Garden City, N.Y. – With an early start on Thursday (May 5) due to threats of inclement weather nearing the region, the seventh-seeded Molloy College softball team traveled to Janet L. Ficke Field on the campus of Adelphi University to take part in the NCAA East 2 Regional Tournament. The maroon and white picked up a 3-0 win over LIU Post in the first day of the game but dropped a 5-0, nine-inning affair to the host Panthers of Adelphi in the winner's bracket contest.
Molloy 3, LIU Post 0
The opening game of the NCAA East 2 Sub-Regional Tournament showcased the seventh meeting of the season between East Coast Conference Tournament finalists LIU Post and Molloy. The two teams dueled as pitchers Chelsea Hawks (Wading River, N.Y.) and Hannah Olshevski (Robbinsville, N.J.) tossed six scoreless innings apiece. Molloy was successful in getting seven base hits against Olshevski through the first six frames while Hawks scattered four LIU Post base hits through her six innings of work.
In the seventh, a one-out single by Olivia Banulski (Bristol, Conn.) was erased on a fielder's choice that kept Tracey Balinskas (Edison, N.J.) at first base with two outs in the inning. After a single down the right-field line by Milan Botte (Reston, Va.), the Lions had runners on the corners for All-ECC First Team shortstop Brianna Dalton (Northampton, Pa.). Dalton fell behind in the count, but slapped a 1-2 pitch up the middle for a base hit that scored the game's first run. The next batter, sophomore catcher Alexandra Russo (Coram, N.Y.), drove a 2-1 pitch from Olshevski into the cavernous left-center field confines of Janet L. Ficke Field; pinch runner Chrissy Heier (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored from second base easily while Dalton hustled around the diamond and slid in safely to put the Lions up by a three-run edge. With the lead, Balinskas came on to pitch the ninth and recorded the save to put the maroon and white into the winner's bracket and set up a date with host Adelphi later on in the day. Banulski was 3-for-3 in the victory while Balinskas and Russo each collected two hits.
Adelphi 5, Molloy 0 – Nine Innings
It would be the first meeting all season between seventh-seeded Molloy and third-seeded Adelphi; much like the Lions' first game of the day, the score would remain non-existent for much of the contest.
Hawks started the second game against Lindsay Mapes (Mount Vernon, Ohio) and both pitchers were once again effective. Molloy scratched three hits against Mapes with Ashley Fedor (Monroe, Conn.) collecting two of the base hits; meanwhile, Hawks cruised with a no-hitter until the sixth inning. Sophomore Krista King (Franklin Square, N.Y.) finally got the Panthers in the hit column with an infield single, and following a walk, Balinskas came on in relief. The senior loaded the bases by choosing not to pitch to NE-10 Player of the Year Brenna Martini (Hartford, Conn.), electing to face Nicole Camera (Metuchen, N.J.) with the bases loaded. On a 3-2 pitch, Camera laced a line drive to right field that fell into the glove of defensive replacement Bernadette Mullane (Bellmore, N.Y.) to end the threat and keep Adelphi off the board. Extra innings would be needed to decide the affair, as neither team could score a run in seven innings of softball.
Molloy threatened in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Balinskas blooped a two-out double down the right field line. Botte then cracked a single to short left field and advanced Balinskas to third base. Up came Dalton, but the shortstop's flare down the right field line was caught by a sliding Stephanie Staiano (Wantagh, N.Y.) to force the game to a ninth inning. It turns out that the grab by Staiano would swing the pendulum of momentum in favor of the brown and gold. In the top of the inning, freshman catcher Nicoletta Cuccio (Dingmans Ferry, Pa.) smacked a double to left field to lead off the frame; following a Martini walk, Camera drilled one down the left field line that scored both runners and put AU ahead by a 2-0 score. After another walk, Staiano laid a bunt up the first base line that scored another run on a throwing error. The Panthers would score two more runs in the frame to grab a 5-0 lead that would prove to be insurmountable.
Molloy will have an elimination game in the NCAA East 2 Regional Tournament on Friday (May 6) against second-seed LIU Post in Garden City at 4 p.m.
Provided by the Molloy Sports Information Department.
