The softball team picked a great time to get on its best roll of the season. The fourth-seeded Dutchwomen won their fourth-straight game Wednesday in beating fifth-seeded Utica, 5-0, in the opening round of the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association championship tournament. The victory propelled Union into Saturday's showdown with top-seeded RIT (31-5) at 10 a.m. at St. Lawrence University.
Union, which is now 18-10-1, will take a streak of 20 consecutive scoreless innings against the Tigers, who have scored 228 runs this year while producing a team batting average of .343. Junior Sarah Johnston (Troy, NY/Troy) and seniors Apryle Pickering (Brandon, VT/Otter Valley Union) and Meg Crowley (Leominster, MA/Nashoba Regional) all tossed complete-game shutouts in the last three games in victories over Hamilton (2-0 and 8-0 in five innings) and Utica (which had beaten Union 8-0 and 3-2 on April 25).
Johnston leads a mound staff that has produced an earned run average of 1.71. She has given up just three earned runs and 32 hits
in 61.2 innings while leading the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association with her sparkling 0.34 earned run average. Crowley, who threw her College-record third career shutout against the Pioneers on Thursday while earning her 28th career victory, is 7-2 (including four shutouts) with a 2.14 earned run average. Pickering, who has won a Union-record 34 career games, goes into the weekend with a 2.63 earned run average.
Senior third baseman Julie Cardettino (Schenectady, NY/Niskayuna) leads the team with her .430 batting average (37 of 86) and is just three hits away from setting a new career standard. Cardettino, who has a .343 career batting average, has 132 career hits and is chasing the standard of 134 set by Taryn Samol (Class of 1999). Junior first baseman Meredith Chace (Westwood, MA/Westwood) is batting .313 (26 of 83) and is second on the team in both RBIs (18) and extra base hits (10-including a team-high eight doubles). Junior shortstop Audrey Brennan (Cooperstown, NY/Cooperstown) leads the Dutchwomen with her 21 runs scored while sophomore outfielder Jill Ring (Brewster, MA/Nauset Regional) is the team leader with her 25 RBIs and 14 extra base hits (including team-highs in triples and homers at four each). It was Ring's solo shot to start the second inning that sparked a five-run frame in the victory over Utica on Wednesday.
This will be Union's 10th appearance in the state tournament, including their record-setting third consecutive appearance. The Dutchwomen finished sixth last year (after being seeded fifth) and fifth in 1999 after receiving the second seed. The 1990 team, which received the top seed, posted the program's best finish as the Dutchwomen lost to Brockport, 5-2, in the championship game.The other second-round game pits No. 2 St. John Fisher (28-9) against No. 3 St. Lawrence (20-13). SJF beat Mt. St. Mary's 14-4 while the Saints knocked off Cazenovia, 3-0, in Wednesday's other first-round contests.
A win by Union against RIT would put them in Saturday's 4 p.m. contest while a loss sends them to Saturday's 2 p.m. game. The double-elimination tournament will conclude on Sunday.
For the complete tournament brackets and results, please click below: