May 10 , 2013
Ithaca, NY… The College of New Jersey softball team saw its season come to a close as top-seeded St. John Fisher College outlasted the Lions 6-3 in 13 innings in the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament on Friday in the Ithaca, NY Regional.
All of the scoring took place early in the game with TCNJ scoring three in the first and the Cardinals countering with two runs in the second and another in the third. The teams then went nine scoreless innings before Fisher (33-13) got a three-run home run Sarah Fordyce in the top of the 13th to pull out the win.
The tournament participation marked the 22nd NCAA appearance for the Lions in their program history and third trip in the last four seasons.
The Lions (26-15) loaded the bases in the bottom of the first as Michelle Casale (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) and Kelly Hommen (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) both singled. Junior Nicole Brodbeck (Atco, NJ/Hammonton) drew a free pass and Casale crossed home plate with the game’s first run when junior Lindsay Williams (Roxbury, NJ/Roxbury) grounded out to first. It was the third run batted in of the tournament for Williams.
Two more runs scored on a throwing error by the pitcher and TCNJ took command of the contest with a 3-0 leads.
The Cardinals responded with a solo home run off the bat of Fordyce to lead off the second inning. Later in the inning, and RBI-double from senior Krista Robarge drew St. John Fisher within a run.
Senior Kayla Goodberlet cleared the fence in the top of the third to tie the game at 3-3. Junior pitcher Alex Carisone (Branchburg, NJ/Rutgers Prep) came on to pitch for the Lions and retired the next three batters in order to keep the game deadlocked.
St. John Fisher threatened in the top of the fifth, but a key defensive play kept them from gaining an advantage. Jesse Smyrski led the inning off with a base hit before Carisone retired the next two batters. An outfield error enabled Smyrski to round third and attempt to score. But a well-executed relay from Williams to shortstop Kristen Lake (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) to Jamie Purcell (Nutley, NJ/Mount St. Dominic Academy) at the plate cut down the runner to end the inning.
Cardinal pitcher Sarah Stefanon held the Lions’ offense scoreless after a rocky first inning. St. John Fisher knocked on the door again in the top of the seventh. Goodberlet doubled with two outs, and after intentionally walking clean-up hitter Leann Merchant, TCNJ freshman pitcher Katie Hourihan (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) came on in relief of Carisone. She induced a ground out to second base to escape the jam and ending the inning.
Carisone was terrific in relief. She pitched four and two-third scoreless innings, striking out three and issuing just one intentional walk.
More drama unfolded in the eighth as the arm of senior Liz Huttner (West Windsor, NJ/West Windsor-South) kept the game tied at 3. With two outs and nobody on, a pair of singles by the Cardinals put runners on first and second. Leadoff hitter Meghan Burns singled to center, but Huttner fired a strike to nail Robarge at the plate and end the inning. It was the sixth outfield assist of the season for Huttner.
TCNJ’s best chance to win the game in extra innings came in the bottom of the 11th when Hommen singled and pinch-runner Corinne Minicozzi (Hawthorne, NJ/Hawthorne) ended the inning on third base.
The home runs by were the 40th, 41st, and 42nd of the season by the Cardinals this spring.
Freshman Ashtin Helmer (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) pitched the first two innings for the Lions and finished her rookie season with a 16-5 record overall.
Hourihan had her second straight solid relief outing for the Lions in the tournament with a season-long stint of six and one-third innings, but did didn’t get the reward she was hoping for. On Thursday, she pitched two innings of scoreless ball against SUNY Cortland.
Hommen and senior Ashley Sogluizzo (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) each finished with a pair of hits for the Lions.
Stefanon (22-6) went the distance for the Cardinals allowing only six hits in 13 innings with eight strike outs.
The Cardinals entered the NCAA regional tournament as the top seed, winning the Empire 8 conference championship for the fourth time in the past six years. They were knocked off by eighth-seeded Western Connecticut State University in their regional opener on Thursday 5-3.
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