(Game 1 Box) (Game 2
Box)
DANBURY, Conn. – Junior Andrea
Pydynkowski (Danvers, Mass.) hit a grand slam home run in
the second game of the Little East Conference softball doubleheader
Sunday afternoon at Westside Field to help Plymouth State
University defeat Western Connecticut State University, 8-4, and
clinch an LEC play-off berth in the last game of the regular
season.
WestConn junior Gina Facchini (Voluntown, Conn.) went 4-for-4 with
a double, two home runs and eight RBI as the Colonials took the
opener, 11-2, in six innings. Needing a victory in the
nightcap to earn a play-off berth, PSU took an early 4-0 lead only
to see Western come back with three runs to make it 4-3 after three
innings. PSU put the game away in the fifth inning when
sophomore Heather Blase (Milford, N.H.) led off
with a walk, classmate Allie Luisi (North
Kingstown, R.I.) and junior Kortney Nedeau
(Kennebunk, Maine) followed with singles to load the bases, and
Pyndynkowski's blast to left gave the Panthers an
insurmountable lead.
The Panthers complete the regular season with a 13-20 overall
record and tied for sixth with UMass Boston for sixth place in the
Little East with a 5-9 mark. PSC wins the tiebreaker over UMB
for the final play-off spot base on a regular season victory over
LEC runner-up Keene State. WestConn, 16-14 overall and 8-6 in
conference play, finishes in a third-place tie with Rhode Island
College.
Sixth-seeded PSU will take on top-seeded and regular season
champion Eastern Connecticut State University (28-4-1 overall, 13-1
LEC) in the LEC double-elimination tournament opener this Thursday,
May 6, at 10:00 a.m. at Keene State College's Owl Athletic
Complex. KSC will host the entire tournament after top-seeded
Eastern Conn. was unable to serve as host. Eastern Conn. is
the top-ranked team in the NCAA New England region and is also
nationally ranked.
Plymouth State managed just three hits in the opener against
WestConn, first inning doubles by Blase and Nedeau to score one run
and a lead-off double by Luisi, who eventually scored on a Colonial
error. Senior pitcher Kara Cullinane (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) did
the rest for Western, striking out three in the complete-game
effort to improve her record to 10-5.
The story of the first game, though, was Facchini, who had an RBI
single in the first inning, a double in the third, a grand slam in
the fifth, and a game-ending three-run home run in the sixth
inning.
Luisi singled for PSU in the first inning of the nightcap and came
around to score on a WestConn error. The Panthers extended
the lead to 4-0 when senior Kay LaBrie
(Somersworth, N.H.), Blase and Luisi strung together consecutive
singles to bring home one run, and following by an intentional
walk, two runs came home on a botched infield grounder.
WestConn answered with three runs on four consecutive singles and a
ground out to third to open the bottom of the third, but two
strikeouts ended the Colonial rally. Pydynkowski's home
run two innings later clinched it for PSU.
PSU starting pitcher Ali Keith (Northfield, N.H.)
kept the Colonials off balance most of the game, finishing with
seven strikeouts and no walks in a complete-game victory to push
her record to 7-9 on the season.
(Courtesy of Western Connecticut Sports
Information)
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