UNION, N.J. (5/15/15) – The Kean University softball team used a shutout pitching performance by Courtney Yard and homeruns by Cayleen Rizo and Emily Sabo to top Wheaton College 3-0 in game one of the best-of-three NCAA Division III Softball Super Regional on Friday. The result moves the Cougars one victory away from the NCAA final site in Salem, Virginia.
Yard struck out 11 and allowed just one runner past second base. Friday marked her 10th blank slate of the season; four out of Kean's six postseason wins this year have come on the strength of a Yard shutout. The Stockton, New Jersey native has pitched every inning for Kean in the 2015 postseason.
Click here to see a postgame interview featuring Yard, Rizo and head coach Margie Acker
The Cougar hurler struck out four of the first eight batters she faced in game one, and did not allow a hit over the first two innings. The Lyons did manage to work two walks, but Yard left both runners at first when the first two innings ended.
In the home half of the second, Wheaton pitcher Emily Berardi struck out the first two Cougars she saw. With two down, freshman Cayleen Rizo worked the count to 2-2. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, the shortstop crushed a pitch deep to left-centerfield. The ball found its way over the fence and landed amidst the batting cages for a solo homerun, ruining Berardi's perfect game, no-hitter and shutout in one swing. It was Rizo's team-leading fourth homerun of the season.
In the third, Wheaton threatened for the only time. Emma Hart walked and Maddie Hatch got the Lyons' first hit, but both players were stranded in scoring position when their half of the third ended with a pair of popups.
Tonianne DeMatteo (pictured left) led off the home half of the inning with a bunt single, and her speed helped force a rushed throw down the line that allowed her to go to second. With one out, Sabo beat out a bunt single of her own to put runners on the corners with one out. But Berardi wiggled out of the jam without allowing a run, helped by third baseman Emily Bouthillette, who cut down a Kean runner at the plate.
Yard's pitching was the story of the game. Through five innings, the senior had allowed just two hits and struck out nine of the 15 outs.
In the bottom of the fifth, DeMatteo led off with her second-straight basehit when she pulled a soft liner over the third baseman's head. With one down, Sabo smacked the first pitch she saw the other way up and over the left-centerfield fence for a two-run homer. It too landed in the Kean batting cages, increased the lead to 3-0 and chased Berardi from the game. It was her third homerun of the season and second in the NCAA Tournament.
That was it for the Lyons. Yard retired the final seven batters she faced for a relatively simple two-hit shutout. She moved to 23-8 on the year and Kean as a whole is 29-12-1. Berardi took the loss and Wheaton moved to 33-9.
Sabo, Rizo and DeMatteo had two hits apiece for Kean.
The Cougars and Lyons will resume their best-of-three series on Saturday at 11 a.m. If Wheaton prevails in game two, the deciding third game will be played immediately after on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
