Mercy Softball Eliminated from ECC Championships
Heading into Day Two of the East Coast Conference softball championships, the fourth-seeded Mercy College Mavericks were excited about playing in the 10:00 a.m. game. After beating top-seeded Dowling, 2-1, on Thursday, Mercy was facing the other unbeaten team, Molloy.
Mercy got off to quick start, scoring once in the top of the third inning to take a 1-0 lead, when freshman Tayla Gardner (Orangeburg, N.Y./Tappan Zee) scored on the second Molloy error of the inning.
But Molloy, the #2 seed, scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning on four hits to claim the 2-1 win. Gardner took the loss in the circle, allowing six hits in six and two-thirds innings. Junior Jenna Ausiello (Petaluma, Calif./Casa Grande/Santa Rosa JC), who earlier in the week was named First-Team All-ECC at short stop, had both of Mercy's hits in the game.
With the loss, Mercy returned in the afternoon to face Dowling, who the Mavericks had beaten a day ago. This time, however, the , #7 rankled team in the country pulled off the 9-2 win, thus bouncing Mercy from the Championships.
Once again, Mercy had only two hits, with one going to Ausiello, a two-run homerun in the bottom of the first. Junior catcher Rachel Poccia (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck/Westchester CC) had the other, a single in the fifth. Freshman Mary Sieber (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) took the loss, throwing only the first four innings.
Molloy will now face Dowling in the Championship series on Saturday.
The Mavericks finish the season with a 21-23 overall record, and a 14-14 mark in the ECC during the regular season.
