LAKEWOOD, N.J.- The top seed Caldwell University softball team held off a late rally by #4 Georgian Court University as they Cougars advanced to Saturday's Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship final with a 6-5 win over the Lions.
Caldwell remains unbeaten for the tournament and will face #4 Dominican College on Saturday, May 5 at noon. The Cougars need to win one game on Saturday to secure their second consecutive CACC Championship.
The Cougars improve to 33-16 on the season
#1 Cougars vs #3 Georgian Court (Winner's Bracket) 1:00 PM
Caldwell took the lead in the third as sophomore
Melissa Rini (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) walked, while senior
Marisa Monasseri (Monroe, N.J.) singled. Freshman
Maya Rodriguez (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) singled up the middle to score Rini for a 1-0 lead.
Testa reached on a fielder's choice as Rodriguez was safe at second on a Lions' error. Freshman
Paige Sandoval (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) blasted her second grand slam homerun this season and her fifth homerun for a 5-0 Caldwell lead.
Georgian Court got on the board in the fourth inning with a solo homerun to cut the score to 5-1.
Caldwell added a run in the fourth as freshman
Anyssia Ramirez (Brentwood, Calif.) reached on an error to start the inning. She moved to second on a ground out and scored on a Monasseri single to push the lead to 6-1.
The Lions rallied in the fifth as they pushed across four runs in the fifth. The Cougars were able to hold off Georgian Court over the final two innings to hold on for the victory.
Sophomore
Sara Bearden (Ewing, N.J.) got the start, as she went 4+ innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits, while striking out five to improve to 18-7 on the season. Sophomore
Jessie Johnston (Livermore, Calif.) closed out the final three innings, allowing one run on four hits to earn her fourth save of the season.
The top seeded Cougars advance to Saturday's championship game as they face #4 Dominican at noon. The 2018 CACC Softball Championship will be held on the campus of Georgian Court in Lakewood, NJ.