FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Courtesy of Albertus Magnus Athletics Communications
WALTHAM, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus softball team fell to top-seeded Brandeis 9-4 in the ECAC Division III New England Championship on Sunday afternoon. The Falcons used a 5-4 win to earn the right to play in the championship against the host team.
Brandeis' Nikki Cole won her third game of the weekend for the Judges with the win over the Falcons on Sunday. She gave up three runs on six hits and struck out seven in the win. She went 3-0 on the weekend with an ERA of 1.50. She also struck out 18 batters in 14 innings of play.
Amanda Shore went 3-for-4 with two runs scored for the Judges, while the Falcons' Carli Matrisian(Milford, Conn.) tallied a two-run home run for Albertus. Amanda Jessey (East Haven, Conn.) had two hits, including a double, while Gillian Fortier (Naugatuck, Conn.) went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Brandeis improved to 21-14 on the year with the win. In the second inning, the Judges scored six runs with help from a bases-clearing double by Danielle Novotny. Brandeis took a 7-0 lead an inning later when Anya Kamber tripled to right to score Leah Shapiro.
The Falcons (27-14), who produced the most wins in program history this season, cut their deficit to 7-2 in the fifth inning thanks to Matrisian's homer. Jessey followed with an RBI double two batters later to make the score 7-3.
Melissa Castillo (Taftville, Conn.) added a bases-loaded single in the sixth inning.
The Judges a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth and then Samantha Wroblewski worked around a pai of two-out singled in the seventh, to secure the victory.
Samantha Maselli (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) took the loss for the Falcons as she allowed six earned runs on 14 hits. She struck out two batters in the complete game.
In the Falcons' 5-4 win over Southern Maine in the earlier game of the day, senior Brittney Urciuoli (Newington, Conn.) and Daysia Wehder (Queens, N.Y.) scored on a two-out error in the sixth inning to give the Falcons the late-inning lead.
The Falcons took advantage of a hit and three Huskies' errors in the sixth to erase a 3-2 deficit. Maselli then earned her third save of the season with a game-ending double-play as sophomore Megan Kelly (Bronx, N.Y.) caught a fly ball in right before getting the tying run out at the plate as the Southern Maine runner tried to tag up and score.
Alyssa Puccilli (Milford, Conn.) went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored to lead the Falcons, while Megan Ferraro (Branford, Conn.) worked into the seventh and earned her 10th win of the season.