May 8, 2008

Charlotte, NC - Top Seed Massachusetts (37-11) and third-seed Charlotte (34-29) tallied victories to remain the only unbeaten teams in the Atlantic 10 Softball Tournament at Charlotte's Phillips Softball Complex. Fordham (35-29) remained alive in the A-10 Tournament as well with their second straight win over Saint Joseph's.

Massachusetts behind the pitching of Brandice Balschmiter blanked fourth-seed Fordham, 2-0, in the first game of the second day of the Tournament. Charlotte defeated second-seed St. Bonaventure (20-24), 4-0, behind the pitching of Emily Jeffery and a four-run first inning. Fordham defeated Saint Joseph's (18-23), 5-1, behind the pitching of Allison Twarowski and the hitting of Allison Storc and Jocelyn Dearborn. With the loss, Saint Joseph's was eliminated from the tournament.

In game one, Massachusetts's Balschmiter improved to 26-7 on the season after scattering four hits with three strikeouts over seven scoreless innings. Fordham's pitcher Nicole Ayres gave the Rams a solid performance in the circle by allowing only six hits and two runs with six strikeouts over six innings.

Massachusetts Jessica Serio and Fordham's Meghan Shager each recorded two hits for their respective teams.

Massachusetts scored their first run when Lindsay Maroney singled to left field scoring Jill Andrews in the fourth inning.

The Minutewomen made the final score, 2-0, when Samantha Salatorf, who reached base on a single up the middle, scored on Serio's double to left center field in the sixth inning.

"We were very tight at the start of the game," Massachusetts coach Elaine Sortino said. "Our defense kept us in the game until we settled down offensively."

In the second game of day, Charlotte scored four runs on five hits in the first inning which provided all the scoring in the game. Charlotte's Sarah Malene, who reached base on a single to right field, scored the game's first run on a St. Bonaventure throwing error. Whitney Williams, who reached base on a bunt single to third, scored the game's second run on Serena Smith's single to left field. Smith came into score from first base on Jamie West's double to left center field. Emily Forbes connected on a double to left center field scoring West with the game's final run.

Charlotte's Jeffery scattered three hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in seven scoreless innings to record her 18th win of the season.

Charlotte's Malene and Williams each tallied two hits apiece in the game. While, St. Bonaventure's Kathryn Pazda, who broke up Jeffery's perfect game with a single in the fourth inning, paced the Bonnies with two hits.

"I thought we had one of our best pitching performances of the season from Emily Jeffery," Charlotte coach Aimee DeVos said. "She really came out attacking the Saint Bonaventure hitters. On the offensive end, I couldn't be happier with our first inning. We truly had an offensive explosion. Overall, we came out ready to play ball."

In the third and final game of the day, Fordham scored the game's first run when Melissa Andrews scored on a Saint Joseph's fielding error in the first inning.

Fordham added another run when Dearborn led off the second inning with a home run over the right center field wall.

Saint Joseph's cut the Fordham lead in half Erika Rosenwinkel scored on Brooke Dareef's double to left field in the fourth inning.

Fordham made the final score, 5-1, with three runs on five hits in the fifth inning. Storc connected on a single up the middle which scored Twarowski and Mary Beth Puccio. Dearborn singled to right field scoring Meghan Shager with the game's final run.

The story of the game was Twarowksi's pitching performance as she only allowed two hits with one run and two strikeouts over seven innings for her 13th win of the season.

"Allison Twarowski gave us a great pitching performance," Fordham coach Bridget Orchard said. "Our seniors just did not want their careers to end today. We also got some key hits against Saint Joseph's that we were not able to have against Massachusetts."

Massachusetts and Charlotte will play the first game of the third day of the A-10 Tournament, Friday, May 9 at 2 pm. The winner of that game advances to Saturday's A-10 Tournament Championship game. While, St. Bonaventure faces Fordham in an elimination game, Friday, May 9 at 4 pm. The loser of the Charlotte-Massachusetts game and the winner of the St. Bonaventure-Fordham game will play the final game of the day at 6 pm. The winner of this game advances to Saturday's A-10 Tournament Championship game.