Box Score
Loretto, PA – The Wagner College softball team's season came to a close with an 11-2 loss to #1-seed Saint Francis U in the championship series of the Northeast Conference (NEC) tournament on Saturday afternoon, ending its most successful season since 2007. The Red Flash will move on to this year's 2017 NCAA Softball Tournament as the NEC champions, while the Seahawks finish the season as the NEC's runner-up.
Wagner, under the direction of second-year head coach
Angie Churchill, finishes its season at 22-25, including a 2-2 record in the postseason, after last reaching its first NEC Tournament since 2008.
In a tough, gritty effort this afternoon, the Seahawks stayed in the contest for most of the afternoon in scoring two runs on five hits and stranding nine Red Flash batters on base throughout the contest.
Senior
Brianna Tredway (Downingtown, PA / Downingtown West), freshman
Alyssa Tucker (Laguna Niguel, CA / Santa Margarita Catholic) and first-year Seahawk
Amelia Van Orman (Orange, CA / Lutheran High School of Orange County) were voted to the NEC All-Tournament team for their efforts throughout the weekend. Tredway was the Seahawks' leader with four hits and six RBIs including the game-winning three run home run that lifted the Green and White over Sacred Heart yesterday.
Tucker contributed two hits, two runs, and one RBI, but also made the defensive play of the tournament, as her game-saving grab in yesterday's contest received which national attention throughout various social media platforms. Van Orman, the versatile Second-Team All-NEC selection, had three hits on the the weekend with two doubles and one RBI.
Playing in front of their home fans, the Red Flash captured their first NEC Softball Championship SFU's 48th (48-9 overall, 16-0 regular season, 3-0 NEC Tournament) win not only propelled the Flash to the NCAA Tournament for the first time, but also established a single-season conference record for victories, surpassing the 47 won by UMBC back in 2002. Saint Francis U has now won 21 straight games, 36 of its last 37, and all 19 of its games against NEC competition this season. Saint Francis U will find where they are headed during Sunday's NCAA selection show set to air live on ESPN2 at 10:00 pm.
In today's contest, sophomore
Lauren Serrato (Litchfield Park, AZ / Verrado High School) recorded her first home run of the season in the fifth inning while delivering two run-saving plays in left field. Tredway finished with two hits in the final game of her Seahawk career, while junior
Stefanie Aplin (Nesconset, NY / Smithtown East / Georgian Court University) and Van Orman also had base hits for Wagner.
After a scoreless first inning, the Red Flash took a 1-0 lead on a Kassidy Troxell RBI double and looked for an even bigger inning, but Serrato gunned down Madison Cabell in completing the spectacular 7-2 double play.
After falling behind 4-0, the Seahawks got on the board in the third, when back-to-back base hits by Aplin and Tredway along with an RBI double to right center by Van Orman cut the deficit to 4-1.
Wagner did not go away quietly, as Serrato smashed her first home run of the season and second of her Seahawk career in cutting the deficit to 5-2 in the fifth.
SFU recorded six runs in the sixth to pull away for its first-ever NEC title. In the circle, junior
Morgan Brown (Buckeye, AZ / Verrado) suffered the loss after pitching four innings and allowing four earned runs, while senior
Gina Massaro (Levittown, PA / Conwell-Egan Catholic) and Van Orman threw one inning apiece in relief.
Offensively, the Red Flash was led by Cheyenne McKee's three RBI's, while Ethel Santai picked up the victory.
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