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NCAA Tournament Field
Read Sports Information Intern Zachariah Hand's championship game account below this story.
MANSFIELD, Conn. – Winning championships isn't always easy when you are the favorite, but it was, in fact, just that for the Eastern Connecticut State University softball team in the 2015 Little East Conference tournament at the Eastern Softball Stadium.
In four straight victories in the three-day, six-team double-elimination tournament, top-seeded Eastern (29-6-1) parlayed a high-powered offense (.370 batting average) with stellar pitching (0.29 ERA) and strong defense (only four errors) to sweep the tournament by a scoring margin of 34-1 and cop its fourth tournament title in six years.
After going out quietly in two games on its home field as the No. 1 seed a year ago, Eastern breezed through the 2015 tournament this year to qualify for its sixth NCAA Division III tournament in the last eight years (20th in program history) under head coach Diana Pepin. Eastern has won six straight and ten of 12 and is 14-2-1 in its last 17 games.
The entire NCAA tournament field and regional tournament pairings will be announced on the NCAA selection show (click here) Monday at 10 a.m. Four-team regionals are set for this Friday through Sunday, with Super Regionals scheduled for May 14-16 and the national tournament May 21-26 at The Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, VA.
The Warriors – ranked fifth in the NCAA New England regional poll -- put the finishing touches on a dominant three-day performance by crushing second-seeded Western Connecticut State University (27-14) in the first game of the championship round, 10-1 in six innings Saturday afternoon. It was the second-largest margin of victory in the title game in the tournament's 18-year history and first title game ending on the mercy rule since top-seeded Western battered Keene State College, 10-0 in six innings, in 2001.
At left: Alyssa Hancock is congratulated by head coach Diana Pepin as she rounds third base after giving the Warriors the lead for good, 3-1, with her third tournament home run in the fifth inning of Saturday's championship game.
The Warriors nevers trailed against Western, thanks to a solo home run on an 0-2 pitch leading off the second by sophomore second baseman Gina Georgetti (Milford) and a tie-breaking two-run shot by junior shortstop Alyssa Hancock (Waterford) in the fifth after a one-out single by sophomore rightfielder and No. 9 hitter Danielle Robillard (Swansea, MA). And for the third time in four tournament games, the Warriors used a late-inning explosion to gain the win. Clinging to that 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth, Eastern sent 13 batters to the plate in the top of the sixth, scoring seven runs on six hits, two hit batsmen and a walk. The first eight batters reaching safely and the first seven scored.
Ironically, a team boosting a .336 season batting average turned the tide of the game playing small ball in that decisive sixth inning. Sophomore pinch hitter Summer Cipriani (North Stonington) and sophomore centerfield Samantha Bardos (Norwalk) both reached safely with perfectly-placed bunts to swing the momentum in Eastern's favor after Georgetti was hit by a pitch to open the inning. With the bases loaded, senior leftfielder Shannon Martin (Wethersfield), Robillard, Hancock, sophomore third baseman Samantha Rentz (Griswold) and senior first baseman Sam Rossetti (Shelton) all drove in runs, and Bardos drove in the final run with a single for her second hit of the inning. Rentz (2 RBI), Martin and Rossetti all singled to plate runs, and with the bases loaded, Robillard was hit by a pitch and Hancock walked to force in runs.
Senior righty Erin Miller (Waterford) – the tournament's Most Outstanding Player -- pitched a six-hitter against Western for her 12th win against three losses. The 2014 LEC Pitcher-of-the-Year, Miller won three of Eastern's games in the tournament. She completed all three of her starts with two shutouts, giving up only that one run in the championship game in 19 innings (0.37 ERA). She allowed only 14 hits (11 singles) while fanning 12 and walking three.
"It was an amazing win, we wanted this so badly,"' said Miller, who pitched only 5 2/3 innings all season as a freshman on the 2012 LEC title team. "I was in the dugout screaming for everyone to keep talking, keep their energy up. It felt so good to go into the last inning up 10-1 and just do what I had to do."
Western scored the only run of the tournament against Miller, tying the game in the third inning after Hancock's team-leading seventh home run of the season (her third tournament HR) on an 0-2 pitch leading off the second inning had staked the Warriors to a 1-0 lead. Western's tying run came on senior second baseman Christine Bighinatti's (Rocky Hill) two-out RBI single which fell in front of Martin in left. Batting ninth, senior centerfielder Erin Biskup (Poughkeepsie, NY) had singled to open the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a passed ball. Miller got two outs on an infield popup and strikeout before Bighinatti tied the game.
A four-time tournament champion (most recently in 2012 on Eastern's field), Western had battled through the losers' bracket after being upended by No. 5 seed University of Southern Maine Thursday. The Colonials remained alive by winning three games by a total margin of 21-3, ushering defending champion Keene State out of the tournament with a 12-0, five-inning rout in the loser's bracket Saturday morning.
Against Keene, Western scored eight runs in the second and four more in the fifth to eliminate the No.3-seeded Owls. Western had five of its game total of ten hits in the second inning but also benefited from four Keene errors which accounted for six unearned runs. No. 9 hitter Biskup drove in two runs with a single and scored in the inning and freshman rightfielder Jenna Gaudioso knocked in two runs when her bunt double rolled through the right side of the infield.
Hancock batted .615 in the tournament (8-for-13) with three home runs, two doubles, two walks, seven runs, seven RBI and two stolen bases, raising her season average to a conference-leading .524. She also had 11 assists in the field. Rossetti batted .467 (7-for-15) and shared team-high honors with seven RBI. Georgetti (.429), Bardos (.417) and sophomore DP Tyler Keegan (Middletown) (.400) all batted at least .400. Sophomore Samantha Valentine (Ridge, NY) went the five-inning distance to win the Warriors' second game of the tournament Friday, 12-0, over Plymouth State University.
In five tournament games, Western senior third baseman Nina Wojtkiewicz batted a tournament-leading .714 (10-for-14) with 14 total bases, eight runs scored, five RBI, four stolen bases and a .789 on-base percentage. She also handled 19 chances in the field without an error. Biskup batted .462, Bighinatti and junior catcher Erin Weber .400. Junior Alle Sabith -- the 2013 tournament MVP -- was 2-1 with a 1.56 ERA in nine tournament innings and championship game loser Emily Cintorino, a junior, was 1-1 with a 6.22 ERA in a staff-high 18 innings.
Home Runs Set The Tone for Warriors
By Zachariah Hand / Sports Information Intern
MANSFIELD, Conn. –The Eastern Connecticut State University softball team left no doubt as to the who was the best team in the Little East Conference tournament this weekend, disposing of Western Connecticut State University by a final score of 10-1 in a game shortened to 6 innings due to the mercy rule to complete a four-game sweep and record its fourth LEC tournament title in the past six years.
Senior Erin Miller (Waterford) tossed a complete-game six-hitter, striking out two and improving her record to 12-3 on the season, 36-12 in 73 career appearances. In 19 innings pitched over three tournament starts, Miller allowed only one run on 14 hits. For her efforts, she was named Most Outstanding Player.
Miller showed her grit early on, escaping a runners on second and third with one out situation in the bottom of the first inning by getting Western senior Julia Bocek to pop out to second base and inducing a ground out to third base by junior Michaela Roche to avoid early damage.
Eastern's first three runs came on home runs. The Warriors got the scoring started in the top of the second inning on a leadoff home run to left field by sophomore second baseman Gina Georgetti (Milford) that came on an 0-2 pitch. Eastern scored twice more to break a 1-1 tie on a two-run home run to right field in the fifth by junior shortstop Alyssa Hancock (Waterford) before completely blowing the game open in the top of the sixth with seven more runs on six hits, causing the mercy to come into effect after Western failed to score in the bottom of the 6th.
"I was in the dugout going nuts telling everyone to keep talking, keep our energy up," said Miller. "I wanted this win so badly. When we started getting hit, I was off the handle; I was running around in the dugout. I needed those runs and it felt so good."
Following the game, each Eastern player was presented with a medal as recognition for the victory in the Little East Conference tournament. Additionally, Miller and fellow seniors Shannon Martin (Wethersfield) and Sam Rossetti (Shelton) were then honored together for their four years of service with the team as they approach the end of successful collegiate careers.
Eastern will now advance to the NCAA Division III tournament which will begin this week.
"I think we can do great things as long as we stick together," said Miller. "If we hit the ball and have solid pitching, we can go really far."
