Rosa knocks in game-winner in the tenth for two-time defending champion Owls

Senior shortstop Chelsea Stryker ends her career at Stonehill as the all-time leader in at-bats, hits, runs and stolen bases. Stryker also played and started in every game of her career (165).

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (April 24, 2012) – Senior designated player Jessica Rosa (Wallingford, Conn./Mercy) drove in the game-winning run through the left side of the infield with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning to send first-seeded Southern Connecticut State University past eighth-seeded Stonehill College, 4-3, in the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) Softball Tournament on Tuesday afternoon at Pelz Field.

Senior Jayme Larson (Aurora, Colo./Smokyhill) earned the victory on six hits, three runs (three earned), four walks and eight strikeouts.

Senior Samantha Krantz (Hampton Bays, N.Y./Hampton Bays) was handed the loss throwing nine-and-two-thirds innings, yielding seven hits, four runs (three earned), four walks and tied for the game-high in strikeouts with eight on 180 pitches.

In the bottom of the tenth inning, junior Brittany Bucko (Wallington, N.J./Paramus Catholic) worked a leadoff walk to start the frame. Bucko advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt from freshman shortstop Nicole Buch (West Orange, N.J./West Orange)  and moved up to third base on a wild pitch. Junior Kristin Whitley (North Andover, Mass./North Andover) followed with a walk putting runners at the corners with one out.

Stonehill elected to intentionally walk Alyssa Downs (Seymour, Conn./Seymour) to set up a force out at any base and Krantz responded with a strikeout swinging of Kate Hoffman (Orange, Conn./Amity). With two outs, Rosa proceeded to knock in the game-winning run on a single between the third base and shortstop hole and send the Owls to the next round of the NE-10 Tournament.

The Skyhawks rallied in the top of the seventh trailing 2-1 with three runs. Junior Nicole Eisenmann (East Bridgewater, Mass./East Bridgewater) led off the frame with a double down the right field line. Sophomore Angela Moskwa (West Suffield, Conn./Suffield) pinch-ran for Eisenmann and was immediately driven in on a RBI double by junior catcher Kelsey Wilcox (Canterbury, Conn./Griswold) to even the score at 2-2.

Junior right fielder Kaitlin Miller (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) gave Stonehill a 3-2 lead with an infield single to short scoring Wilcox from second base. Miller hit a sharp liner up the middle, but Buch made a diving stop to keep it from going into centerfield. Wilcox hustled through the third base bag and scored as Buch, who was still on the ground after laying out for the ball, tried to flip it to Hoffman at second base with her glove but no one gained possession negating a throw to home.

Senior Samantha Krantz wraps up her career at Stonehill as the all-time leader in strikeouts (281) and the single-season strikeout leader (129/2012).

The Owls tied up the game in bottom of the seventh inning as junior Stacy Pouliot (Mystic, Conn./Fitch) notched a leadoff triple down the right field line and scored on a sacrifice fly to right field from sophomore Julie Muscarella (Suffield, Conn./Suffield).

Southern Connecticut took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an infield single from Downs that plated Bucko who led off the contest with a double to left field and advanced to third on a passed ball to set up the scoring. Bucko also launched a two-out solo homer in the fifth to break up a 1-1 tie at the time.

Stonehill evened the score at 1-1 in the third as junior Casey Remick (Norton, Mass./Norton) deposited a leadoff double down the right field line and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Christina Swider (Hebron, Conn./RHAM) before scoring on a wild pitch.

Eisenmann led the offense with a 2-for-4 showing at the plate while Remick went 2-for-4 with one run scored.

Miller and Wilcox produced identical 1-for-4  lines with a RBI.

Stonehill's season concludes at 24-15 overall and 17-13 in the NE-10. The Skyhawks set a new program record for conference wins this season surpassing the previous mark of 16 victories (16-1-1) set in 2001.

First-seeded Southern Connecticut (37-18), the two-time defending NE-10 Champion, will play the winner of #5 UMass Lowell and #4 Le Moyne on Friday, April 27 in New Haven, Conn. at 10:00 a.m. The River Hawks and the Dolphins are scheduled to play tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Syracuse, N.Y. at Thomas J. Niland Athletic Complex.