSIN 10, MAINE 2: The Badgers (9-6) opened a 3-0 first-inning lead, sparked by Brooke Kuffel’s bases-clearing double, and beat the Black Bears (1-7) in St. George, Utah.
Maine scored two runs in the top of the fourth, with Jasmine Gray contributing an RBI double. Kelby Drews added a double for the Black Bears.
MAINE 7, SOUTHERN UTAH 4: The Black Bears (2-9) took the lead with fourth-inning RBI hits from Rebecca Finley and Gabby Papushka, added three more runs in the fifth and beat the Thunderbirds (1-17) at St. George, Utah.
Kennedy Priest had a pair of hits and drove in a run for Maine.
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