LEWISTON

For two weeks, the Bowdoin College softball team practiced inside Farley Field House, hoping to get back into action and praying the time off after 16 games in Florida didn’t squash the Polar Bears sharpness.

For four innings in their New England Small College Athletic Conference opener against Bates College on Friday, the Polar Bears seemed to be stuck in the mud, held without a hit by Bobcats pitcher Kelsey Freedman and trailing 1-0.

But, Bowdoin found its stroke just in time, tallying five runs over two frames for a 5-1 victory and a 12-5 overall mark, to go along with a 1-0 conference record.

With Saturday’s doubleheader with Bates moved to Tuesday, Bowdoin has a few more days to wait out Mother Nature.

“No matter what you do in the cage, it is not the same as playing, so I think we had to settle in and get after it during our second time through the lineup,” said Bowdoin coach Ryan Sullivan.

Bates, coached by former Brunswick High School standout McKell Barnes, dropped to 1-8 overall.

Momentum swing

With Bowdoin’s offense going nowhere, Bates had a chance to double its lead attained in the second inning when Kira Shaikh tripled and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Tori Fitzgerald. Freedman ripped a shot just inside the right-field line and slid into third base ahead of a Bowdoin relay throw. However, Freedman came off the bag, with Bowdoin third baseman Adriane Krul making the tag for the inning’s second out.

The momentum carried over into the top of the fifth. Back-to-back doubles by Cielle Collins and Marisa O’Toole tied the game for Bowdoin. After a groundball moved O’Toole to third, a Freedman wild pitch gave the Polar Bears a 2-1 lead.

“It was a huge momentum swing play and is the nature of the game sometimes,” said Barnes. “You can’t give a good team like that any kind of momentum, confi- dence and spark. We will use it as a learning experience.”

“Once we made some adjustments, it was good,” said O’Toole, who was 2-for- 3 with two RBIs. “We are a team that builds off of one another. We were able to get rolling, and we never stopped after that.”

Given a lead, Bowdoin pitcher Julia Geaumont took over. She retired the final 10 Bobcat hitters, finishing with seven strikeouts and a two-hitter.

“She pitched really well today, giving up the two triples, but she was in good shape,” said Sullivan of Geaumont.

Bowdoin put the game away in the sixth. Krul, who has struggled early at the plate, launched a long home run to left field for a 3-1 lead.

“Adriane looked much better today, and it was great to see that come out of her,” said Sullivan, who watched his offense tack on two more runs on an RBI single by Katie Gately and a runscoring hit by O’Toole for a 5-1 lead.

Barnes felt Freedman pitched well despite the loss. The righty finished with three strikeouts and two walks while allowing six hits.

“She was hitting her spots and she came at them off-speed, with good curveballs,” said Barnes, who feels her team is a win or two away from gaining confidence. “I see the confidence coming, with good solid contact. Karen Lockhart had two hard-hit groundballs, and if they are hit in either direction, you’re going to see the momentum shift back to us.

“We have high expectations and we hold each other accountable. We have a good foundation to be successful. These are special girls who need a little positive spark. When they accomplish something that they don’t know they are capable of, we will put it together and get that confidence.”

Nicole Nelson had solid contact in three at-bats for Bowdoin, finishing 1- for-3. Second baseman Lauren O’Shea had several nice plays in the field, including a diving stop of a hard-hit groundball by Lockhart in the seventh for the inning’s first out.

Tuesday’s doubleheader begins a seven-game in five-day stretch for the Polar Bears, who visit the University of Southern Maine on Wednesday for a doubleheader and hosts two-time Division III national champion Tufts for a three-game set beginning on Friday at Bowdoin’s Pickard Field.