DeLand, Fla. ? Junior pinch hitter Nicole Peltz (Navarre, Fla.) knocked home the winning run with a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh as the Stetson softball team (23-30) beat ETSU 3-2 to stay alive in the loser's bracket of the A-Sun Championships Thursday afternoon at Patricia Wilson Field. Stetson fell into the elimination situation when it lost 7-5 to top-seeded regular season champion Campbell earlier in the day. Senior first baseman Andrea Migliori (Winter Garden, Fla.) clubbed three home runs to raise her season total to 15; she moved into second place in conference history with 57 career longballs.
Stetson struck quickly for two runs against ETSU in the top of the first, getting a leadoff single from junior center fielder Amy Joyce (Lake Mary, Fla.) followed by Migliori's third blast of the day, a two-run shot over the wall in left center. She homered twice in the opening loss to Campbell.
Those two runs seemed as if they were going to be enough for several innings as senior pitcher Erica Demers (Miami, Fla.) shut the Lady Bucs out until the fourth inning. ETSU loaded the bases with two out on a walk and a pair of singles and then got a two-run single up the middle from designated player Caitlin Zyskowski that plated catcher Trisha Massenzo and center fielder Annie Martin, tying the game 2-2.
Junior pitcher Amanda Lindsey (Byhalia, Miss.) relieved Demers to start the fifth inning and shut ETSU out the rest of the way to eventually earn her 12th win of the season. The winning rally in the bottom of the seventh began with junior third baseman Megan Voeller (Jensen Beach, Fla.) drawing a leadoff walk against starter Marissa Hardy and being bunted over to second by freshman shortstop Chelsey Trotto (Lantana, Fla.), with a pitching change to Darci Gilbert in between. One batter later with Voeller on third base, Peltz pinch hit for freshman second baseman Heather Barnes (Avon Park, Fla.) and dropped a 1-2 pitch over the head of Lady Buc shortstop Cheniece Cason for the game-winning hit as Voeller scored easily.
Joyce went three for four with a run scored to pace the Hatter offense; Massenzo, Katy Jett and Vicki McCoy had two hits each for ETSU. The loss ended ETSU's season at 27-28 overall.
The Hatters got off to a great start in the opener against Campbell as well, taking a 3-0 lead on a pair of first inning home runs. Migliori started it off with a one-out solo shot to left center; two batters later it was junior catcher Jessica Lokeinsky (Cooper City, Fla.) with an opposite field two-run blast over the right field wall for her second home run of the season.
That lead would not hold, however, as Campbell loaded the bases in the bottom of the second for right fielder Hilary Wheatley, who proceeded to crush an Amanda Lindsey (Byhalia, Miss.) pitch over the left field fence to put the Camels ahead 4-3.
Campbell eventually tacked on three more insurance runs and took a 7-3 lead into the seventh, where Migliori struck again. After Joyce singled with two outs to keep the game going, Migliori pounded a Brittany Stanley offering out of the park to left center, cutting the deficit in half. Stanley ended the Stetson rally as soon as it started, however, getting junior designated player Katie Lawrence (Hilliard, Fla.) to pop up to second, ending the game.
Lokeinsky joined Migliori in the two-hit column and Joyce added her 26th stolen base of the season, tying for the A-Sun lead in the process, to lead Stetson. Lindsey took the loss with Peltz allowing a single unearned run in 2.2 solid relief innings.
Stanley struck out six in a complete game Campbell win while designated player Christina Melton went three for three at the plate to co-lead the Camel offense with Wheatley.
In other first day action at the A-Sun tournament, Mercer beat Jacksonville 2-0, Lipscomb blanked ETSU 6-0, Mercer defeated Lipscomb 2-0 and Campbell eliminated Jacksonville 5-1.
The action continues tomorrow at 1 p.m. when Mercer takes on Campbell in the winner's bracket final; the Hatters will take on Lipscomb in a 3:30 p.m. elimination contest with the SU-LU winner facing the MU-CU loser at 6 p.m. in the loser's bracket final.
Jamie Bataille and former UNF head coach Sonya Wilmoth will broadcast every game live on Hatter Vision and A-Sun.TV. Live Stats are also available at www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
