BROOKLYN, N.Y. — No. 3 Wagner softball defeated No. 2 CCSU 5-4 in the NEC Softball Championship Game on Saturday, winning its first NEC Title in program history. The Seahawks won three straight games in the tournament to secure the conference crown, and an automatic bid to the NCAA Softball Tournament.
Softball becomes the fifth Wagner team to win a conference championship this season, joining women's soccer, women's water polo, men's tennis, and men's outdoor track and field.
The Green and White got off to a fast start, as freshman starting pitcher
Samantha Lotus set down the CCSU bats in order to begin the first inning. Then in the bottom half of the frame, junior third baseman
Sydnie Trujillo continued her red-hot tournament at the plate with a two-run double. Her fourth extra-base hit of the weekend gave Wagner a 2-0 lead.
Lotus pitched three and two-thirds innings of shutout ball, allowing only three hits throughout; but with two outs in the fourth, CCSU scored three runs on one swing of the bat. The three-run home run gave the Blue Devils a 3-2 lead, which they extended to 4-2 in the fifth inning with another long ball. The Seahawks chipped away at the deficit when Trujillo grounded into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth. That would be the only run they scored in the inning however, as they entered the sixth trailing 4-3.
Junior pitcher
Karson Zavala entered the game out of the bullpen after CCSU collected a pair of base hits. The NEC Pitcher of the Year struck out her first batter, then hit her second batter, giving CCSU a chance to extend its lead with the bases loaded and one out. Needing to keep the deficit at one, Zavala forced a ground ball right back to her; she fired the ball back to the plate for the second out, then senior catcher
Brityn Buchanan slung the ball to first where senior first baseman
Geanice Morales completed the 1-2-3 double play, and ended the inning with zero runs surrendered.
Still trailing in the bottom of the sixth, junior second baseman
Leilani Gonzales pulled a lead-off double down the left field line to put the tying run on base. Then, freshman right fielder
Addy Day, who made five starts all season, picked up her second hit of the tournament, which scored Gonzales from second and tied the game at four.
A walk and a stolen base put runners on second and third, and two batters later, Morales cashed in with her second go-ahead RBI hit in as many games. Day came around with the lead run, and the Green and White took a 5-4 lead. The Blue Devils got the tying run to scoring position in the seventh inning, but that's all they'd muster. Trujillo assisted on the final ground out of the game, and Wagner became NEC Softball Champions for the first time in its history.
As the champions, the Seahawks earned four spots on the NEC All-Tournament team. Trujillo earned Tournament MVP honors after collecting seven hits, seven RBIs, three doubles and a home run in just 10 at-bats.
Both Zavala and Lotus earned All-Tournament honors, as the tandem combined for a 3.85 ERA and 11 strikeouts in the 20 innings throughout the tournament. Gonzales rounded out the All-Tournament honors; the Murrieta, CA native played error-free defense in three games of the tournament, and scored three runs of her own, including the game-tying run in the championship.
Morales also had a memorable tournament, as she collected the game-winning RBI in each of the last two games, and the game tying-RBI in the first game. Her six hits in the tournament were second only to Trujillo among Wagner hitters.
The Seahawks will find out which region they will travel to during the NCAA Softball Selection Show on Sunday, May 10. The selection show will air on ESPN2 starting at 7 p.m.
