College Softball News

Central Connecticut Wins NEC Softball Title

NEC-Softball

Courtesy of the NEC

Moon Township, PA — In what proved to be an epic NEC softball championship game with a series of twists and turns, Central Connecticut claimed its second NEC title in three years with a 9-8, eight inning win over LIU Brooklyn in Moon Township, PA.

CCSU, seeded second, rallied back from a five-run deficit and won the game on a Tori Constantin (Norfolk, MA/King Philip Regional) single in the top of the eighth inning after fourth-seeded LIU had tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on an Ariana Lopez (Oxnard, CA/Oxnard) solo homoer.

The Blue Devils now await their fate in the NCAA Tournament with during tonight’s selection show at 10:00 pm on ESPNU.

The Blue Devils threatened in the top of the first as Ashley Black (Levittown, PA/Harry S. Truman) worked a four pitch walk and Kat Malcolm (Branford, CT/Mercy) reached on an infield single. LIU Brooklyn’s Nicole Archer (Merritt Island, FL/Merritt Island) was able to retire the next two batters and end the threat and the inning..

Whitney West (West Hills, CA/El Camino Real) led the bottom of the first off with leadoff single and advanced to second on a passed ball. Lauren Morizi (San Diego, CA/New Mexico State) put the Blackbirds on the board first as she smoked an RBI single through the right side. Victoria Zamora (Orange, CA/El Modena) followed as she lined a single to right advancing Morizi to put runners on the corners with none down for LIU Brooklyn. Celinna Cosio (San Diego, CA/Bonita Vistadrove) continued the hot Blackbird attack as she drove in Morizi on a sacrifice fly to extend the Blackbird lead to 2-0 after two innings of play.

In the bottom of the second, Angie Vazquez (Santa Ana, CA/El Modena) stayed hot as she smoked a double off the left field wall. Madison Green (Tulare, CA/San Joaquin Memorial) lined a single up the middle to place runners on the corners with 1 down for the Blackbirds. West slapped a grounder to third, but the throw to first was high, allowing Vasquez to score and extend the Blackbird lead to 3-0. Central Connecticut’s Laura Messina (Marlton, NJ/Camden Catholic) was able to end the threat by retiring the next two batters.

Archer worked a walk after a battle at the plate with Messina to start the bottom of the third. Cosio followed with a 2 RBI blast to right field as the Blackbirds took a commanding 5-0 lead.

Central Connecticut responded in the top of the the fifth as Katie Schmidt (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) worked a four pitch walk to start the top of the fifth for Central Connecticut. Black worked another walk to put runners on 1st and 2nd with none down for the Blue Devils. After allowing only one hit over four innings, Archer threw back-to-back wild pitches, allowing Central to get on the board to cut the lead to 5-1. Shelley Proctor (Carlsbad, CA/Carlsbad) came in to relieve Archer and was able to retire the next two batters and end the Blue Devils threat.

All-tournament team member Cosio struck again with a single up the middle to start the bottom of the fourth. Kylie Mulholland (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) followed with a walk, but Messina was able to retire the next three Blackbirds to end the inning and their threat.

With the Blue Devils down to their last six outs, Evie Rentzel (Dillsburg, PA/Northern York) led off the top of the sixth by reaching on an error. Tori Constantin (Norfolk, MA/King Philip Regional) flew out to left, allowing Rentzel to tag from first base to move into scoring position. Morizi had the second error of the inning as pinch runner Britney Ernst (Mendon, MA/Nipmuc Regional) was able to come around to score to cut the lead to 5-2. Mackenzie Keyes (Mechanicsville, VA/Atlee) blooped a single to center and Katie Schmidt (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) worked a walk to load the bases with one down for the Blue Devils. Brittney Camara (Merrimack, NH/Merrimack) slapped a single through the right side to cut the lead to 5-3 Blackbirds. Black followed as she drove in a run on a fielder’s choice to center field, cutting the score to 5-4 to put the Blue Devils within one run. Malcolm had the clutch hit of the inning, driving in two runs on a triple to right as the Blue Devils took their first lead of the game, 6-5 heading into the bottom of the sixth

Zamora, the NEC Rookie of the Year, responded to the Blue Devils five run inning, retaking the lead for the Blackbirds as she drilled a 2 RBI homerun to take back a 7-6 lead.

Down to their last three outs, Constantin and Keyes lined back-to-back base hits to place runners on first and second with two down for the Blue Devils. Schmidt drove in a single to left to load the bases. Camara delivered again for the Blue Devils, slapping a hit to right to drive in the tying run. An error on Zamora allowed the ball to roll to the backstop and Keyes was able to cross the plate and take back the Blue Devil lead with a score of 8-7.

Facing elimination, Lopez was determined to extend the game as she blasted a solo shot to tie the game at eigth in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings.

Tournament MVP Malcolm delivered again to start off the top of the eight by reaching on an error and advanced to second. Malcolm advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Schmidt. In a situation that every hitter dreams of, Constantin made a reality. With two outs and the potential go-ahead run on third, the freshamn drove in Malcolm with a two out single to retake the Blue Devil lead at 9-8.

After giving up a season-high six earned runs, Messina was able to hold the high-powered Blackbird attack and finish the game and secure the Blue Devil’s second NEC championship in three years by a final score of 9-8.

Messina, who won all three of her tournament games was hit hard, allowing eight runs – six of which were earned – on 13 hits.

Proctor, who came in to relieve Nicole Archer in the sixth inning with LIU up 5-1, was tagged with the loss.  She yielded eight runs, but just one was earned.

LIU Brooklyn tied the NEC single season home run record with 43 blasts on the season.

LIU’s Whitney West went 8-for-13 (.615) over four tournament games.

Tournament MVP Kat Malcom went 6-for-9 over three tournament games with 5 RBI and 3 runs scored.

NEC All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP:
Kat Malcolm

Central Connecticut:
Laura Messina
Brittany Camara
Kat Malcolm

LIU Brooklyn:
Lauren Morizi
Whitney West
Celina Cosio

Robert Morris:
Lauren Hackett
Samantha Santillo

Fairleigh Dickinson:
Megan Reiner

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