Schenectady, N.Y. – Sara Heller singled off the left field fence to drive in the game-winning run with one out in the bottom of the seventh as Rensselaer eliminated Skidmore from the 2010 Liberty League Softball Tournament with a 5-4 victory on Sunday morning at Union's Alexander Field.
The Thoroughbreds fall to 23-14 overall, while the Engineers improved to 19-17-1 and will face off against top-seeded Union.
RPI got out to an early lead in the bottom of the first when Jen Bach hit a drove her 10th home run of the season over the fence in left center field to make a 2-0 game.
Skidmore got within one in the top of the second as
Carol Brown (Seattle, Wash.) scored
Christina Gargiso (Staten Island, N.Y.) on a single with the bases loaded and
Julia Schwartz (Bryn Mawr, N.Y.) tied it up in the third on her eight home run of the year.
The Engineers took the lead right back in the bottom half of the third on Bach's second two-run homer of the game.
The Thoroughbreds made it 4-3 in the top of the fourth on Schwartz's RBI single that drove in
Tara DeGeorge (Seaford, N.Y.). They were able to tie it up in the sixth when DeGeorge blasted her first career home run to right center.
Gillian McCarthy and Bach led off the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back singles before Heller drove in Bach with one out to score the game-winner.
Abby Fuhrman (Amherst, Mass.) suffered the loss, allowing one run on five hits in 2.1 innings of relief.
Sam Crose (Assonet, Mass.) got the start for Skidmore and gave up four runs on six hits in 4.0 innings.
Bach picked up the win in relief; she gave up just the DeGeorge homer in 3.1 innings. Bua allowed three runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings, getting the start for the Engineers.
Brown, DeGeorge, Schwartz and
Cora Crafts (Gilford, N.H.) each had two hits for the Thoroughbreds. Bach finished 3-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored and four RBI, while McCarthy also had three hits.
Schwartz and Brown were selected to the All-Tournament Team for Skidmore.
Rensselaer 5, Skidmore College 4 (May 9, 2010 at Schenectady, NY)
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Skidmore College.... 011 101 0 - 4 9 2 (23-14)
Rensselaer.......... 202 000 1 - 5 11 2 (19-17-1)
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Pitchers: Skidmore College - Sam Crose; Abby Fuhrman(5) and Lauren Dinsdale. Rensselaer -
F. Bua; J. Bach(4) and S. Heller.
Win-J. Bach(9-8) Loss-Abby Fuhrman(4-7) T-1:40 A-100
HR SKI - Tara DeGeorge (1); Julie Schwartz (8).
HR RPI_SB - J. Bach 2 (11).
Weather: Windy, overcast, low 50s
