|
Complete
Box Score
EDINBORO, PA -- The Edinboro University
softball team made its first venture into NCAA Division II playoff
action a successful one, and in dramatic fashion, no less. With
Dana Webb hitting a two-run homer in the top of the seventh
inning. Edinboro upset second-seeded Kutztown 2-0 in game number
four of the first day of action at the NCAA Division II
Mid-Atlantic Regional.
The Fighting Scots, seeded seventh, struggled
offensively a week ago while playing at Kutztown in the PSAC
Tournament, scoring just two runs in their two games. It was much
the same on Thursday, as Golden Bears' ace Kaitlin Arbogast
entered the seventh inning with a perfect game. Katelyn Gurgiolo
struck out to start the frame, but Vanessa Rose ended the no-hit
bid with a single up the middle. Then Webb stepped to the plate
and clouted her fourth home run of the season over the
left-centerfield fence.
“Their pitcher did a great job,”
exclaimed jubilant Boro head coach Dan Gierlak afterwards. “We
just kept adjusting. We never got down. When Vanessa got on, Dana
wondered if I wanted her to bunt. I'm not bunting Dana!”
Rose faced several anxious moments throughout
the game, and that was also the case in the seventh. With one out
pinch hitter Caitlin Hague reached on a single. After a strike
out, an error left runners on second and third with two outs. Rose
bore down and struck out Maria Schiavo to end the game, giving
Edinboro its first-ever NCAA playoff win.
Kutztown left eight runners on base in the
game, including five in the final three innings.
“Vanessa pitched unbelievable,”
Gierlak pointed out. “They can really swing the bats. We came
up with big play after big play after big play all day. The kids
were so excited.”
While evening her record at 14-14, Rose
scattered five hits and walked a season-high three batters while
finishing with nine strikeouts. She recorded her tenth shutout of
the season. The matchup of first team All-PSAC pitchers saw
Arbogast finish with 13 strikeouts while falling to 27-9.
“It was fun. Nerve-wracking, but
fun,” summed up Gierlak.
Edinboro. now 20-20 advances to Friday's game
number eight against Bloomsburg, the third seed, at 4:30 p.m. The
Huskies defeated North Carolina Central, 12-0. The loss drops
Kutztown to 42-17. The Golden Bears will face NC Central on Friday
at 11:30 a.m., with the loser of that game being eliminated.
|
