GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Turning to their season-long ace Emma Bernet (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W Baker) for a third-straight start in the circle, the Pace University softball team defeated No. 24 Saint Anselm in the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon, 2-0. The victory, now Pace's 11th-straight, sends the Setters back to the NE10 Championship game for the second time in three seasons.
Bernet proved once again to be one of the league's premier arms, tossing her sixth-straight complete game. The sophomore needed just 78 pitches to close out the contest and earn her 15th win of the season. Allowing five hits and two walks while striking out two, Bernet picked up right where she left off the last time she saw the Saint Anselm lineup. Bernet threw four scoreless innings against the Hawks in relief back on March 25.
Now being tasked with a start against the No. 1 seed of the Northeast Division, Bernet held the second-highest scoring offense in the NE10 scoreless to lead Pace into the Conference Tournament finals. The Setters will take on the top-seeded Adelphi Panthers tomorrow at noon in Garden City.
The Hawks threatened early, tagging Bernet for two hits in the first inning. Facing runners at second and third with just one out, the sophomore induced two infield pop ups to escape the jam and keep Saint Anselm off the board.
From there, it was five straight innings of two-hit ball from Bernet in the circle. The Setters, however, were held in check by Saint Anselm's Morgan Perry through the first three innings. Doubles from Aby Brambila (Newbury Park, CA/Newbury Park) and Ashley Lew (New City, NY/Clarkstown High School North) looked to have Pace set up to do damage in the second and third innings, but Perry matched Bernet's tightrope act to head into the fourth scoreless.
The Setter offense could only be contained for so long before putting together a two-out rally in the fourth to score a pair of runs. With Brambila on second and Lindsey Ah Soon (Ewa Beach, HI/Kamehameha Kapalama) occupying first, Emma Schafer (Mission Viejo, CA/El Toro) singled up the middle to bring home the Pace catcher. Lew would score Ah Soon with a single of her own to spot the Setters a 2-0 lead.
With the pitching staffs continuing to limit the offense, Pace was set to blow the game open in the seventh. The Setters loaded the bases on a Hawk error and singles by Lew and Larissa Labs (Carlsbad, CA/San Marcos High School) with no outs. Saint Anselm's Courtney Fisher was able to escape the situation unscathed, stranding the bases loaded and sending the game to the bottom of the seventh with the Setters holding on to a two-run lead.
The Hawks would get the tying run to the plate following a two-out single from Lauren Washburn, but Bernet got Shannon McLaughlin to pop up in foul territory to punch Pace's ticket to a title matchup with Adelphi on Saturday.
Up Next
The season comes to a head when the NE10's Southwest Division co-champions square off for conference gold Saturday at noon. Pace went 1-2 against Adelphi in the regular season.
