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NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (May 7) - Strong pitching coupled with timely hitting helped the Saint Vincent softball team earn three wins on Saturday, including two walk-off wins over Bethany College, to take their first ever PAC Softball Championship.  

Senior outfielder Sarah Swettlen delivered the game-winning and championship clinching RBI walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring freshman Kelly Flaherty to give SVC the championship. 

With two shutouts in the championship round over Bethany, junior Samantha Emert earned PAC Tournament MVP honors. Emert worked all 37 innings and put together a sparkling 0.57 earned run average (ERA). Emert pitched three shutouts and only allowed three earned runs. 

With the three victories, the Bearcats secured the league's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Softball Championship, with regional preliminary round play scheduled to being Thursday-Friday, May 12-13. Team and site selections for the Division III Softball Championship will be announced at 1 p.m. on Monday, May 9. The Division III Softball Selection Show is scheduled to air on ncaa.com.

The Bearcats faced an up-hill climb entering the day, needing to gain three wins to secure their first ever title. The hero of game one was Breanne Wallace, who delivered a clutch three-run pinch hit double to help Saint Vincent defeat Thomas More 4-3 to start the day. 

With the loss, Thomas More was eliminated. The defending PAC champs dropped to 31-10 on the season and will await word of an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. The win over TMC was the third in four tries this season for the Bearcats. 

After three scoreless innings, the Bearcats broke through in the fourth inning against Thomas More in the first game. Freshman Kelsey Hunter and Emert recorded back-to-back singles to set up shop. After a groundout, Flaherty delivered a single to center to load the bases.

That is when head coach Nicole Hinerman-Karr went to the bench to bring Wallace in to pinch hit. Wallace, who had homered off of TMC pitcher Mamee Salzer in the regular season matchup, the junior came through with a bases clearing three-run double. The double was the first extra base hit for the Bearcats of the tournament. 

SVC added another run on an RBI single by freshman Mackenzie Gostomski in the top of the fifth, giving SVC a 4-0 edge. 

After 12 straight scoreless innings for Emert against Thomas More dating back to yesterday, the Saints scored three runs in the sixth to cut the Bearcats' deficit to a single run. The Saints put a runner on in the bottom of the seventh but Emert got a game ending groundout to clinch the win for SVC. 

Swettlen and sophomore Shelby Noel each recorded multi-hit efforts against Thomas More. Emert earned the win to improve to 15-6 this season. The junior worked 7.0 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits against the Saints.

Needing to beat Bethany to force a winner take all contest, Wallace delivered a pinch hit RBI walk off sac fly and give the Bearcats a 1-0 win. 

Both teams had minimal offensive opportunities as two of the top pitchers in the PAC lived up to the billing. The turning point came in the top of the seventh inning when Emert worked out of a bases loaded jam. 

In the bottom half of the inning, Duerr led off with a single. Nicole Adisey would pinch run for Duerr and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Emert then singled to left to put runners at the corner. That set up Wallace for her second big at-bat of the day. 

The decisive winner take all contest pitted the Bearcats against the Bison, marking the first time since 2008 that the third and fourth seeds met for the title. 

Again as it was in the first two PAC Tournament meetings, Emert and Bison hurler Cassie Weiss went head-to-head. The matchup was the fifth game between the PAC rivals this season, with each team take two contests each prior.

Each team had few opportunities to score. The Bison loaded the bases in the top of the fourth but Emert worked out of the jam to keep the game scoreless. Bethany had another golden opportunity in the top of the seventh inning. The Bison used a leadoff double and a sacrifice bunt to put the potential go-ahead run at third base with their best hitter at the plate. 

But just like she did all tournament, Emert rose to the challenge, gaining a lineout and then punching out the next hitter to keep the game scoreless. That gave the Bearcats another opportunity at a walk-off victory.

It appeared SVC might go quietly before Flaherty blooped a two-out double down the right field line. That is when Wallace was again used to pinch hit, singling to move Flaherty to third. That set the stage for Swettlen, who missed graduation to play in today's contest. Swettlen gained her own graduation gift, singling to left to score Flaherty and give SVC the 1-0 title win.  

Along with being named MVP, Emert also was recognized on the All-Tournament Team. Joining her on the All-Tournament Team for SVC was Wallace, Flaherty and Swettlen.

All four PAC Tournament wins for Saint Vincent came by one run. The wins today improved SVC to 28-13 for the 2016 season. Bethany dropped to 22-20 on the campaign.

The four-team, double-elimination championship tournament was hosted by top-seeded Westminster College.

The Bearcats, led by 10th-year head coach Nicole Hinerman-Karr, are the second team in three seasons (2014, W&J) to survive a pair of Saturday elimination games en route to securing the league championship. The Bearcats are the sixth number three seed to win the league title since 2002.