GLASSBORO, N.J. (5/2/15) – A six-run first inning helped propel the Kean University softball team to a 9-3 NJAC Tournament elimination game victory over The College of New Jersey on Saturday. The Cougars have climbed out of the loser's bracket to reach the final day of the NJAC Championship.
Kean was dominant in that first inning. Courtney Yard pitched a 1-2-3 top with two strikeouts. She's also the Kean leadoff batter, and stroked a single to left. Emily Sabo beat out her sacrifice attempt for a basehit to put the first two runners on. Emily Bissonnette brought them both in with a clutch two-strike basehit that made the score 2-0 before TCNJ had recorded an out.
The Cougars scored four more times in the frame. An error allowed Bissonnete to score a third run. With two down, Cayleen Rizo launched an RBI triple off the centerfield wall. Brooke Ennis then ripped a single to the leftfield gap to score Rizo, and then raced all the way around the bases on Tonianne DeMatteo's double to the wall to make the score 6-0 and chase TCNJ starter Ashtin Helmer from the game.
Both teams scored a run in the second inning. Sam Platt hit an RBI double for the Lions in the top of the frame. In the last half, Sabo walked, Bissonette (pictured left) singled and Katie Garbarino drove in Sabo, whose speed allowed her to score from second on an infield hit.
TCNJ scored another run in the third with the help of a Kean error, and came dangerously close to climbing into the game. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jess Stevenson's drive chased Bissonnette all the way to the centerfield wall, but the sophomore pulled down the catch to keep the score 7-2 instead of 7-6.
Kean staged anther rally in the third. Ennis singled to centerfield to start it up and then DeMatteo walked. Yard brought them both around with a double to the wall that made the score 9-2 after three.
The Lions added a run in the fourth, marking the sixth-straight half-inning that there was a run scored in the game. Kean finally settled for a scoreless frame in the fourth, but still left the bases loaded in the inning.
Nothing came easy for the pitchers; the Lions were scoreless in the fifth but had runners on second and third when the inning ended.
Bissonnette finished the game 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and a run scored. Ennis had three hits and scored twice with an RBI. 8-of-9 Cougars in the lineup had at least one hit on a day where Kean pounded out a total of 15 base knocks.
After a frantic first four innings, it was remarkable that the final three did not feature any scoring at all. Yard went the distance and struck out 10. Platt, who pitched the final 5.2 innings for the Lions (20-12), kept her team in it with three runs and eight hits allowed.
The Cougars (25-10-1) will need to win two games on Sunday to win the NJAC Championship. Kean will take on Ramapo College at 11 a.m. If victorious, the Cougars will play host Rowan University in a winner-take-all Championship Game immediately following, tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m.
