BROOKLYN, N.Y. (May 11, 2008) – Third-seeded Saint Francis battled back from two deficits, but was ultimately done in by the third one as Annie Dubovec's second home run of the day gave Robert Morris a 4-3 victory in 10 innings to eliminate the Red Flash from the 2008 Northeast Conference Softball Tournament on Sunday at LIU Field in Long Island.
The No. 2 Colonials advanced to meet tournament-host Long Island in the championship. SFU finished 24-34 on the season, posting an 11-6 mark in the NEC and advancing to the postseason for the first-time since 2002. The season is considered highly successful after second-year head coach Sabrina Lane guided the Flash to a seven-game improvement in the overall win column. Saint Francis improved upon a 3-15 conference finish last season.
Junior pitcher Laura Caldwell (Bellefonte, Pa. / Bellefonte) performed brilliantly during the tournament, just as she has been for the better part of SFU's last 25 games. She threw 23.2 innings in less than 24 hours, giving up nine runs on 26 hits while striking out 19 and walking just three.
But Dubovec, who had one home run on the season entering the game, found her power. She gave the Colonials a 3-1 lead with a two-run shot in the top of the eighth inning, only to see Saint Francis tie it up in the bottom half of the frame. Dubovec then connected on the first pitch she saw in the 10th inning to give RMU a 4-3 lead. Both of her homers came with two outs.
The Red Flash got a runner on first in the bottom of the 10th inning, but RMU pitcher Brenna Reed prevented SFU from coming back this time.
Seniors Nicole Bender (Patton, Pa. / Cambria Heights) and Richele Hall (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) had two hits each in their final game in a Red Flash uniform. The other 17 players on SFU's roster gained valuable experience in the tournament and are eligible to return in 2009.
Junior Kara Stroup (Valencia, Pa. / Mars) and sophomore Kelly Cortese (Coatesville, Pa. / Bishop Shanahan) also collected two hits each. Caldwell gave up the four runs on 12 hits and struck out nine and walked just one in 10 innings.
The game was a rematch of Saturday's first round game when the Red Flash defeated RMU 4-1. The Colonials were looking to enact revenge for the loss, while Saint Francis was looking to advance to its first NEC Championship game since 2002.
The Colonials came out with an energetic dugout and an aggressive approach at the plate. Jessica Calderone swung at the first pitch she saw to leadoff the game and stroked a double past the third base bag. Lauren Nisivoccia bunted the first pitch she saw for a sacrifice that moved Calderone to third base with one out. But Caldwell buckled down and got Brooke Panepinto to look at a called third strike, and then Brenna Reed popped out to second base to end the threat.
After the Red Flash went quietly in the bottom of the first inning on just seven pitches, Susan Perich led off the second with a single up the middle. But Caldwell again stifled the Colonials' hitters with two swinging strikeouts and a bunt groundout.
For the third time in the game, Robert Morris had its leadoff hitter get on base in the fourth inning, a liner to center by Panepinto. But Caldwell got a sacrifice bunt, a groundout and a pop-up to eventually strand her at third base.
A leadoff single finally came back to hurt Caldwell in the fifth inning. Camille Kline singled through the right side, but remained there after back-to-back strikeouts by Caldwell. However, pinch-runner Megan Picinic stole second base and came around to score on a two-out double by Calderone to give the Colonials a 1-0 lead.
For the second time in the game, Panepinto led off an inning with a single, this time in the sixth inning. A sacrifice bunt followed by an infield single put runners on the corners with one out. Susan Perich, who had the infield single, stole second base to put two runners in scoring position. But Caldwell worked out of the jam with a groundout and flyout to keep it a one-run game.
Cortese jump-started the SFU offense in the bottom of the sixth inning with a leadoff single. She went to second base on a sacrifice bunt by junior Kelly Slingwine (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine Richland), and scored on a two-out double by junior Nicole Waligora (Johnstown, Pa. / Westmont Hilltop) to the fence in left field. Waligora's team-leading 14th double of the season may have left the yard for a homer if not for a stiff wind blowing in.
Perich started the two-out rally for Robert Morris in the eighth inning with a single before Dubovec hit her first home run to put Saint Francis on the ropes.
But the Red Flash weren't going down easy. They tied the game at 3-3 with a bizarre bottom half of the eighth inning. Bender and Cortese had back-to-back singles to start the inning. Slingwine then hit a ball in the hole at shortstop. As Calderone fielded it and tried to force Bender out at third, her throw hit Bender in the back and went into foul territory. Bender easily scored, allowing Cortese to reach third and Slingwine to move to second base. A passed ball made it even more interesting. The ball got away from catcher Megan Lynch. As she made a throw to the plate to try to get Cortese, the ball hit the runner and got away again. Slingwine continued toward the plate and appeared to slide under the tag to end the game, but she was called out by the home plate umpire to keep it 3-3.
Game Notes: By pitching the first extra inning in the eighth, Caldwell became Saint Francis' all-time leader in innings pitched. She tossed a single-season school record 212.0 innings in 2008, and now has a school record 544.1 career innings pitched with one season of eligibility remaining. Her 14 wins this season are tied for fourth on the school's single-season list, while her 35 career wins are fourth on the program's all-time list. Caldwell's 189 strikeouts this season set a single-season school record, and her 437 career strikeouts are second on SFU's all-time list, just nine shy of Stacy Scofield's five-year-old record. Caldwell's 38 appearances this year are also a single-season school record, and her 98 career appearances are tied with Patricia Galayda for the all-time program mark… Bender set single-season school records this year in hits (65), runs (44) and at-bats (188)… Slingwine set the single-season school record for stolen bases (21).
