Second-Ranked ECSU Ends UR softball season
MANSFIELD, CT – Top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State rode the pitching skills of senior Molly Rathbun to a 6-1 victory over the University of Rochester in an elimination game at the NCAA Division III Championships.
The Warriors improved to 42-2 and rebounded from a 5-0 loss to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy the day before. Rathbun improved her record to 31-2.
She struck out 15 and allowed three hits. She entered the game with 299 strikeouts in 185 innings. ECSU is ranked second nationally in the latest Division III poll.
It was Rochester’s second loss in the tournament. The Yellowjackets were eliminated. They finished the season at 29-15.
Rochester scored an unearned run in the first. Meg Hennessy reached on a throwing error. Katie McLean struck out. Nina Korn doubled into right centerfield. The Warriors overthrew the cutoff and Hennessy was able to score.
Eastern scored all the runs it needed with a four-run outburst in the fourth – two of them unearned. Priscilla Alicea singled to short. Rathbun singled to center and Megan Godwin bounced a single to left. Alicea scored and pinch runner Katie Sokoloski reached third. Godwin moved to second on the throw. Mattie Brett reached on an error that scored Sokoloski. A walk and a single brought home two more runs.
The Warriors added one unearned run in the fifth and an earned run in the sixth. Brittany Grage pitched into the fifth inning. She gave up seven hits, five runs (two earned), walked one, and struck out two. Sarah Wayson relieved with no outs and two on in the fifth. She gave up two hits, one earned run, struck out one and walked one.
Natalee Sassaman had two of Rochester’s three hits. She singled in the fifth with one out and then with two down in the seventh.