St. John Fisher Eliminates Middlebury In Marathon Game
The fourth-seeded St. John Fisher College Cardinals (30-13-1) hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the 14th inning on their way to eliminating the third-seeded Middlebury Panthers (30-8) with a 9-5 win Saturday in the NCAA Division III Softball Regional at Ithaca College. The Cardinals advance to play second-seeded Ithaca in an elimination game that’s scheduled to be the last of Saturday’s four games.
The game was just the ninth in the 29 years of the Division III Championship Tournament to last at least 14 innings and the two teams combined for an NCAA playoff-record 39 total bases.
Second baseman Megan Zoerb hit a three-run home run in the top of the 14th to put the Cardinals up for good and third baseman Kayla Goodberlet followed with a solo shot. Sarah Stefanon threw all 14 innings for St. John Fisher, striking out 11 and raising her record to 15-5.
The Panthers, who were making the program’s first NCAA playoff appearance, battled back to tie the game twice – once on a two-out three-run home run b y Sarah Boylan and again in the bottom of the ninth when shortstop Jessa Hoffman doubled home center fielder Nellie Wood after the Cardinals taken a 5-4 lead in the top of the inning on a lead-off home run by Leanne Merchant.
The Panthers nearly won the game after Wood scored the tying run; a single by right fielder Leslie Crawford put runners at first and third with one out, but Fisher got out of the inning when Goodberlet turned a soft liner to third into an unassisted double play.
Zoerb singled in the game’s first run to open the Cardinals’ three-run third inning. Fisher scored two more runs on Middlebury errors. First baseman Jessica Poracky put the Panthers on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the third; the Cardinals got the run back in the fifth when center fielder Jennifer Vanek scored on an infield error.
Vanek finished with three of Fisher's 11 hits. Goodberlet, Zoerb and catcher Jamie Harmon each had two hits. This is the seventh time in the last 13 years that the Cardinals have reached the 30-win mark.