Courtesy Tufts Sports Information

Box Score

MEDFORD, Mass. - After losing earlier in the day to host Tufts University, the Wesleyan University Cardinals held off the Williams College Ephs to avoid elimination in the 2009 NESCAC Softball Championship, 7-6, on Saturday afternoon at Spicer Field. With the win, Wesleyan (17-19) moves on to play Tufts in the championship round on Sunday while Williams (16-17) is eliminated.

The Cardinals sprung ahead first in the bottom of the second inning as they put two runners on with just one out. Freshman 2B Sam Epstein (Hewlett, N.Y.) then turned on a pitch and sent it flying over the LF wall for her first career home run, a three-run shot to give her team a 3-0 lead. Williams would answer back in the third with some firepower of their own as senior LF Libby Copeland-Halperin (New York, N.Y.) smacked a two-run bomb of her own with two outs to pull the Ephs within one at 3-2.

Wesleyan came right back in bottom of the inning when they sent 10 batters to the plate, scoring four runs on three hits. Sophomore 1B Talia Bernstein (Miami, Fla.) singled home two runs with one out. After a walk and a hit batter, Epstein drew a bases load walk to drive in her fourth run of the game. Sophomore 3B Anu Rimal (Belle Mead, N.J.) would leg out an infield hit to bring home the fourth and final run of the inning to make it 7-2 Cardinals after three complete innings.

The Ephs would chip away at the lead with a single run in the fourth on an RBI single by sophomore C Caitlyn Cain (Houston, Texas). The next three half-innings, starting with the bottom of the fourth, were 1-2-3 frames and the score remained 7-2 Wesleyan entering the top of the sixth. In the inning, Wesleyan junior starter Meaghan Dendy (Swansea, Mass.) quickly retired the first two batters before Williams started a two-out rally.

Senior SS Joey Lye (Scarborough, Ontario) began it with a bunt single followed by a single from Cain. With runners on first and second and two outs, senior CF Becky Sansone (Glen Gardner, N.J.) laced a double plating one and then senior 2B Morgan Simpson (McLean, Va.) drove in two more with a single. With the tying run on third, Williams would ground out to end the top of the sixth with score 7-6 Wesleyan.

Wesleyan went down in order for the third consecutive inning in the sixth, which set up an opportunity for Williams in the seventh. Freshman 1B Allison Hart (Roswell, Ga.) began the inning with a double and was then successfully sacrificed to third on a bunt by sophomore pinch-hitter Jessie Herzer (Edmonds, Wash.). Rimal, who had entered to pitch to face Herzer, then struck out the next batter. With Hart still at third base and two outs, leadoff hitter Joey Lye tried to lay down a bunt hit, but was thrown out despite a head-first dive into first base.

Dendy (12-8) got the victory in the contest, pitching 6.1 innings and giving up six runs, all earned on 13 hits, while striking out three and walking one. Rimal earned her first save of the season with the perfect 0.2 innings pitched including one important strike out. Bernstein had two of Wes's five total hits.

Williams sophomore Mary Beth Daub (Claremont, Calif.) pitched a complete game in a losing effort to fall to 7-7, going six innings allowing seven earned runs on five hits, striking out one and walking five. The Ephs had 13 hits, including three by Simpson.

Wesleyan will play Tufts tomorrow morning at 10 am. The Cardinals need to win in order to force a decisive second game which would be played immediately following. The Jumbos will take the 2009 NESCAC Softball Championship with just one win over Wesleyan.