AURORA BOX
LAKELAND BOX
MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- The Benedictine University softball team will play for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, needing two wins over Aurora to claim the NAC's automatic bid. The Eagles fell to Aurora 8-3, but rebounded with a 9-1 win over Lakeland.
AURORA 8, BENEDICTINE 3
STORY COURTESY OF ALVERNO COLLEGE
For a game between the two highest seeded teams of the tournament both possessing pitchers that historically don't allow opposing offenses many runs, it looked as though a low-scoring pitching duel was in order between Benedictine University and Aurora University in the eighth game of the Northern Athletics Conference Tournament at Alverno Field.
To the surprise of many onlookers, Aurora's bats caught fire in the first inning to put up six runs on four hits on the Eagles' ace pitcher, sophomore
Brittany Adcox (Plainfield, Ill./Central), who allowed only two hits in seven innings against Lakeland College yesterday.
From that point on the Spartans (34-7) kept their foot on the gas pedal to snag the 8-3 victory over Benedictine behind more solid offense and the pitching of senior Anna Snyder (Grayslake, Ill.). Snyder, who was recently named the NAC Player of the Year, gave up three runs in the third inning but allowed none in any other frame.
The Spartans' freshman Brooke Spencer (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) claimed the first two RBI of her squad's stellar six-run first inning with a double followed immediately by a 2 RBI single by freshman Coryn Hill (Fox Lake, Ill./Grant). With two outs on the board, junior Caitlyn Clay would step up to blast a 2 RBI shot to right field to finish off the inning's scoring drive on a high note.
The Eagles made a run at closing the gap on Aurora's lead in the third inning with three runs on two hits, beginning with a first-pitch solo shot by senior
Aimee Mahoney (Gardner, Ill./Gardner-South Wilmington). The Eagles then proceeded to load the bases on Snyder with two outs by way of two walks and a single, bringing up
Erin Galloway (Dwight, Ill.), who also walked for a RBI. Snyder managed to ward off any further damage in the inning, coaxing Adcox into a groundout for the final out of the frame.
Adcox, who carried a 1.44 ERA heading into the tournament, recovered sufficiently to throw four scoreless frames until freshman Tristan Wilcox (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) smashed her ninth home run of the year, good for two RBI.
The two runs helped secure the win for the Spartans, who handed Adcox, the newly-dubbed NAC Pitcher of the Year, a rare loss for just her third defeat of the season. The Eagles' ace allowed 10 hits and eight earned runs in seven innings and also racked up eight strikeouts.
Snyder allowed just four hits in her seven inning stint in the circle, fanning six while giving up a rare seven walks.
BENEDICTINE 9, LAKELAND 1
STORY COURTESY OF ALVERNO COLLEGE
Benedictine University's Brittany Adcox wasn't willing to let a loss to Aurora University in the previous game cost her team a shot at a conference championship.
It might be expected that Adcox (Plainfield, Ill./Central) would concentrate her energy on preventing hits and runs, but instead the Eagles' sophomore ace used her bat to smack a 3 RBI walk-off home run, her first of the season, in the fifth inning to lift her squad to a 9-1 victory over Lakeland College, leaving a stunned group of Muskies standing in the field as their season ended with the swing of the bat.
With the victory the stage is set for Benedictine for a re-match against No. 2 Aurora in tomorrow's championship game to decide the 2010 Northern Athletics Conference Tournament winner. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. at Alverno Field. A second game may be played at 1 p.m., if necessary, to declare a winner should Aurora drop the first game.
An impressive comeback run by Lakeland was cut short with the loss, as the Muskies battled back to win a pair of games over No. 3 Dominican University, 9-5, and No. 5 Concordia University Wisconsin, 12-6, earlier today after the Eagles handed the Muskies their first loss yesterday to knock them out of the championship bracket.
Benedictine (36-6) got to Lakeland's pitcher, senior Sara Roberts (Escanaba, Mich.), early in the game, notching two runs in the first inning on the 2 RBI single by senior Erin Galloway (Dwight, Ill.). The Eagles increased their lead to 5-0 in the third inning with four hits, all singles, tacking on three more runs.
Lakeland finally got on the board in the top of the fourth after sophomore Leah Sheahan (Salem, Wis./Wilmot), who reached on a throwing error and advanced to third on a double by freshman Erin Henk (Hoopston, Ill.), was sent home on a sacrifice fly by senior Sam Shepeck (Gladstone, Mich.).
That would be the only run for the Muskies in the game while Benedictine answered that score in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of a Lakeland error, and proceeded to end the game with Adcox's walk-off bomb in the fifth.
Adcox seemed to regain her composure quickly after a tough outing against Aurora, allowing just five hits with no earned runs in five innings of work to move to a 22-3 record.
Roberts, on the other hand, was tagged with the loss in her final collegiate game to finish at 18-8 on the season, allowing the Eagles to take 12 hits in 4.1 innings in the circle.
Benedictine's lead-off hitter, sophomore Laura Christensen (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg), led the drive with a perfect 3-for-3 effort in the batter's box to finish 4-for-5 on the day while Galloway was 2-for-3 in the game with a pair of RBI.
Freshman Heather Haeflinger (Shawano, Wis./Shawano) led the Muskies with two hits in three at-bats as the squad ends its season with a 27-18 overall record.
