Link to Skyline Softball Tournament Bracket
Troy, NY – The Sage Colleges' softball team hosted the Knights of Mt. St. Mary College on Tuesday afternoon in a game that was suspended from April 16 with a 4-4 tie through five full innings of play. The winner of the contest getting to serve as the top seed and the host for the 2014 Skyline Conference Softball Tournament. Sage posted a 5-4 win in eight innings to clinch the Skyline regular-season crown, a first in the program's history and will host the Skyline Tournament, Friday, April 25 –Sunday, April 27. The Skyline Conference champion garners the league's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division III Tournament.
With the win, Sage improves to 21-11, while finishing conference play with a 10-4 record. MSMC comes into the tournament with a 20-12 overall record after going 10-4 in conference play.
The tournaments is a double-elimination format with four teams vying for the crown.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Friday, Apr. 25
Game 1 - No. 4 Mount Saint Vincent at No. 1 Sage - Noon
Game 2 - No. 2 Mount Saint Mary vs. No. 3 Farmingdale State - 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, Apr. 26
Game 3 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 - 10:00 a.m.
Game 4 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 - 1:00 p.m.
Game 5 - Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 - 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, Apr. 27
Game 6 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 - 11:00 a.m.
Game 7 (If necessary) - 2:00 p.m.
All games will be played at Robison Field on the campus of Sage
After playing to the 4-4 tie, the Knights had their chances in the top of eighth inning after rookie Michelle Surdan (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxborough Regional) singled to left center and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Freshman Shannon Sommer (Brewster, NY/Brewster) singled to move her to third but sophomore Sabrina Gordek popped up to end the inning and the Knight's scoring threat.
In the bottom half of the 8th, Sage's senior Hillary Faas (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) walked and went to second on a passed ball. With one out, freshman Jessica Adams (Nassau, NY/Columbia) connected for a single to left center field to drive in Faas and give the Gators the victory.
For the game, rookie pitcher Erika Daigle (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) started the game on April 16, but was relieved by rookie Lindsay Brace (Moriah, NY/Moriah), who worked 3.2 innings and collected the key win after she fanned eight batters. She stands at 2-0 and now has 27 K's on the season.
MSMC's senior pitcher Amanda Barrese (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph by the Sea) worked the complete game and drops to 6-7 after she yielded nine hits with four earned runs and eight strikeouts.