CATONSVILLE, Md. (Mar. 21, 2008) – The Saint Francis softball team scored four runs in the eighth inning to earn revenge for two earlier losses by defeating Niagara 7-4 on Friday in championship bracket play at the sixth annual UMBC Spring Classic.
SFU defeated Mount 8-5 earlier in the day in a non-conference meeting between two Northeast Conference teams.
The Red Flash were the fourth seed after going 1-2 in pool play, while the Purple Eagles earned the top seed in bracket play after going 3-0 in pool play. However, Saint Francis will head to the championship game at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday with its win over Niagara. The Red Flash will play the winner of tonight's UMBC / Mount St. Mary's game.
Junior Janelle McCoy (New Paris, Pa. / Chestnut Ridge) got her first start of the season against Niagara, and pitched brilliantly against a team that scored 23 runs in two previous meetings. She gave up just two runs on four hits while striking out one and walking one in 5.1 innings of work. Both runs came on one mistake, a two-run home run by Tory Healy. Junior Laura Caldwell (Bellefonte, Pa. / Bellefonte) earned her second win of the in 2.2 innings of work.
Juniors Kelly Slingwine (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine Richland) and Kara Stroup (Valencia, Pa. / Mars) paced the offense with two hits each. Stroup had three RBIs and McCoy and sophomore Kelly Cortese (Coatesville, Pa. / Bishop Shanahan) scored two runs each.
Saint Francis took an early 3-0 lead and the Purple Eagles stayed close on Healy's homer in the fourth inning. They eventually tied the game on an RBI single by Kristin Sito with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
But the Red Flash didn't wait long to begin its offensive onslaught. McCoy was placed on second base by NCAA rules in the extra inning. Cortese laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her to third base and reached first base on a throwing error. McCoy was able to score from second base on the play to give SFU a 4-3 lead. Senior Nicole Bender (Patton, Pa. / Cambria Heights) beat out an infield hit and then stole second base to put runners on second and third with nobody out. After Bender stole second base, Slingwine belted an RBI single through the left side to plate Cortese and put runners back on the corners. Slingwine then stole second base, and Bender scored on the next pitch after a failed pickoff attempt by Niagara's catcher to make it 6-3. Slingwine then scored on an RBI single by Stroup to make it 7-3.
Caldwell allowed a sacrifice fly to make it 7-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning, but got out of the rest of the inning with no further damage to secure Saint Francis' win.
McCoy, who was perfect on the mound through two innings, got the Red Flash on the board in the top of the third inning with her first career home run, a solo shot to center field. Cortese followed with a bloop single over the pitcher's head. She eventually scored on Stroup's second home run of the year, a two-run blast to right-center, to make it 3-0 SFU.
The Purple Eagles finally got on the board in the fourth inning after a one-out walk. Teresa Healy drew the free pass, and then came around to score on her sister Tory's two-run home run to left-center. McCoy settled down and got a pop out and grounder to escape further damage as the Red Flash took a 3-2 lead into the fifth inning.
Niagara threatened again in the bottom of the fifth inning when it had runners on first and second with one out. A groundout moved the runners up a base and then McCoy got another grounder to escape the jam.
McCoy got a fly out to start the sixth inning and was relieved by Caldwell, who walked the first batter she faced. An error put runners on the corners with two outs, and Caldwell got another pop out to escape the trouble and preserve SFU's 3-2 lead.
The Purple Eagles were down to their last out when Sito placed a single between shortstop and third base to plate Maggie McDonald. McDonald had doubled with one out and ran into Stroup at the plate to score the tying run. Caldwell got a fly out to right field to force extra innings.
Saint Francis 8, Mount St. Mary's 5
The Red Flash got off to a great start in the first inning against Mount St. Mary's, thanks to some great hustle and some shoddy defense by the Mountaineers. Bender led off with a line drive single up the middle and immediately stole second base, one of three stolen bases in the inning for SFU. Slingwine laid down a sacrifice bunt and her speed forced a quick throw that went into right field, allowing Bender to score the game's first run from second base. Slingwine then stole second base before junior Hilary McNelis (Tyrone, Pa. / Tyrone) singled to move her to third. With two outs, McNelis took off for second base to draw a throw from the catcher. She got in a run down that allowed Slingwine to score, and then McNelis came around to score all the way from first when a throw during the run down sailed into left field. Saint Francis held a 3-0 lead after the top of the first with just two hits, and were aided by three stolen bases and three errors.
The Red Flash took advantage of another miscue by the Mount in the second inning. Cortese reached on a throwing error by shortstop Lisa Curreri, and then stole second base. She moved to third base on a groundout by Bender and then scored on a suicide squeeze by Slingwine. Stroup followed with a single down the third base line that prompted Mount to make two changes. Curreri was replaced at shortstop by Jenna Zimmerman and pitcher Amanda Hanson was replaced by Beth Everist.
Freshman Michelle Spisak (McKees Rocks, Pa. / Sto-Rox) got the start, and gave up her first hit of the game on a line drive single into the left-center field gap to start the bottom of the second inning. Nicole Reeder then laced a hard liner to the right side of the field, but McNelis snared it and touched first base to record the double play.
Saint Francis tacked on another run in the top of the fourth inning with some clutch hitting. Bender and Slingwine belted back-to-back line drive singles to center field and each moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Stroup. Junior Nicole Waligora (Johnstown, Pa. / Westmont Hilltop) laced a liner into left field to plate Bender to make it 5-0. Waligora then stole second base, but Everist got a grounder to strand runners on second and third base.
But Mount answered right back this time when Amanda Burk hit a towering home run into a steady wind to cut SFU's lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Sophomore Stephanie Griffin (Dupont, Pa. / Pittston Area) beat out a single on a grounder to shortstop, stole second base and then scored on a groundout by Slingwine to make it 6-1 in the fifth inning.
Bender's third single of the day sparked another rally in the sixth inning for the Red Flash. She stole her second base of the day and scored on a double to left field by Stroup. Sophomore Christina Aulbach (York, Pa. / Dallastown Area) then pinch ran for Stroup and came around to score on McNelis' double into the left-center field gap to make it 8-1.
Mount St. Mary's finally mounted a serious threat in the sixth inning and it started when Spisak misplayed a grounder that allowed leadoff hitter Kristin Fusco to reach safely. Burk drove in her second run of the day to make it 8-1. Reeder added an RBI groundout, and Courtney Zingle and Kayla Garry added RBI singles to pull the Mount within 8-5.
But that's as close as Mount St. Mary's would get as the Red Flash improved to 2-0 in non-conference meetings with NEC teams this season. SFU defeated Central Connecticut State, 8-0, last weekend at the Delaware State Capital Classic.
The Red Flash were outstanding on the bases, going 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts. They moved their season-to-date stolen base attempts to a national-best 26-for-26, but that streak ended in the second contest against Niagara as Slingwine was thrown out in the first inning. However, Bender and Slingwine later stole bases in that game.
