LAKEWOOD, N.J.- The Caldwell University Softball team dropped a pair of games on Day 2 of the NCAA Division II Championship in East Region 1 to close out their 2016 season. The Cougars lost in their first game of the day 4-3 to Southern New Hampshire University and came up short to Le Moyne College 4-1 in an elimination game. The Dolphins and Penmen advance to Sunday's Championship round.

The Cougars end their season at 36-15, while the Penmen improve to 28-13 and the Dolphins advance to 32-16.

WINNER'S BRACKET GAME: SNHU 4, CALDWELL 1 (8 INNINGS)

Caldwell struck first in the opening inning as junior Amy Hickman (Jackson, NJ) reached on an error and stole second. Senior Caitlin McCready (Jupiter, FL) singled to put runners on first and third with no outs. Senior Brielle Reighn (Runnemeade, NJ) hit a sacrifice fly to score Hickman and put the Cougars ahead 1-0.

The Penmen took the lead in the fifth as they scored three times to take a 3-1 lead. The Cougars chipped away, eventually battling back to a tie game.

Junior Lauren Frye (Jupiter, FL) doubled in the fifth and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. Reighn's groundout scored Frye as the Cougars closed the gap to 3-2. In the sixth, senior Megan Fryday (San Marcos, CA) doubled, moved to third on a groundout and scored on an error to even the game at 3-3.

The game remained tied and headed to extra innings. In the eighth, the Penmen pushed across the go-ahead run and held on in the bottom of the inning to advance to the East Region 1 Championship game.

Senior Amber Padilla (Chino, CA) went the distance, allowing four runs on 13 hits, while striking out one as she falls to 18-6.

ELMINATION GAME: LE MOYNE 4, CALDWELL 1

In the elimination game, the Cougars were limited to five hits in the game as Hickman (3-for-3) and McCready (2-for-2) accounted for all the Caldwell hits. The Dolphins scored a run in the opening inning and added two in the fifth and one in the sixth.

In the sixth, Hickman and McCready singled to start the inning. Sophomore Marisa Monasseri (Monroe, NJ) hit a sacrifice fly down the left field line in foul territory which allowed Hickman to score from second. Caldwell failed to plate addition runs as they season came to a close in the elimination game.