MAHWAH,
NJ-Sophomore catcher Alicia Gifford (Guilderland, NY) singled home Katie Ratner (Smithtown, NY) with one out in the bottom of the 10th
to give Union a thrilling 4-3 victory over Staten Island College in the opening
game of the 2004 NCAA Division III softball East Regional Championship
Tournament.
The victory made a
winner of sophomore pitcher Jackie Coffey (Boston,
MA), who tossed a complete-game
seven-hitter that included six strike outs.
Coffey improved her season record to 12-2.
Union
will play top-seeded Moravian this afternoon (May 7) at roughly 3 p.m . A win would put
the Dutchwomen into Saturday's 11 a.m.
game while a loss would have them playing at 3
p.m. Win or lose on
Saturday, Union will play on Sunday in this double
elimination event. The regional champion
will move on to the NCAA Softball World Series next weekend.
Ratner, a sophomore who was batting sixth in the order as
the Dutchwomen's designated hitter, opened the 10th with an infield
single to third. Caitlin DelZotto's sacrifice bunt was thrown into centerfield where
the ball was overrun allowing Ratner to advance to
third with DelZotto stopping at second. One out
later, Gifford laced a single over the outstretched glove of Dolphin first
basewoman Julie Lowe.
“This is very
exciting,” said Gifford to a local reporter when asked how she felt about
picking up the game-winning hit (and earning the game ball from her coaches and
teammates). However, she quickly put
things into perspective when she said, “But we've still got a lot of work ahead
of us as we look to improve upon our NCAA finish of a year ago.”
The Dutchwomen,
now 24-3, advanced to the regional championship game of last year's NCAA event
at Cortland. The 2003 Garnet, who were playing in the then
28-year old program's first national tournament, lost its opening game to
Ithaca, 5-4, then beat William Paterson (3-1), Elms
(8-0) and Ithaca (7-3) before losing to Cortland (3-1) in the regional title
showdown.
Staten Island, which entered the game with a record of 18-15 and was the
region's No. 5 seed, got the first run given up by Coffey in almost a month in
the top of the second. Coffey, who
allowed her last run in the seventh inning against St. Lawrence on April 10,
went into the game having pitched 26 scoreless innings. However, two walks, a hit, and an error
allowed the Dolphins to break that string.
Theresa Tepedino
opened the inning with a walk and advanced to second when Andrea Meise's sacrifice bunt was thrown away for an error. Julie Lowe walked on a three-ball, two-strike
pitch before Kristina Samaritano, the No. 8 hitter,
fisted a bloop single over the head of second
basewoman Colleen White and just in front of a charging DelZotto,
who was playing right. The hit allowed Tepedino to cross the plate with the event's first
run. Coffey got out of further damage by
striking out the No. 9 batter and getting the leadoff hitter to fly out to
Erika Eisenhut in left.
Coffey helped her own cause in the last of
the second when she lined a one-out single to center. Gifford then singled down the right field
line moving Coffey to second and both runners advanced when leadoff hitter Beth
Carcone walked on four pitches. Coffey tied the game when Dolphin pitcher
Christina DArpa uncorked a wild pitch, and Union took
a 2-1 advantage when head coach Pete Brown sent Gifford home after DArpa turned her back on the Union base runner outside the
pitching circle.
Eisenhut then
hit a ground ball to third and was safe when she knocked the ball out of the
first basewoman's glove allowing Carcone to move to
third. Abby Arceneaux,
who earlier in the week was named the UCAA “Player of the Year” (and was an All-Conference first-team selection at pitcher and an
All-Conference second-team selection at first base) hit a sacrifice fly
to center.
Coffey retired nine in a row from the
second out of the third inning until the first out of the sixth before Staten Island
collected back-to-back singles. Coffey
got out of further trouble in the sixth as Gifford made a nice play on a foul
ball and Eisenhut caught a fly ball in left.
Coffey wasn't as fortunate in the ninth as the
Dolphins scored twice to send the game into extra innings.
Danna Glennerster
opened the frame with a pinch-hit single to right as the ball just went over
the glove of Arceneaux at first. Coffey picked up a fielder's choice for the
first out, but leadoff hitter Jennifer Doscher laced
a double into the left-centerfield gap plating Glennerster. Donna Przybyszewski
just missed beating out a bunt with Doscher moving to
third. With two outs, DApra was called safe on a bang-bang play at first allowing
Doscher to score the tying run. Coffey fanned Tepedino,
the Dolphins' cleanup hitter, to end the inning.
While Coffey regained her dominance after the seventh, retiring all nine
batters she faced in innings eight through 10, the Dutchwomen wasted several
golden opportunities.
“I was getting concerned that we were leaving way too many runners in
scoring position in the extra innings and that it was going to come back to
haunt us,” explained Brown. “But Jackie
did a tremendous job and our players never hung their heads after Staten Island
scored those two runs in the seventh.”
Union missed a chance to end the game in the last of the seventh
after Arceneaux reached on a one-out bunt and
sophomore centerfielder Julie Gawronski walked with
two outs. Both runners advanced on a
wild pitch, but Ratner's screaming line drive was
caught by Dolphin shortstop Doscher. Freshman Elise Nichols opened the eighth with
a pinch-hit single, moved to second on Coffey's sacrifice bunt, but was
stranded at third. The heart of Union's order
went quietly in the ninth before the Dutchwomen won it with the bottom of their
order in the 10th.
“Two things about this team that have
brought us the tremendous success we've enjoyed the last two years,” said
Brown. “First, we don't have a No. 2
pitcher. Jackie and Abby or Abby and
Jackie…the coaches, and more importantly, the team has a tremendous amount of
confidence on whichever pitcher is on the mound. Second, there is not a lot of pressure on any
one player, or any group of players for that matter. Everyone on this team has the ability to
produce the big hit, come up with the big catch, or steal the big base. The players are all dedicated to each other
and they all pick each other up.
“Those are the two main reasons we have done as well as we have the last
two seasons.”
Besides throwing a great game, Coffey
picked up a pair of singles, scored a run and advanced a runner with a
sacrifice bunt. Gifford also had two
hits and the big RBI. In the field,
Gifford was credited with eight putouts, Arceneaux had six at first base, freshman Colleen White at
six at second (along with an assist) and Eisenhut
finished with four in left field.