Marywood University Pacers

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Softball 5/19/2023 7:21:00 PM

Rose Walk-Off Single Sends Pacers to ECAC Final

Marywood hosts Penn College on Sunday at noon

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Scranton, Pa. — Senior Emily Rose sent Marywood University to the ECAC Softball final Friday in her final career-at bat. The Pacers avenged a 5-2 defeat to St. Elizabeth in the tournament opener before advancing with a 2-1 victory in the afternoon.

Marywood will take on Penn College of Technology in the final on Saturday. The Wildcats held on to a 1-0 victory over St. Elizabeth in their only game on Friday.

Marywood looks to claim its second consecutive ECAC Championship. The Pacers defeated Baruch College for the title last season.

Both Mara Hamm and Marissa Gregory reached pitching milestones. Hamm recorded her 200th career strikeout. Gregory notched the 100th strikeout of the season. Between the two of them, the Pacers' pitchers struck out 23 batters.

Pitching duels was the theme of the tournament's first day. There have been just a combined two runs scored through the first five innings of each of the three games played at Pacer Park. Not a single run has been scored through the first three innings of any game.

Game 3: Marywood 2, St. Elizabeth 1

After St. Elizabeth evened the score in its first run of the game in sixth, Marywood plated the winning run with a two-out Rose single.

Alex Dusman kickstarted the winning inning with a leadoff, pinch-hit walk. Dusman beat out a tag for a stolen base to advance to scoring position. Mara Hamm moved the runner to third with a groundout. Rose hit a flair to center field that scored Dusman.

St. Elizabeth tied the game with a two-out rally in the sixth. Julia Stewart hit a single down the left line. Carly Bressler launched an RBI double to left center field to make the game tied at one. Gregory forced a strikeout to leave the go-ahead run at second.

Marywood took the lead in the fourth inning. Tori Para hit a solo home run down the left line for her second of the season.

Rose finished 2 for 4 with an RBI. Para batted 2 for 3 with a home run. Jessica Hanley batted 2 for 3.

Gregory won her 15th game of the season with a season-best 12 strikeouts. It tied Alexandra Stine (twice, 2011) for the third-best strikeouts in a single-game in Marywood history.

Kaitlynne McCarthy took the loss for the Eagles. She went 3 1/3 innings with two hits allowed and two strikeouts. Samantha Hemhauser and Stewart each had two hits.

Game 1: St. Elizabeth 5, Marywood 2

St. Elizabeth rallied for five runs in the top of the seventh inning to deliver the Pacers an opening loss. After being held to just two hits through six innings, the Eagles had five hits in their last frame.

After four scoreless innings, Marywood put the first run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth. Hanley had a hard-hit single to second base that escaped the fielder. Pinch runner Miranda Taveras advanced on a passed ball, and Abbey Stalter hit a hot-shot ball that caromed off the third baseman. Hamm put a ball in play that was misfielded by the shortstop that allowed Taveras to score.

Marywood doubled its lead in the sixth inning. Ashdon Clark led off with a double down the right field line, and Para advanced her to third with a flyout to center field. Sam Baltrusaitis skied a ball to mid-center field that enabled Clark to touch home safely for an RBI sac fly.

Back-to-back St. Elizabeth singled led off the seventh inning. Following a flyout, McCarthy singled to center field that broke the shutout. Savannah Van Winkle placed a perfect bunt to load the bases. A walk evened the score at 2-2. Hemhauser sprayed a liner down the left line that narrowly missed left fielder Dusman's diving reach, allowing two runs to score. A sacrifice fly supplied St. Elizabeth with a three-run cushion.

Hanley led the seventh with a single. Isabella Hanos made a diving catch in left field on Dusman that preserved the lead.

Hamm struck out a career-best 11 batters in the loss. She allowed seven hits.

Hanley and Para each led Marywood with 2 for 3 performances.

Penn College defeated St. Elizabeth 1-0 in the second game played in the tournament. The Wildcats scored the winning run on a wild pitch.

Marywood and Penn will play at noon in the double-elimination tournament. If the Pacers defeat the Wildcats in the first game, the two will play a rematch for the championship at 2:30 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#23 Ashdon Clark: C/1B; 5' 5"; Senior; R-R

#3 Mara Hamm: P/2B; 5' 2"; Junior; R-R

#14 Jessica Hanley: 1B; 5' 7"; Sophomore; L-R

#20 Emily Rose: C/INF; 5' 2"; Senior; R-R

#18 Abbey Stalter: OF; 5' 4"; Junior; L-R

#28 Miranda Taveras: UT; 5' 7"; Freshman; R-R

#4 Alex Dusman: OF; 5' 2"; Freshman; L-R

#12 Tori Para: 3B/SS; 5' 5"; Freshman; R-R

#10 Marissa Gregory: P/SS; 5' 7"; Freshman; R-R

Players Mentioned

#23 Ashdon Clark
: 5' 5"; Senior; R-R
: C/1B

#3 Mara Hamm
: 5' 2"; Junior; R-R
: P/2B

#14 Jessica Hanley
: 5' 7"; Sophomore; L-R
: 1B

#20 Emily Rose
: 5' 2"; Senior; R-R
: C/INF

#18 Abbey Stalter
: 5' 4"; Junior; L-R
: OF

#28 Miranda Taveras
: 5' 7"; Freshman; R-R
: UT

#4 Alex Dusman
: 5' 2"; Freshman; L-R
: OF

#12 Tori Para
: 5' 5"; Freshman; R-R
: 3B/SS

#10 Marissa Gregory
: 5' 7"; Freshman; R-R
: P/SS