Harrisonburg, Va. (May 8, 2014) – For the second consecutive game, junior pitcher Missy McCormick went the distance for her team in a must-win situation, and fourth-seeded Towson earned its second upset of the day, downing third-seeded Hofstra, 5-4, in the final contest of Day 2 at the 2014 CAA Softball Championship at James Madison University’s Veterans Memorial Park.
The Tigers turned to McCormick less than one hour after she tossed a complete game in an 8-6 win over second-seeded College of Charleston. The Tigers (29-24) advance to Friday’s CAA title game where they face top-seeded James Madison, needing to win twice over the hosts to win the trophy.
It’s Towson’s first appearance in the tournament final since 2009, with the last occurrence ironically also coming versus the Dukes. That’s also the last time James Madison won the crown, downing the Tigers 11-1 that year.
McCormick (17-10) allowed two earned runs on eight hits, but was effective enough again to help her team survive and advance. Earlier in the win over CofC, McCormick hit two homers and drove in six runs en route to tying for the Towson single-season homerun record with teammate Maureen Hepner (12), as well as setting the single-season RBI record with 62 on the season.
Tigers’ freshman Jessica South hit her second solo homer of the tournament and drove in another run in the win. Fellow classmate Delanie Dunham had an RBI as did Hepner, a senior who went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
The Pride, who fell to 33-13 on the season, will hope for an at-large berth in the upcoming NCAA tournament as they held a strong RPI at the start of the week. Sophomore Caryn Bailey hit two solo home runs, while freshman Michaela Transue went 2-for-3 in defeat.
The Pride entered the tournament as the two-time defending champs. In Thursday’s first game versus JMU, an 8-0 defeat, the team managed just one hit. Junior Taylor Pirone took the loss this evening, lasting one inning and giving up two earned runs on four hits to go along with one walk. The righty fell to 16-6 on the year.
Hofstra opened up the scoring in the top of the first to make it 1-0. Senior Rachael Senatore, the leadoff batter, advanced to second as McCormick airmailed a throw to first base on a diving ground ball stop. A groundout moved Senatore to third and then a wild pitch allowed her to easily cross home.
Towson’s offensive momentum carried over into its second game of the day and the Tigers plated four runs to take control early. Junior pitcher Morgan Lashley allowed a single and a walk to start the frame and Hepner made her pay by hitting a RBI single down the left field line. After a line-out, Dunham came through with her own RBI single to make it 2-1.
Towson’s next two batters reached base on error, with the latter, South, scoring Hepner after Hofstra shortstop Becca Bigler bobbled a ground ball. After a fielders’ choice resulted in Dunham being tagged out at home, sophomore Nicole Delgado singled home the final run of the inning with a liner up the middle.
South crushed Lashley’s 1-2 offering in the third over the left field wall to increase the TU lead to 5-1. It was her second solo homer of the championship, with the first coming against JMU.
Bailey followed in suit at the top of the next frame with a slicing solo shot over the left-center wall. Two innings later, Bailey answered again for the Pride and made it 5-3 with a near identical opposite field blast.
Hofstra worked to rally in the final inning as sophomore Maggie Hawkins and senior Becca Bigler reached first and second with one out. Following a fielders’ choice to short, runners remained on first and second with Bailey at bat again.
Bailey looked to hit a harmless pop up in short right, though TU second baseman Delgado misplayed the ball. Sophomore Kim Smith, however, who reached on the fielders’ choice, got caught in between third and home. The ball came to catcher Holiday Cahill, who threw it back to Dunham, who then applied the tag and sent the Tigers’ bench to the field for celebration.
