QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Gannon softball team remains alive in the 2013 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament in Quakertown, Pennsylvania after splitting a pair of games Wednesday during the first day of the double-elimination event.
Gannon opened the tournament with a 7-1 loss to Bloomsburg, before rebounding with a 7-3 victory against Lock Haven. The Lady Knights continue play in the losers' bracket Thursday morning against Mercyhurst at 10 a.m.
Mostly likely needing to win the PSAC Tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament after dropping to ninth in the latest NCAA Division II Atlantic regional rankings released this afternoon, Gannon used two big innings to get by Lock Haven. Two-out lightning produced two runs during the top of the first inning.
Alyssa Bates (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) was hit by a pitch, before
Kirstie Cortazzo (Jeannette, Pa./Jeannette) blasted her fourth homer of the season to left center for a 2-0 lead.
Lock Haven quickly tied the game with its own two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. The Bald Eagles then grabbed a 3-2 lead with an unearned run in the fourth.
A five-run Gannon eruption in the fifth inning proved to be the difference.
Heidi Frynkewicz (Ambridge, Pa./Ambridge Area) pinch ran after a
Katie Dunn (Troy, Mich./Troy) single and scored the tying run on a throwing error.
Meghan Cunha (North Kingsville, Ohio/Edgewood) later scored the go-ahead run on another Lock Haven miscue and Bates put the finishing touches on the inning with a three-run homer. It was her fifth of the campaign.
Gannon won its first-ever PSAC Tournament game despite managing only three hits. Two of those hits were home runs that plated five runs.
Jess Rectenwald (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) improved to 3-4 on the mound, allowing two earned runs on six hits. The sophomore tossed her second complete game of the season, struck out a career-high seven and walked one.
Gannon found itself in the losers' bracket after a 7-1 loss in the first game of the tournament. Bloomsburg, which has played in 30 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, immediately posted four runs during its first at-bat due to a pair of long balls. The Lady Knights scored their only run of the contest on
Samantha Scott's (New Baltimore, Mich./Anchor Bay) ninth dinger of the season to left field in the third.
Bloomsburg salted the game away with another run in the bottom of the third inning and two more in the fourth. Bates recorded two of Gannon's four hits against the Huskies.
Alison Benz (Orchard Park, N.Y./Mount Mercy Academy) threw two scoreless innings of relief work during her first pitching appearance since March 9.
Gannon moved to 23-12 overall with Wednesday's split. The Lady Knights continue play at the PSAC Tournament Thursday, May 2 against Mercyhurst. The winner will play again at 4 p.m. while the loser's season comes to a close. Game time is scheduled for 10 a.m.
