Box Score
PURCHASE, N.Y. – Second-seeded Misericordia did it again in their second game of the day, as the Cougars trailed for the first four frames before using a pair of homers in a four-run sixth to take the lead and barely hold off fourth-seeded Eastern in game three of the 2012 Freedom Conference Championships, hosted by Manhattanville College at Manhattanville Field on Friday.
With the win, Misericordia (27-15) moves ever closer to its first Freedom Conference title, as the Cougars will need to win just one game tomorrow to claim the crown. Eastern (21-20-1) will face off with the winner of tomorrow's Manhattanville-King's contest in an elimination game scheduled for approximately 11 a.m.
Kristi Seiler was again in the middle of things for Misericordia in the win, going 1 for 3 with a big two-run homer in the fifth that gave the Cougars their first lead of the game. Jill Castaldi also had a two-run homer of her own in the fifth for Misericordia, while Megan Hardy also went deep.
For Eastern, Maggie McGowan went 1 for 2 with a two-run homer in the first inning to give her team an early lead. Tori Jacobson homered as well for the Eagles in a losing effort, part of an amazing 14 long balls that left the park in three games on Friday.
Coming off an upset win over top-seeded Manhattanville in the opener, Eastern wasted no time grabbing a lead in their second game, as McGowan followed up a Janelle Fair single with a homer to make it 2-0 Eagles. Misericordia got one back in the second on a Kat LaBrie RBI single, but Eastern made it a 4-1 game in the fourth when Jacobson launched her second of the year.
The Cougars got one run back again in the bottom of the fourth when Hardy hit a two-out solo homer, but the big blows came in the fifth inning. Jennifer Cory reached on an error to start the inning and came around two batters later on Castaldi's homer, which came on the ninth pitch of her at-bat. After a double and a groundout that should have ended the inning, Seiler took a 2-1 pitch from Fair over the right-field fence to make it 6-5 Misericordia.
Eastern had one last chance in the seventh inning, as Samantha Terenzoni led off with a double to bring the tying run to the plate, and Fair singled and McGowan walked to load the bases with one down. But Seiler made the defensive play of the game when she saved a two-run double by getting a glove on a liner by Jaime Schwartz, keeping it in the infield and even getting an out at third on an alert play by shortstop Mallory Getts. With the tying and go-ahead still runs on base, Jess Armillay induced a foul pop up to end the game and keep the Cougars unbeaten.
Armillay (9-7) got the win, allowing all five runs on nine hits in seven innings. Fair (15-9) suffered the loss, allowing six runs (three earned) on seven hits in five innings.
