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Box Score 2 POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The fourth-seeded Monmouth University softball team walked off with an 8-7 victory over No. 6 Quinnipiac in eight innings to reach the championship round of the MAAC Tournament, before top-seeded Marist walked off with the championship on an infield single in the bottom of the seventh, Saturday at Gartland Field. With the results, Monmouth ends its season at 29-21, as does Quinnipiac at 28-29. Marist (45-11) awaits its NCAA Tournament opponent to be announced tomorrow night. For their efforts,
Jill Freese (Oxford, PA/Oxford Area),
Nicole Wieczorek (Oakdale, NY/Connetquot) and
Amanda Riley (Tracy, CA/John C. Kimball) were named to the All-MAAC Tournament Team.
“I'm know we're all disappointed, but I'm extremely proud of the fight that our team showed all tournament long,” said Monmouth Head Coach
Shannon Salsburg. “Our future is very bright. Thank you to the seniors for their hard work and dedication.”
Freese hit her second and third home runs of the tournament, giving her 14 on the year (2nd in program history), had four RBI's and three runs scored on the day. Her two-run home run in the top of the sixth against Marist erased a 2-0 deficit and pushed her into second in Monmouth history in single-season RBI's (47).
Chloe Howerth (Roscoe, IL/Hononegah) went 4-for-8 with the game-winning hit against Quinnipiac, while
Emma Hill (Rae, MO/King City [Highland C.C.]) added four hits and an RBI of her own. Wieczorek had three hits, including her seventh home run of the year, and scored twice.
Sydney Underhill (Temecula, CA/Chaparral) earned the win over Quinnipiac, allowing two runs, one earned, on six hits and a walk in six innings of relief. Riley took the loss against Marist, allowing three earned runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out three in 6.1 innings pitched.
After the decision was made to begin the game with steady rain falling Friday afternoon, Riley fired four-straight wet pitches out of the zone to begin the game, before the Bobcats sacrificed the runner to second. Following a wild pitch in which the wet ball again caused Riley issue and sent the Quinnipiac base runner to third, the home plate umpire called for the tarp. Upon the resumption of play on Saturday morning, Quinnipiac attempted a squeeze play that went foul, but Riley's next pitch went to the backstop, allowing Sarah Heimbach to come home with the game's first run.
The Hawks got on the board with four runs in the bottom of the second.
Justene Reyes (Carson, CA/Warren) led off with a single to center, before Freese drew a walk. An error on the infield loaded the bases, before an errant throw on a force attempt at the plate scored the first two Monmouth runs. With two away, Hill hit a slow roller to the left side for an infield single. One run scored on the single, while a second came in when the throw to first got past the first baseman to make it 4-1 Monmouth.
Maria Ascher led off the top of the third with a solo blast to right to cut the Hawks' lead to 4-2. Following a walk and a single, Erin Larsen ripped a three-run homer to left to give the Bobcats a 5-4 lead. Underhill replaced Riley in the circle and limited QU to a two-out single to close out the top of the third.
The Hawks took the lead right back in the bottom of the inning as
Rachel Shotzbarger (Saugus, CA/Saugus) singled and Freese knocked a two-run homer out to right to give Monmouth a 6-5 lead. Quinnipiac tied the game in the top of the fifth as Sydney Robey walked with two outs and scored from first on Dani Edmands' single to right center to tie the game at 6-6. Monmouth had some two-out magic of its own in the bottom half of the inning as Wieczorek left the yard to right center, giving a 7-6 lead back to the Hawks.
The Bobcats tied the game in the top of the sixth with a leadoff single and three errors. But following a scoreless seventh, the Hawks worked a two-out rally to walk off with the victory.
Katie Baron (Matawan, NJ/St. John Vianney) got things started with a single through the left side, before Hill hit an infield single to put runners on first and second. Howerth then singled down the left-field line and Baron slid in underneath Edmands' tag at the plate for the winning run.
Marist jumped out to a 2-0 lead on solo home runs in the first and fourth innings from Claire Oberdorf and Kyrsten Van Natta, respectively. After Reyes walked, Freese tied the game with a two-run shot to center. But the Red Foxes won the game with two infield singles and a walk in the bottom of the seventh.
