Ithaca Holds on for 1-0 Win over Mt. St. Mary in NCAAs
ITHACA, N.Y. – Behind seven shutout innings from senior
Laura Quicker, the nationally-ranked Ithaca College softball team squeezed out a 1-0 win over Mount Saint Mary College on Friday in the opening round of the 2016 NCAA Division III Softball Regional at Doris Kostrinsky Field. The win edges No. 16 Ithaca's season mark 33-8 while the Knights moved to 22-11 with the loss.
Quicker was dominant inside the circle for the Bombers as the West Islip native surrendered just two hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts. Quicker moved her season record to 14-4 overall and lowered her earned run average to just over two with the win.
The Bombers had numerous chances to set the tone in the early innings after loading the bases in both the second and fourth innings, but could not break the scoreless tie as Mount Saint Mary was able to escape a jam in both instances.
After five-and-a-half scoreless innings of play,
Alex Wright led off the home half of the sixth with a slap double down the leftfield line to set the table. Senior
Erin McQuillan moved Wright to third with a sacrifice bunt before Wright scurried home on a wild pitch to give the Bombers a one-run lead heading into the top of the seventh.
Facing a 1-0 hole, the Knights would get the tying run on base after a bloop single into left, but Quicker would lockdown the win for Ithaca after inducing a groundout to
Hannah Anderson at short.
In all, Ithaca tallied eight hits led by
Vanessa Brown,
Casey Gavin and Wright, all of whom who went 2-for-3 at the plate.
Kelly Robichaud and McQuillan collected the other base hits for the Bombers.
The Bombers left eight runners on base and did not draw a walk in the game.
Ithaca, which is making its record-tying 27th appearance in the NCAA Championship, will continue play at 10 a.m. on Saturday when it faces nationally-ranked Moravian College at Kostrinsky Field. Moravian advanced to the winner's bracket after beating Worcester State, 9-1, in the day's other contest. Mount Saint Mary will continue its regional play against Worcester State at 12:30 p.m. with the winner of each game battling at 3 p.m.