BOX SCORE
Ithaca, NY (May 10, 2008) – A record breaking season for the DeSales University softball season came to a heartbreaking end on Saturday morning as the University of Rochester defeated the Bulldogs, 3-2, on a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to eliminate the Bulldogs from their first-ever NCAA Regional Tournament.
The Bulldogs finish the year with a school-record 28 wins and 15 losses, while Rochester moves to the loser’s bracket championship game where they will meet the winner of the Ramapo College/Defiance College game at 4:00 pm today.
A defensive battle early saw Rochester (30-11 overall) take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Melissa Altemose had an RBI triple and scored two batters later on an RBI double from Jess Sorrentino.
DSU, as it has done all season, wasted no time countering the first lead of the game when freshman Kristin Schultz (Laurys Station, PA/Parkland) hit her second home run of the season, a two- run shot to left-center plating junior Jamie Pfitzenmayer (Annandale, NJ/Hunterdon Central) to tie the score at two in the top of the sixth inning.
Freshman Jen Lococo (Easton, PA/Freedom) stranded a runner on second in the bottom of the sixth inning and DSU had a chance to take the lead in the top of the seventh. After freshman Kate Steiner (Walnutport, PA/Northampton) singled and advanced all the way to third base on a wild pitch with one out, DSU was unable to plate Steiner as a strikeout and a hard line drive right to the first baseman ended the inning.
After retiring the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh, the Yellow Jackets Liz Slupinski connected on a solo home run to left-field that spoiled the Bulldogs run thru the loser’s bracket.
Lococo pitched another excellent game allowing just the three runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out four. She finishes her freshman season with a 12-7 record and a 1.69 ERA on the mound. After just one season Lococo is already ranked among the top 10 all-time in wins, ERA, shutouts, complete-games and strikeouts.
Schultz knocked in both Bulldogs runs on the afternoon and junior Kelly Moran (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) and Steiner each had a hit in the loss. Both Moran and Steiner finish the season with eight home runs, breaking the previous mark of seven set in 2002 and 2005 by two different players.
DSU finishes the season with a .958 fielding percentage, which breaks the team record of .956 set last year. The Bulldogs also broke the team record for home runs with 28, smashing the old mark of 17 set in 2004. Freshman Larissa Tenley (Sinking Spring, PA/Conrad Weiser) broke both the single-season and career record for saves with four.