Softball

Cougars Advance to Final Day of ECAC Softball Championships

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (5/11/07) - The Kean University softball team advanced to the final day of competition at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Southern Championships after winning two of three games on Saturday afternoon.

The sixth-seeded Cougars (23-14) opened play with a 1-0 victory over third-seeded Washington and Jefferson College in the play-in game, as junior Kara Schultz (Clinton, N.J.) scored the game-winning run on a RBI single by junior catcher Vicki Lanza (Edison, N.J.) in the top of the seventh inning.

In their second game of the afternoon, La Roche College scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning for the 3-2 victory.  The Cougars took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on a two-run homerun by sophomore second baseman Sara Steinman (Springfield, N.J.), before the second-seeded Redhawks rallied to advance to the winner's bracket.  With her seventh homerun of the season, Steinman broke the single-season record set a year ago by junior Katy McManus (Edison, N.J.).

Kean bounced back in the final game of the day, as they defeated top-seeded Westminster College, 2-1, in eight innings to send the number one seed home after the first day of play.  In the top of the eighth, rookie Allison Thibault (Garfield, N.J.) scored the game-winner on a misplayed suicide squeeze attempt.  Earlier in the game, sophomore Jesse Buchanan (Washinton Twp., N.J.) scored the first run of the game as the Cougars had three straight singles in the first inning.

On the mound, sophomore Meg Gierke (Glen Gardner, N.J.) went the distance in all three games, as she improved to 17-8. 

The Cougars face the loser of the La Roche College/Penn State-Behrend game tomorrow afternoon.  First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.