D 3 softball

[criswyly]

ECSUalum....Linfield's Velasky three a no hitter in the regional.  As a team, the Lady Cats scored 49 runs and allowed 0.....That's four straight shutouts in the regionals.....did any other regional winner come close to that?  Besides that the Lady Cats are way out hitting everyone.  The finals will be interesting...as we know, no team is unbeatable.

[7express]

ECSUalum....Linfield's Velasky three a no hitter in the regional.  As a team, the Lady Cats scored 49 runs and allowed 0.....That's four straight shutouts in the regionals.....did any other regional winner come close to that?  Besides that the Lady Cats are way out hitting everyone.  The finals will be interesting...as we know, no team is unbeatable.

Any team that makes the final 8 is a damn good team, I just think there's a couple that are slightly better then the rest (Eastern, Linfield & Luther look to be the 3 best).  Eastern got a favorable draw: Christopher Newport in the first round (third worst record among the final 8, only Tyler & DePauw were worse [percentage wise]) then Messiah/DePauw in round 2 if they beat CNU.  Messiah will be tough, but they have a better record, so they should be favored to advance.  They can't take any team for granted, but it looks like they got it easier then Luther/Linfield who would have to play each other tomorrow should both win today.

Btw, its already 10-0 Linfield over Cortland top 5.

[7express]

Linfield wins 10-0 (final 5 innings), Tyler beats Luther 1-0.

[7express]

DePauw vs. Messiah.  Jessica Rhoads the starter for Messiah is unbelievable, 15-1 with a 0.16 era on the season.  Would be a good matchup of her & Molly Rathburn tomorrow night if it happens.
Messiah 0 DePauw 0 top 1st.  DePauw is the home team.
Messiah 0 Depauw 0 top 4th.  DePauw advanced a runner to 3rd in both the first & 3rd but with 2 outs unable to ge them in.  Messiah got a decent rally in the 3rd second and third 1 out, but a double play ended that mini threat.
Messiah 0 DePauw 0 bottom 6.  DePauw has left like 7 people on base, they've had a runner on base every inning and in the 6th they started with a lead off double and failed to score.  I said this during the LEC  tournament as well; against a good pitcher when you have opportunities to get on the board, you better convert them.
Messiah 0 DePauw 1 top 8.  Rhoads gets taken out of the game after 7, apparantly have dealt with a couple injury issues this season, new pitcher Jocelyn Hickey gives up a homer to Emma Minx.
Messiah 1 DePauw 2 final (10 innings).  Sorry, had to go run an errand.  Messiah matched DePauw's run in the 8th but then DePauw got one back in the 10th for the winner.

[7express]

Eastern vs. Christopher Newport in the final game of the first round.  The 3 losing teams today have scored a combined 1 run in 22 innings so far today.  Kristin Townsend for CNU, Molly Rathburn as usual for the Warriors.   Eastern is the road team, so unfortunatly, CNU will bat last.  Lets go Eastern!!!
Eastern 0 Chris Newport 0 top 1st.
Eastern 0 Chris Newport 1 bottom 2.  Jennifer Falin of the Captains takes Rathburn deep.  Only thr 4th home run Rathburn has allowed this year.
Eastern 1 Chris Newport 1 top 4.  Kelly Peterson double ties the game.  CNU minimized the damage with a double play earlier in the inning on a failed bunt attempt by the Warriors.
Eastern 3 Chris Newport 1 top 4.  Jen Tamindzija single drives in 2 more.
Eastern 4 Chris Newport 1 top 4.  Rathburm double brings in Priscilla Alicea.
Eastern 6 Chris Newport 1 top 7.  Rathburn 2 run homer scores Alicea who lead off the inning with a double.
Eastern 7 Chris Newport 1 bottom 7.  Tamindzjia double ends the Eastern scoring for today barring a 6 run rally from the Captains here in the 7th.
Eastern 7 Chris Newport 5 bottom 7.  Damn, I hope I didn't jinx the Warriors.  Jessie Atkinson triple scores 2 Captains, and Jess Failon hits her second homer of the day to cut the Eastern lead to 2.
Eastern 7 Chris Newport 7 bottom 7.  Unbelievable, bunt single with 2 outs loads the bases, and a single to center ties the game.  Really bad inning by the Warriors, up by 6 you don't want to be walking people and hitting batters which is what Molly did.
Eastern 7 Chris Newport 8 final (8 innings).  Chelsea Mitchell single scores Ashley Mani to win the game for the Captains they had absolutely no business winning.  With the short turnaround in an elimination game, we'll see how the Warriors respond with their back to the wall, hopefully its positive.  They finished undefeated in the LEC tournament, and in the Providednce regional didn't lose until the championship round, so they haven't had to face elimination yet.

[hoopstermom]

CNU scores six in the bottom of the 7th, including another home run by Falin, to tie the game!

The Captains (not the Pilots) have tagged Rathburn for 9 hits.

For an unranked team, CNU has certainly come to play and show they are deserving of being in the final 8.

[7express]

CNU scores six in the bottom of the 7th, including another home run by Falin, to tie the game!

The Captains (not the Pilots) have tagged Rathburn for 9 hits.

For an unranked team, CNU has certainly come to play and show they are deserving of being in the final 8.

Yah my fault I updated the message.

[7express]

Molly starting the 8th like she started the 7th............putting people on base.  hit a batter to lead off the 7th, walk to lead off the 8th.  After Atkinson comes up Failon's on deck who has 2 home runs.

[hoopstermom]

CNU WINS!! 

[7express]

Damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, thats a bad loss.  Up 7-1 going into the 7th to lose 8-7 in the 8th.  We have a short time around, but we have to forget about this, and focus on a good Messiah team tomorrow afternoon.

[7express]

Saturday schedule:

Cortland vs. Luther at 11:00 am
Messiah vs. Eastern at 1:30
Linfield vs. Texas Tyler at 4:00
DePauw vs. Christopher Newport at 6:30

my predictions:
Luther over Cortland.  Have Luther in the championship so have to stick with them.  Sure, 40-4-1 looks good, but I don't think the SUNYAC was that impressive this year, and its not like the Cortland regional was stacked with great teams.
Eastern over Messiah.  I thought this would be in the winners bracket.  Assuming the matchup is Jessica Rhoades vs. Molly Rathburn, would be 2 of the top pitchers; both had sub 1 era's comming into tonight's action.  Runs will be at a premium, and Eastern has a better offense then Messiah does.
Linfield over Tyler.  ASC is loaded with top 40 teams, so Tyler might be better prepared to play Linfield then most teams, but Linfield still runs them over.
Chris Newport over DePauw.  Winning a game like they just did is a big momentum boost they could use this week.  I doubt they beat Linfield twice, but maybe they get them once to force a decisive 3rd game for the championship.

[WLCALUM83]

I agree on the Linfield/Tyler pick, Patriot pitchers Shepard and Thomason are good, if they can somehow keep Linfield off the board long enough, this poster wouldn't be surprised by an upset-- Linfield's due to get revenge however, the last few years these teams have matched up, the Patriots have won more often than not-and many of those games were barnburners!

[Phred]

UT-TYLER didn't look that good today.  Lucky hit that drove in the run when the wind carried it into play territory against Luther.  Luther however couldn't buy a hit.  My pick is that Linfield will handle Shephard very well.  6-1 Linfield.

[ECSUalum]

Damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, thats a bad loss.  Up 7-1 going into the 7th to lose 8-7 in the 8th.  We have a short time around, but we have to forget about this, and focus on a good Messiah team tomorrow afternoon.

Very uncharacteristic of Molly last night!!  I know CNU has a great hitting team, but her control was very poor
Hopefully she is not hurt!  Lost confidence out on the mound!!??

[7express]

Very uncharacteristic of Molly last night!!  I know CNU has a great hitting team, but her control was very poor
Hopefully she is not hurt!  Lost confidence out on the mound!!??

She gave up a home run in the second, but once Eastern got the lead back in the 4th she was dominant up until the 7th inning.  The worst time to have your worst inning of your season.  Messiah isn't a good hitting team, but they have great pitching, and good defense, so it might be a good team to face for Molly today.