Moon Township, PA -Nicole Springer knocked two home runs while
Laura Messina struck out eight to send Central Connecticut to its first NEC Softball Championship game. The No. 2 Blue Devils defeated No. 4 LIU Brooklyn, 5-4, on Friday morning.
Springer's first home run came in the bottom of the first, smacking the ball out past the right fence with two outs.
Evie Rentzel drove in an RBI single to score
Kelsey Barlow and make the lead 2-0.
In the bottom of the second, Springer singled to right for an RBI, increasing the lead to 3-0. LIU Brooklyn came right back in the third inning, however, when
Lauren Morizi posted an RBI single to score
Ariana Lopez. Morizi was then able to score a run on
Nichole Toven's single to left.
Nicole Archer than drove in Toven to tie the score at 3-3.
Central Connecticut regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Springer blasted her second home run of the day, before
Eileen Purcell posted an RBI double to score Rentzel, pushing the score to 5-3.
LIU Brooklyn made another push at a comeback in the top of the sixth when
Whitney West's RBI single put the Blackbirds within one. But the score would remain 5-4 for the next inning, cementing Central Connecticut's victory and spot in the championship game.
The Blue Devils will now face the winner of today's second elimination game tomorrow at noon.
Game 4
#3 Monmouth 5, #1 Robert Morris 1
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Moon Township, PA--Monmouth survived to play one more game after defeating Robert Morris in the first elimination game of the day on Friday afternoon. The Hawks took down the top-seed Colonials, 5-2, behind a couple of multi-run innings.
Robert Morris struck first on a single by
Haileigh Stocks to drive in
Ashley Gerhart and go up 1-0. The score would remain the same until the third inning, when
Christine Scherr posted an RBI triple to score
Alica DeSanto. A fielding error allowed
Vanessa Cardoza to advance and Scherr to score the second run of the inning and put the Hawks on top. Monmouth would add another run in the fourth on an RBI single from
Kaitie Schumacher.
The Colonials scored again in the fourth on a Gerhart double, it was not enough, as Cardoza scored a two-run homer to put the Hawks up 5-2. Monmouth was able to hold off the Colonials and stay alive for chance to play in the championship.
Game 5: Championship
#4 LIU Brooklyn 7, #3 Monmouth 0
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Moon Township, PA -Lauren Morizi picked a good time to post her first home run of the season, as her grand slam helped lift LIU Brooklyn 7-0 over Monmouth in the second elimination game of the NEC Softball Tournament and send the Blackbirds to another championship game.
The Blackbirds and Hawks started at the top of the second with two runners on and two outs after the game was suspended yesterday due to lightning. The first run came in the fifth inning when Madison Green scored on a fielding error to put the Blackbirds up 1-0.
There was a short delay in the middle of the inning, when Emily Kakuska was ejected for second offensive conference. However, this did not hinder the Blackbirds, however, who got their biggest boost of the day when Morizi homered to right field to clear the bases and give the Blackbirds a 5-0 lead. Jordan Barnett then came in to pitch for the Hawks and ended the inning soon after.
The Blackbirds added two more runs in the top of the sixth when Nicole Toven drove in a two-run RBI double to score Morizi and Whitney West.