Third time's charm as WPI eliminates SRU
WALTHAM, Mass. - Top-seeded WPI rallied to defeat Salve Regina University softball, 8-4, in the elimination game of the 2014 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Championships hosted by Brandeis University. The Seahawks had won two previous meetings with the Engineers including a walk-off 11-3 victory in Florida on March 11.
Third-seeded Smith College (23-13) got another terrific performance from sophomore Gina Martucci and classmate Tori Brown (6-13, .462 BA, 2B, 2 RBI, R) was named MVP after driving home the game-winning runs to give the Pioneers the 2014 ECAC Division III New England Tournament title, 6-2, over conference foe and top seed WPI.
Martucci allowed just three earned runs in 28 innings during the tournament for a 0.75 ERA. She struck out 35, walked six and gave up just 14 hits for a .149 opponent's batting average. It was WPI (30-14) who struck first, on a Katie Bumila home run to dead centerfield in the first inning. It was just the fourth hit Martucci allowed in the double-elimination portion of the tournament.
The Engineers doubled the lead in the second. After Martucci walked a batter and hit another, Ali LaRue singled up the middle to plate Lindsay Gurska, putting WPI ahead, 2-0. Smith avoided further damage when 2B Brittney Blokker knocked down a hit and threw home to cut down a potential third run at the plate.
Smith looked to get momentum in the third, as WPI's Clare Doolin walked the bases loaded with two out, but she got a strikeout to end the threat. The Pioneers broke through in the fourth, with Martucci starting the rally with a single to left. Allison Snyder plated pinch runner Kristina Gaffny with a double, and Ruth Zimmerman's single to left was misplayed, allowing Snyder to score the tying run. After Blokker walked, WPI coach Whitney Goldstein went to the bullpen, calling on Caroline Medino to face Brown. Medino got ahead, 1-2, but Brown's ball to center bounced to the fence, plating what proved to be the game-winning runs.
Martucci took over from there, allowing just two hits, one of which was erased trying to stretch a single into a double. Smith added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh, with Brown singling and scoring three batters later on a wild pitch. Martucci added the icing on the cake with her second RBI of the tournament. She then got two Ks and a harmless fly to left to earn the 6-2 win.
WPI advanced to the championship game with a late rally to defeat fourth-seeded Salve Regina (22-19), 8-4. After being held to just two runs on three hits through the first five innings by the Seahawks' Kelsey Boarman, the Engineers trailed, 4-2. In the sixth frame, they took advantage of three costly errors with six hits to score six times to earn the win. The big blows were a two-run double by Gurska and a two-run home run by Nicole McDonough. After Medino allowed four hits and two runs in the first inning, Doolin gave up the same totals in the final six frames, striking out nine of the 23 batters she faced.