LORETTO, PA. – The LIU softball team rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game and force extra innings, but the Sharks fell to No. 3 seed CCSU in the first game of the Northeast Conference tournament Thursday, 6-4.
LIU will take on the loser of game one, No. 4 seed Sacred Heart, Friday, May 14 at 1 p.m. in the first elimination game.
CCSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead on LIU in the contest, using a solo home run in the second and an RBI single in the third to get on the board.
The Sharks final got the bats going in the bottom of the fifth inning. Senior
Katie Hinkle led off with a single, and
Patricia Griffin walked. Junior
Camryn Lyman also singled to load the bases, and with one out,
Alina Castillo was walked to put LIU's first run on the board. Senior
Kiana Cisneros came up next, and hit a single up the middle that would score two, and LIU led, 3-2.
Another CCSU homer in the top of the sixth tied it back up, and the Blue Devils would score on an error in the top of the seventh inning, taking a 4-3 lead.
But with two outs and a full count, Cisneros delivered again the bottom of the inning. After Castillo reached on a single with two outs, Cisneros hit a double that brought her home, tying it up, 4-4 to force the extra frames.
But the Blue Devils would use two hits and a walk in the top of the eighth to score two runs, taking the 6-4 lead. The Sharks would get a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the eighth, but couldn't bring her home, falling to CCSU, 6-4.
Tallie Woodson tossed six innings, striking out five while allowing four earned runs on eight hits.
Haley Irvis was charged with the loss after yielding a pair of runs in a 2.0 inning stint that saw her strike out two.
Cisneros drove in three on the day, going 2-for-4, while Castillo reached base each at-bat, going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks.
The Sharks will face SHU next in the double-elimination tournament, Friday at 1 p.m.
