Pacers Ousted From ECAC Championships, End Season at 23-19
Marywood bowed out of the ECAC Championships after suffering a pair of losses Saturday

Pacers Ousted From ECAC Championships, End Season at 23-19

Softball - 5/12/2012 5:13:00 PM

Game 1 Box Score - #1 Catholic 4, #4 Neumann 3

Game 2 Box Score - #2 PSU-Altoona 3, #3 Marywood 0

Game 3 Box Score - #4 Neumann 8, #3 Marywood 1 (Elimination game)

Game 4 Box Score - #1 Catholic 4, #2 PSU-Altoona 2

Scranton, PA - Third-seed and host Marywood University was eliminated from the 2012 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region Softball Championships as the Pacers suffered a pair of defeats on opening day action in the double-elimination tournament.  Marywood fell 3-0 to #2 Penn State-Altoona in their first game and then fell to #4 Neumann 8-1 in the first elimination game of the tournament.  Top-seed Catholic University (25-16) made it through the day with a 2-0 record while both PSU-Altoona (33-11) and Neumann (28-17) advanced to Sunday morning's elimination game with 1-1 records.  The Pacers close their season with a 23-19 mark. 

On Sunday, #2 PSU-Altoona will take on #4 Neumann in an elimination game at 10:00am. The winner of the game will play #1 Catholic at 12:00pm.  If Catholic wins that game, they will win the ECAC South Region Championship.  If they lose, they they will play the same team again at 2:00pm to decide the championship.  Live stats of every game Sunday can be viewed at http://www.sidearmstats.com/marywood/softball/scoreboard.aspx

In Marywood's opening game against PSU-Altoona, the Pacers and Lions battled through 2 1/2 scoreless innings before the Lions got all the runs they would need in the bottom of the third.  After a single down the left-field line by Casey Drick to start the inning, a bunt single by Lauren Bove gave PSU-Altoona runners on first and second with no outs.  A fly out to center would advance both runners one base, and a Brittany Smith single to center would score both runners to put the Lions up 2-0.  Kelly Chambers then doubled to center to score Smith and make it 3-0. 

Solid defense and pitching by both teams the rest of the game would mean no more runs in the final four innings of play.  Jackie Smith improved to 16-4 on the mound for the Lions after throwing a complete-game five hitter.  Smith allowed just one extra base hit, a double by Marywood's Chelsea Zimmerman, while striking out two.

Marywood's Alexandra Stine (9-6) took the loss after allowing three runs on five hits.  Jillian Flanagan was 2-for-3 at the plate for Marywood but was the only Pacer with multiple hits in the game. 

In the Pacers' second game against CSAC rival Neumann University, Marywood was once again eliminated from post-season competition by their conference foes.  The Knights opened the game with a three-run first and scored twice in the fifth and added three more in the seventh to cruise to a 8-1 win.  Neumann had eliminated the Pacers from last weekend's CSAC Championships as well. 

Neumann pounded out 13 hits and limited Marywood to just four en route to the win, their 28th of the season.  Again, single to center and bunt single got the Pacers in trouble early, and after a walk to load the bases with no outs a routine grounder allowed the games' first run to cross the plate.  An RBI single from Crystal Perlman put Neumann up 2-0, and Neumann would get the third run of the inning on a double-steal in the next at-bat.

Marywood's Katherine King (8-6) settled down after the first inning and shut Neumann down over the next three innings, but the Pacers' bats remained cold and the Knights tacked on two more runs in the fifth on a Jacki Herrington RBI single and Perlman's second RBI of the game.

The Pacers got one back in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single from Diana Butash, but Sarah McGann (8-4) shut the Pacers down the rest of the way to get the win.  Neumann added three more in the top of the seventh highlighted by a two-run double from Callie Emel.

McGann went the distance in the win, striking out six while allowing just one run on four hits.  King took the loss after allowing seven earned runs and striking out three.

Sunday's Schedule:
10:00 am - #2 PSU-Altoona vs #4 Neumann (Elimation game)
12:00 pm - #1 Catholic vs Winner of 10:00am game
2:00 pm - Repeat of 12:00 game, if necessary


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