2013 USCAA Softball National Championships: Championship Day

AKRON, Ohio - Championship day at the 2013 USCAA Softball National Championships kicked off on Wednesday at Firestone Stadium, with WVU Tech taking the opening game of the day over Carlow in the fifth place game.

Recaps for each game will be updated throughout the day.

10:00 a.m. - Firestone Stadium, Fifth Place Game

#3 WVU Tech (3-2) - 12, #2 Carlow University (1-3) - 3

WVU Tech struck early and often on Wednesday morning, capturing the fifth place game 12-2 over Carlow at Firestone Stadium. Between raindrops, the Golden Bears scored in each of the first four innings to cruise to their third win of the week.

After scoring in the first, WVU Tech fell behind after one as the Celtics made it look as though it would be a slugfest throughout with two runs and a 2-1 lead. But the Golden Bears added four runs in the second and would not allow Carlow to score again for three innings to force the eight-run rule win.

Taylor Norman picked up the win for WVU Tech, tossing five innings of four-hit ball while striking out one. Of Carlow's three runs, only one was earned. Five Golden Bears recorded multiple hits on the day, led by Megan Blythe who finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Blythe fell a home run shy of the cycle, recording a single, double and triple in her three plate appearances. Kat Lively, Katie Campbell, Ali Holmes and Stephanie Nickell combined for eight hits, including three extra base knocks. Nickell had two doubles and Lively added a triple to right center.

Kaysie Young paced Carlow with two hits, including an RBI single in the fifth, but Carlow could not force a sixth inning as Norman escaped a jam by stranding two Celtics runners. Emily Pritts took the loss for Carlow, falling to 1-3 on the week. The Golden Bears recorded 13 hits and scored all of their runs off of Pritts, who had pitched 15 innings in the first two days. 

12:00 p.m. - Firestone Stadium, Loser's Bracket Final/Third Place Game 

#7 Ave Maria University (5-1) - 6, #1 Briarcliffe College (2-2)

Ave Maria faced elimination for their fourth straight game, but managed to stay alive and advance to the national championship game with a 6-2 win over top-seed Briarcliffe on Wednesday afternoon at Firestone Stadium in the loser's bracket final/third place game. 

The Gyrenes advance to the championship game of the 2013 USCAA Softball National Championships at 2:00 p.m. against six-seed Lindenwood University-Belleville at Firestone Stadium. The teams meet for the first time this week, as the Lynx are currently 3-0 in the tournament.

Emily Lemin tossed a complete game seven-hitter, allowing two runs while striking out eight to win her third game of the week for the Gyrenes. Her teammates staked her to an early 2-0 lead that would hold throughout, picking up RBI doubles from Jessenia Gonzalez and Janet Holtfreter in the top of the second. Holtfreter finished with two hits and a game-high three RBIs in their sixth game of the week.

Briarcliffe cut the lead to 2-1 with a bases loaded hit batsmen, but two consecutive flyouts ended the inning and the threat. Ave Maria bounced back with another two-run inning, this time in the fourth, as Holtfreter notched a sacrifice fly and Caitlin Constance knocked an RBI single to make it 4-1. That score would remain until the sixth, when the Gyrenes once again pushed across two runs. Holtfreter was part of the action once again, making it 5-1 with an RBI single before an error made it 6-1 in favor of Ave Maria.

Briarcliffe struggled to rally, and despite a leadoff single that turned into a run in the bottom of the seventh, Lemin avoided the big inning to cap her tournament tying best third win of the week. Erika Avery cracked two doubles for Ave Maria, coming around both times to score.

The Bulldogs' Ivette Yi-Santiago took the loss, going 3 1/3 while surrendering four runs on nine hits. The Gyrenes managed two more runs off of reliever Jillian McGovern over 3 2/3, who struck out two. 

Ave Maria must win two games in order to win the championship, as Lindenwood-Belleville has yet to lose.