BRIARCLIFF, NY- The Pace softball team split a doubleheader against the Le Moyne Dolphins in Northeast-10 Southwest Division action and clinched the #3 seed in next week's Northeast-10 Championship. The Setters and the Dolphins will play again on Tuesday in the First Round of the NE-10 Championship.
The Dolphins took the opener 7-1 but the Setters earned the split in the nightcap with a 9-1 win in five innings. The Setters move to 17-21 overall and 11-7 in the Southwest Division and the Dolphins finished the regular season at 24-16 and 11-7 in division play.
In the opener, the teams traded runs in the third inning as the Dolphins got on the board for a 1-0 lead. The Setters tied the game in the bottom of the inning as Lana Buchbinder (San Francisco, CA/George Washington) (San Francisco, CA/George Washington) blasted a solo homerun to knot the score at 1-1.
Le Moyne plated four runs in the fifth inning and added two more in the seventh as starter Sarah Harrison tossed a complete game, allowing six hits. For Pace, Shelby Yung (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) hit safely in all three plate appearances. Caitlin McCann (San Mateo, CA/Notre Dame) (San Mateo, CA/Notre Dame) got the loss to fall to 10-11 on the season, going 4 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and striking out three. Kira Knight (Benicia, CA/Benicia) went the final 2 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and struck out one.
The Setters battled back to take the night cap as the used the long ball to jump out to an early lead. Yung led off the game with a single and then the ball started flying out of the park. Jeane Drury (Flanders, NJ/Morris Catholic High School) (Flanders, NJ/Morris Catholic) put the Setters up 2-0 with a two-run homerun. Natalie Gellos (Seattle, WA/Holy Names Academy) (Seattle, WA/Holy Names Academy) and Nikole Larm (Brewster, NY/Brewster) (Brewster, NY/Brewster) followed with solo shots for the back-to-back-to-back homeruns pushed the Setter lead to 4-0 after the first inning.
Pace added to their lead in the second on a Drury single to score Buchbinder, who reached on a single to start the inning. The Dolphins got their lone run in the fourth on a solo homerun. The Setters added to their lead in the fourth and fifth as Buchbinder led off the fourth with a double. Gellos drove her in with a single to extend out to a 6-1 lead. Pace ended the game in the fifth as Buchbinder singled in two runs and reached third as the ball got past the leftfielder. Yung and Drury drew walks as Drury was intentionally walked to load the bases with two outs. Gellos again came through with a clutch hit, singling to left field to end the game.
For the Setters, Gellos and Drury both netted three RBI in the game with Gellos going 3-for-4 and Drury going 2-for-3. Buchbinder was 3-for-3 in the game with three runs scored and two RBI. Kaitlynn Nelson (Ojai, CA/Nordhoff) improved to 6-8 on the season, going the distance in a three-hit effort, allowing one run and striking out six.
The doubleheader ended the regular season for both teams but the Setters and the Dolphins will renew acquaintances in the First Round of the Northeast-10 Championship on Tuesday, April 29 at Pace Field. The Setters return to the postseason for the first time since 2009 when they lost to Southern Connecticut in the opening round and will host their first NE-10 playoff game since joining the conference in 1998.
