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NORFOLK, Va. (May 14) - The Saint Vincent College dropped a pair of games on day two of the Division III Softball Regional Tournament to conclude a banner 2016 season.
The Bearcats opened the day with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Haverford College. Later in the day, Saint Vincent then fell 5-0 in an elimination game to #2 ranked Salisbury University. The Sea Gulls improved to 36-5 overall for the season and will face Haverford tomorrow for the Regional Championship.
The loss concludes arguably the best season in program history at 29-15 overall. The Bearcats earned their first-ever PAC Tournament title, a program-high 29 victories and an upset win over #1 Virginia Wesleyan on day one of the NCAA Regionals.
Junior pitcher
Samantha Emert put together another outstanding effort in game one, allowing just one hit over seven innings of work. Emert carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning. Emert also struck out nine Fords' hitters in the game.
Haverford scored the lone run of the game, taking advantage of two SVC errors in the final at-bat. The Bearcats had five hits on offense and struck out just once in the loss.
Sarah Swettlen,
Shelby Noel,
Emily Duerr,
Morgan Murphy and
Mackenzie Gostomski each recorded one hit in game one. The Bearcats best chance to score came in the third inning when Swettlen singled and advanced into scoring position but was stranded at second base.
Salisbury took advantage of three Bearcat errors to take a 3-0 lead after one inning. The Sea Gulls added two more runs in the second, building the lead to 5-0. From there SVC settled down defensively. Saint Vincent put together a few threats offensively, as Flaherty singled and advanced to second with no outs. After advancing to third with one out, Flaherty was thrown out on a fielders' choice play at the plate.
Noel crushed a leadoff double off the fence in the fourth inning but was caught between second and third and tagged out two batters later. SVC did not manage a hit over the final three innings and was eliminated.
Freshman catcher
Kelsey Hunter recorded a two-hit effort for SVC in game two. Emert took the loss in the circle, finishing her season at 18-8. The junior tossed six innings, allowing five runs, only two of which were earned. Emert, the PAC Player of the Year and PAC Tournament MVP, finished the season with a stellar 1.11 ERA, 118 strikeouts and opponents hit just .198.
NOTE: Following the conclusion of the Norfolk Regional on Sunday, Emert was named to the All-Regional Tournament Team, adding another honor to her lengthy list of accolades in 2016.
