Bryant junior
Madeline Velasquez scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth as the top-seeded Bryant Bulldogs advanced to the NEC Championship with a 3-2 win over the defending champion Central Connecticut Blue Devils on Friday morning.
Central Connecticut grabbed the early lead on Friday, scoring single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth,
Kat Malcolm singled to leadoff the inning, advanced to second on a foul pop and then scored on a fielding error by the Black and Gold.
Arielle Bruno made it a two-run cushion with a solo home run to start the fifth.
Bryant senior
Kendall Corder started the Bulldog rally with a single up the middle and
Aubrey Mable followed with a sinking line drive to right field. Corder raced around the bases and was able to avoid the tag at home to score the first Bulldog run of the game. Velasquez followed with a single to send in Mable and tie the game at 2-2.
Tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Velasquez started the rally with a sharp single to left field and advanced all the way to second on an errant throw from the outfield. NEC Player of the Year,
Elle Madsen walked and classmate
Hayley Bottino moved both runners up with a ground ball to the right side. Freshman
Taylor Burger then drew a walk to load the bases for
Lauren Guy. Facing an 0-1 count, Guy hit a ground ball to third that was fielded cleanly but throw home was dropped by the catcher, allowing Velasquez to score with the winning run.
The Bulldogs will make their first championship game appearance Saturday at 12:00 p.m. against fourth-seeded LIU Brooklyn.
Bryant Recap | CCSU Recap
Game 4
#4 LIU Brooklyn 7, #3 Fairleigh Dickinson 2
Click Here For Boxscore
Click Here For Highlights
Nichole Toven drove in three runs to lead the fourth-seeded LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds to a 7-2 win over the third-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson in the day's first elimination game.
In the first inning, LIU jumped to an early lead with a pair of runs as sophomore
Whitney West started things off with an infield single. Toven moved her to second base with a sacrifice bunt before Lauren Morizi belted her first double of the day to put the score at 1-0. Two batters later, junior
Madison Green laced a single to left field that allowed Morizi to score and push the lead to 2-0.
The Knights returned the favor the following inning, as
Bryana Dorado hit a leadoff solo home run and Liz Woidt doubled to the left-center field gap to plate
Madison Lerma tying the score at 2-2.
On the first pitch of the sixth inning, Toven struck with a solo home run over the 225-foot sign in centerfield that gave the Blackbirds a one-run cushion.
The Blackbirds broke the game open with four runs in the seventh, all of which came with two outs, in the seventh.
Kayla Gloady singled to left field to score senior
Madison Zymkowitz, who legged out an infield single to lead off the inning. After a single from West, back-to-back doubles by Toven and Morizi plated three runs to put the margin at 7-2. From there,
Cassie Vondrak worked a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half to secure her sixth save this season and preserve the win for
Shelley Procter.
LIU Recap | FDU Recap
Game 5
#4 LIU Brooklyn 4, #2 Central Connecticut 2
Click Here For Boxscore
Click Here For Highlights
Jazmin Rodriguez hit a two-run double in the top of the first and the fourth-seeded LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds never trailed, knocking out the defending champion Central Connecticut Blue Devils with a 4-2 victory.
The Blackbirds took control early and opened up a two-run lead in the first inning. Toven smoked a one-out single to left field before Morizi connected on an opposite-field double over the head of the left fielder to put two in scoring position. Rodriguez followed with another opposite-field double, this one splitting the gap in left-centerfield to plate Toven and Morizi and give LIU Brooklyn a 2-0 lead.
Morizi bolstered the lead in the third inning with a towering solo home run over the wall in right-centerfield. The blast, her first round tripper of the season, pushed LIU in front 3-0.
The Blue Devils narrowed the deficit to one in the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore
Eileen Purcell led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. A single from freshman
Sarah Drazin advanced Purcell to third and she scored on a sacrifice fly from sophomore
Hannah Cooper. Senior
Arielle Bruno blasted an RBI single through the right side to score sophomore
Brittany Ernst, who pinch ran for Drazin, for CCSU's second run.
The following inning, LIU picked up an important insurance run when Zymkowitz nearly left the yard with a lined shot to right field. The ball hit the base of the wall and Zymkowitz settled for a triple, but drove in Morizi on the play to push the Blackbirds in front by two, 4-2.
From there, Vondrak took control by allowing just one hit over the final two innings to put the Blackbirds back in the NEC Tournament final for the second straight year.
LIU will take on top-seeded Bryant on Saturday, May 10 at 12:00 p.m. The Blackbirds will need two victories to earn their 14th NEC Tournament title and a 10th trip to the NCAA Tournament.
LIU Recap | CCSU Recap