NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - The sixth-seeded Albertus Magnus softball team fell to third-seeded Smith College 2-1 in the opening round of the 2014 Division III ECAC New England Tournament in Northampton, Mass. on Wednesday afternoon.
With the loss, the Falcons finish 2014 with a 17-18 overall record. Smith will now advance to play Brandeis on Saturday, May 10 in Waltham, Mass.
In what was believed to be the Falcons' first ECAC Tournament appearance (records do not indicate otherwise), the Falcons jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning as sophomore Veronica Hribko (East Haven, Conn.) singled up the middle to score junior Carli Matrisian (Milford, Conn.) from third. Matrisian led off the frame with a double to right before advancing to third on a groundout by Alyssa Puccilli (Milford, Conn.).
Smith threatened in the bottom of the third inning, putting two runners in scoring position with one out but could not capitalize as the Shyleen Ortiz (New Britain, Conn.) was able to force a groundout to third and a fly out to right field, stranding two Pioneer base runners.
Smith got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning, tying the game at one on an infield fielding error by the Falcons.
The Pioneers took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a Sarah Tully sacrifice fly to left which scored Caroline Kushner. Kushner led off the frame with a single before advancing to third on a sac bunt and another Albertus error.
In the top of the seventh, Smith's Gina Martucci struck out the first two Falcon batters before walking Amanda Jessey (East Haven, Conn.) to give the Falcons some life on the base path. With two outs and an Albertus runner on first, Martucci struck out her 11th batter of the day to secure the ECAC Tournament victory for the host team.
Martucci allowed five runs and four walks for Smith to go along with her 11 strikeouts. Ortiz allowed just two runs, neither of which were earned, as she struck out one batter and allowed five hits.
Matrisian finished the day 3-for-3 for the Falcons with a double and one run scored.
With the win, Smith improves to 20-13 on the year as the Pioneers made their third appearance all-time in the ECAC Tournament.
Today also marked just the second meeting between the two programs as the all-time series is now 0-2 in the Pioneers' favor.
*Release courtesy of Albertus Magnus College Sports Information Dept.