Indiana (PA) 3, WV Wesleyan 2 (Thanks to WVWC Sports Info)
The West Virginia Wesleyan Lady Bobcats went down fighting to the Indiana (PA) University Crimson Hawks in the loser’s bracket finals contest of the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament Saturday evening at Bloomsburg, PA.
The Lady Bobcats lost a 3-2 decision on a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning to end their run in the tournament. They closed out the year with a 44-13 record.
Wesleyan struck first in the contest with a run in the top of the second inning. Kashilia Young led off the inning with a double to leftfield, went to third on a bunt single by Paige Cummings, and scored on Desiree Sibera’s sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Wesleyan starting pitcher K. C. Carey had limited Indiana to just three hits during the first four innings of play, but ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth.
With one out, Sam Goettman doubles to left field and Monica Iachini sent pinch runners Jen Beaver to third with a single to leftfield. Following a steal of second by Iachini, Marisssa Leslie grounded out to short sending Beaver home and Iachini to third. Dee Eppinger smacked a double to centerfield that scored Iachini and gave Indiana a 2-1 lead.
Wesleyan pulled out their rally caps in the top of the seventh and tied the game at 2-2. Alex Whisner hit a two-out single and went to second on an error. Whisner scored on a single by Shelby Carlson.
Indiana pulled out the victory in the bottom of the seventh. Goettman and Iachini started off the inning with consecutive singles. Wesleyan managed the first out of the inning getting Goettman at third base on a fielder’s choice hit by Marissa Leslie. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch, and Eppinger ended the game with a single that scored Iachini.
Wesleyan had seven hits in the contest with Carlson leading the way with two.
Carey (20-5) pitched well but suffered the setback on the mound. She went the distance and gave up just three earned runs on 10 hits and didn’t walk a batter.
Iachini led Indiana’s 10-hit attack with three hits.
Erin Holloway (27-7) went the distance to pick up the win. She gave up two runs on seven hits.
Indiana (37-11) and Bloomsburg (47-5) will battle Sunday at noon for the regional title.
Kutztown 7, Shepherd 0 (Thanks to SU Sports Info)
Kutztown University recorded a 7-0 victory to eliminate Shepherd University in second day action of the NCAA Atlantic Regional Softball Tournament at Lilly Park on Saturday.
Kutztown took advantage of three Ram errors to take a 3-0 lead in the second inning.
The Golden Bears tacked on four more runs in the third with a three-run single off the bat of Maria Schiavo keying the big inning.
Shepherd loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fifth, but were unable to push across any runs.
The Rams threatened again in the sixth with two outs and two on, but junior outfielder Amber Dudek (Sterling, VA/Park View) was called out for interfering with the shortstop to end the rally.
Schiavo led the Golden Bears with a pair of hits, while Maria Isgro drove in a pair of runs and scored twice.
Dudek and sophomore third baseman Chelsie Oals (Hedgesville,WV/Hedgesville) each posted 2-for-3 outings to pace the Rams.
Sophomore pitcher Tricia Bettura (Canfield, OH/Canfield) (2.2 IP, 2Ks, 3 BB) took the loss to fall to 20-9 on the year. Freshman pitcher Brooke Stambaugh (Sykesville, MD/Century) allowed only one hit and fanned one in 3.1 innings. Kutztown pitcher Katlin Arbogast (7.0 IP, 11 Ks, 1 BB) picked up the win to improve to 26-11.
Shepherd completes its season at 36-16, while Kutztown improves to 43-17. Kutztown will face California (Pa.) at noon on Sunday in the championship round.
WV Wesleyan 8, Chowan 2 (Thanks to WVWC Sports Info)
The West Virginia Wesleyan softball team avoided elimination in the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament in a huge way against the Chowan (NC) Braves Saturday afternoon at Bloomsburg, PA.
The Lady ‘Cats pounded out 12 hits in an 8-2 victory over Chowan in a loser’s bracket elimination contest.
The Lady ‘Cats will now play Indiana (PA) in a rematch at 4:30 p.m. today in another elimination contest. Indiana defeated Wesleyan yesterday in an opening round game by a 3-1 score.
Wesleyan didn’t waste any time in getting on the scoreboard with a run in the top of the first inning behind four walks. Alex Whisner, Stephanie St. Peter, and K. C. Carey all drew walks off of Chowan starting pitcher Chris Wright to load the bases.
Paige Cummings received another free pass to bring home Whisner to make it a 1-0 game.
Shelby Carlson hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Sarah Smith who reached on an error in the top of the second to give Wesleyan a 2-0 lead.
Kashilia Young smashed a two-run home run in the top of the third to extend the Wesleyan lead to 4-0.
Chowan scored their first run in the bottom of the third on a one-run single by Fahren Munro.
Young knocked in pinch runner Kelli McCullough and Dana Goguen had a two-run single to right field in the top of the fourth that upped the Wesleyan lead to 7-1. Wesleyan capped off their scoring in the top of the fifth inning when St. Peter singled home Carlson to make it an 8-1 contest.
Chowan scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh to wrap up the game.
Whisner, St. Peter, Carey, and Young all had two hits for the Lady ‘Cats. Young knocked in three runs while Goguen knocked in two.
Patricia Moreno twirled a seven-hitter striking out five to earn the win. She upped her record to 24-7
California (PA) 1, Shepherd 0 (Thanks to SU Sports Info)
manda Wallace doubled home Melissa Lupinacci in the bottom of the seventh inning for the game’s only run to lead host California University of Pennsylvania to a 1-0 win over Shepherd University in second round action of the NCAA Atlantic Regional Softball Tournament at Lilly Park on Saturday.
Shepherd sophomore pitcher Tricia Bettura (Canfield, OH/Canfield) and Maria Greco of Cal both turned in excellent outings as both teams combined for only nine hits.
The Vulcans mounted a scoring threat in the third inning when Kayleigh Braim and Merissa Daley had back-to-back singles with two out. Bettura got Danielle Easton to fly out to end the threat.
Shepherd threatened to score in the top of seventh when sophomore third baseman Chelsie Oals (Hedgesville,WV/Hedgesville) and sophomore Kris Durham (Queen Anne, MD/Easton) each singled with one out. Oals was forced at third on a fielder’s choice and Greco fanned freshman pinch-hitter Lexi Matula (Pasadena, MD/Chesapeake) to stop the Ram scoring opportunity.
Alyson Johnson reached on an infield error in the bottom of the frame. She moves to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jamie Otter to set the stage for Wallace’s game-winning hit.
Wallace led the Vulcans with a 2-for-3 effort as she had half of the team’s four hits. Shepherd also got singles from junior outfielder Amber Dudek (Sterling, VA/Park View), junior shortstop Courtni Williams (Charles Town, WV/Musselman), and junior first baseman Nichole Pitcock (Sterling, VA/Park View).
Bettura (6.1 IP, 3 Ks, 1 BB) took the loss as she dropped to 20-8 on the year. Greco (7.0 IP, 3K, 1 BB) picked up the win for Cal to improve to 15-7.
Kutztown 2, Fairmont State 0 (Thanks to FSU Sports Info)
Kutztown used strong pitching effort and got just enough offense to claim a 2-0 victory over Fairmont State on Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Atlantic regional at Lilly Field. Kim Owens, Abbey Wilson and Elizabeth Derrick all had hits for Fairmont State. FSU finishes their historic run with a record of 33-20.
Kutztown got a solo home run in the first to take a 1-0 lead. The Golden Bears added another in the third on a error to make it 2-0. KU made the two runs stand up to claim the 2-0 victory.
Chelsea Cobb (24-13) allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits over six innings. She also had four strikeouts and a pair of walks.