Marywood Wins CSAC Softball Championship
Marywood wins first conference championship since 1995

Marywood Wins CSAC Softball Championship

Softball - 5/3/2014 3:41:00 PM

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YouTube video of final putout

Scranton, PA – For the first time since 1995, Marywood University won the Colonial States Athletic Conference Softball Championship with a 3-2 victory over Cabrini College Saturday in the first game of the softball championship. The top-seeded Pacers receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Pacers won its first title since defeating Alvernia College for the PAC crown 19 years ago. Marywood will learn of its destination Monday when the pairings are announced on ncaa.com at 10:00 am.

Freshman pitcher Lindsey Gibbs was named the 2014 CSAC Championships Most Valuable Player award. Gibbs accounted for 28 strikeouts in three games. She pitched a complete game, allowing two earned runs on nine hits. Gibbs fanned six batters and allowed just one walk to extend her season record to 13-4.

Marywood (24-11) took advantage of five Cavalier errors; none of the Pacers runs went as earned runs against the Cabrini pitching staff.

The Pacers scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth inning with the scored squared at two. Diana Butash led the inning with pulled single into the gap in right field. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Butash moved to third on a Sarah Recanati sacrifice bunt. Brooke Labs skied a fly ball to Cabrini first baseman Natalie Giannascoli, and the ball popped in and out of the Giannascoli's mitt to allow Butash to reach home for the Pacers' third run.

Stephanie Bagniewski led the Pacers with a 2-for-3 performance. Labs drove in an RBI.

Cabrini's Ambert Dietrich went 3-for-4 on the game. Kaitlyn Cooper and Taylor Gallagher each had two hits. Kiley Sharp took the loss in a relief appearance. 

Gibbs allowed just a walk in the sixth inning and retired all three batters in the seventh to secure the victory. Gibbs forced Cooper to pop up to Bagniewski at first base to end the game.

Fourth-seeded Cabrini (25-17) reached the championship game with a 7-3 victory over second-seeded Neumann University on Saturday morning. That game ended in dramatic fashion as Lindsay Savar snagged a liner with the bases loaded and doubled off a runner at second to end the game.

After Gibbs left a runner at third base with a stolen base in the first, Marywood countered with two runs in its first set of at-bats off a pair of Cabrini fielding miscues. Recanati singled through the shortstop and third baseman to get aboard. A Mariah Runco bunt was fielded and overthrown by pitcher to allow both runners to reach scoring position. Labs dribbled a ball to the second baseman, who again over threw the first baseman, allowing both Recanati and Runco to plate runs.

Cabrini seemed to have figured Gibbs out in the second with a run on two hits. Becca Miles launched a lead-off hit to deep left field and just beat out a Stephanie Poveromo throw for a double. Taylor Gallagher hit a gapper into left-center to drive in a run. Gibbs left a runner in scoring position, thanks to a strikeout and a popup.

The Cavaliers tied the game at two apiece in the third; however, a heads-up fielding play by Chelsea Zimmerman saved face and prevented what could have been a catastrophic inning. Three singles loaded the bases for the Cavaliers with one out. Becca Miles sacrifice flied out to deep right field to drive in Deitrich. Poveromo threw the ball into third baseman Labs, who tried to pick off the runner heading to second base. Labs' throw sailed into the outfield, and a well-positioned Zimmerman was able to retrieve the ball and gun down Cooper at the plate for a classic 7-5-9-2 double play.

Marywood left runners in scoring position in both the second and fourth innings. Each time, Kathleen Rossi was tagged out at the plate by Cabrini catcher Miles.

Next week will mark the first NCAA Softball Championships appearance in school history. The first round is slated to begin Thursday. 
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