Syracuse, N.Y. – Senior designated player
Mackenzie Dreher (Hinckley, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) blasted a game-winning three-run home run to give the Le Moyne College softball team a 6-3 come-from-behind victory over Adelphi University on Sunday afternoon at the Thomas J. Niland Athletic Complex.
With the victory, the Dolphins earned a share of the Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division title after Le Moyne, Adelphi and Pace University all went 12-6 in divisional action. Based on the conference's tiebreaking procedure, Pace earns the top seed and will host the Northeast-10 Conference Championship Weekend due to sweeping the University of New Haven, while Le Moyne and Adelphi each went 2-1 against the Chargers. With Le Moyne's sweep of Adelphi this weekend, the Dolphins claim the second seed, while Adelphi, which needed to win just one of three games in Syracuse to win the outright title, grabs the third seed. New Haven received the fourth seed after finishing the season 9-9. After getting a bye into the second round of the Championship, the Dolphins will take on either the Northeast Division's third seed, Assumption College, or the fourth seed, Merrimack College, on Thursday at Pace Field in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. at a time to be determined.
Following four scoreless innings to start the game, Adelphi opened the game's scoring with two runs on two hits in the fifth inning. Left fielder
Christina Palmenteri started the scoring by launching a leadoff home run on the sixth pitch of her at-bat. After a pair of outs around a walk by catcher
Nicoletta Cuccio, second baseman
Nicole Camera tripled to drive in Cuccio.
The Dolphins got one of the runs back in the bottom of the fifth on one hit. Junior catcher
Emily Bagley (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) led off by drawing a walk on four pitches, but was retired at second as freshman shortstop
Lauren Zazzaro (Southington, Conn./Southington) reached on a fielder's choice by the shortstop. After Zazzaro was retired at second as senior left fielder
Allison Reynolds (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) reached on a fielder's choice by the second baseman, senior right fielder
Kirsten Trotta (Wilmington, Del./Alexis I. Dupont) drew a walk on seven pitches. Junior third baseman
Kelly Mascari (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill/Buffalo) followed with a single to drive in Reynolds.
Adelphi, which is ranked second in this week's NCAA East Region rankings, regained its two-run lead in the sixth on two hits. After right fielder
Stephanie Staiano led off with a single, shortstop
Danielle Cutuli tripled to left field to plate Staiano, but was tagged out by the catcher after departing third base.
Le Moyne, which is ranked sixth in the region, used three hits and took advantage of an Adelphi error to win the game. Zazzaro walked on seven pitches to open the inning and came around to score on a double by Reynolds. After a single by Trotta, an Adelphi pitching change and a pop out, junior center fielder
Sabrina Riley (Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park) reached on a fielding error by the third baseman, which allowed Reynolds to tie the score at three. Following a groundout to move Trotta and Riley up a base, Dreher drilled a home run over the fence in left field for her second career walk-off hit.
Sophomore righty
Alexis Eastman (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott) earned her third win of the weekend and her 18th of the season after yielding three runs on four hits, while striking out two. Lindsay Mapes took the loss for the Panthers after giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits and seven walks over six-plus innings.
Full Northeast-10 Conference Championship schedule
First Round – Tuesday, April 26th
Game 1: #4 Merrimack at #3 Assumption (3:00 PM)
Game 2: #4 New Haven at #3 Adelphi (3:00 PM)
Championship Weekend (to be hosted by Pace, #1 seed, Southwest Division)
Thursday, April 28th
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. #2 Le Moyne
Game 4: Game 2 winner vs. #2 Stonehill
Friday, April 29th
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. #1 So. New Hampshire
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. #1 Pace
Saturday, April 30th
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner
