Cougars Defeat Lady Chargers, Advance In CACC Tournament
Courtesy of Matt McLagan, SID at Caldwell College
Caldwell, N.J. - The Caldwell
College softball team, ranked 12th in the nation, beat Dominican
College, 9-3 to advance in the winner's bracket at the Central
Atlantic Collegiate Conference Softball Tournament Friday afternoon
at Caldwell Field. The top-seeded Cougars improve to 35-15 on the
season with the win, while the Chargers, seeded second, fall to
36-16.
Unlike yesterday, when they didn't score a run until the bottom of
the 14th inning in a 1-0 win over Bloomfield College, the Cougars
struck early with three runs in the bottom of the second. Senior
Kim Birmingham (Pine Hill,
NJ/Overbrook) hit a two-out single that scored senior
Amy Coker (Pennsville,
NJ/Pennsville) from second for the game's first run.
Sophomore Carrie Flasphaler (Horseheads,
NY/Horseheads) followed with a home run to left
centerfield to put Caldwell ahead 3-0. It was the third homer of
the season for Flasphaler, who also homered in last year's CACC
Tournament.
An RBI single by junior Stacy Falkowski
(Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) in the bottom of the
third brought home senior Kristi Godfrey
(West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) to extend the lead
to 4-0. Dominican answered with a run-scoring single by
Michelle Krupna (Sparta, NJ), scoring CACC Rookie
of the Year Sarah Beck (Milton, NY) who had
doubled to lead off the inning, in the top of the fourth to
make it 4-1.
But in the bottom of the fourth, a two-run triple
by sophomore Alyssa Speno (Waterloo,
NY/Waterloo) sparked a five-run inning for Caldwell. After
Speno's fence-hitting hit scored Flasphaler and Birmingham, senior
Katie Jackson (Pennsville,
NJ/Pennsville), the CACC Player of the Year, doubled home
Speno. After senior Sara Neely (Middlesex,
NJ/Middlesex) walked, senior Gina D'Amico
(Turnersville, NJ/Washington Twp.) hit a two-run
double to right to put Caldwell ahead 9-1.
Dominican scored a pair of runs in the top of the fifth as
Melanie Hestermann (Lacey Township, NJ) led off
the inning, followed by a one out single to right field by
senior Katie Farrugia
(Cornwall, NY). Christine
Stathes' (Cornwall, NY) double to center field
to score both Hestermann and
Farrugia to extend the game. But senior pitcher
Jessica Saunders (Glen Burnie,
MD/Archbishop Spaulding) cruised the rest of the way to
improve to 15-7.
A two-time first team all-CACC selection,
Saunders allowed eight hits and three runs while
striking out seven in seven innings to earn the win.
Stathes, who was recently named CACC Pitcher of
the Year, took the loss for the Chargers after giving up eight runs
on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings.
The Cougars will try to win their third consecutive CACC Tournament
title on Saturday, when they will face the winner of the
elimination game between Dominican and Felician College. The
elimination game starts at 11:00 a.m., with the winner taking on
Caldwell at 1:00 p.m.