UMBC, Stony Brook to Play for 2019 #AESB Title
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – UMBC and Stony Brook will battle for the 2019 America East softball title as the two teams posted wins on day three of the America East Championship Friday at the University of Hartford and advanced to the tournament's championship round.
The fourth-seeded Retrievers scored three times in the fourth inning en route to a 5-2 win over the Seawolves in the winner’s bracket final to start the day. After top-seeded UMass Lowell avoided elimination with a 5-4 walk off win over sixth-seeded Binghamton in game two, Stony Brook bounced back with a 2-1 win over the River Hawks to reach the championship round for the first time since 2015.
UMBC 5, Stony Brook 2
UMBC scored three times in the fourth inning and got another stellar effort in the circle from Courtney Coppersmith to advance to the championship game for the first time since 2007. Coppersmith, a second-team utility player in addition to being a first-team pitcher and Pitcher and Rookie of the Year, put her team up 1-0 in the first with an RBI single. Stony Brook’s Irene Rivera, a first-team All-Conference catcher, tied the game up in the second with a long solo home run to left. But, the Retrievers scored three times in the fourth on RBI singles from Anna Lonchar and Kaly Winslow and a run-scoring groundout by Logan Hawker. Nicole McCarvill got one back in the seventh with a solo homer, but Coppersmith ended the game with a strikeout, her seventh of the day.
UMass Lowell 5, Binghamton 4 (8 innings)
Maria Moccio’s eighth inning infield single plated Brianna West as UMass Lowell avoided elimination with a win over Binghamton. The Bearcats, which was trying to win its third-straight elimination game, took a 1-0 lead in the first on Hannah Lyon’s RBI double. First-team All-Conference shortstop countered for UMass Lowell in the home half of the first with a solo homer. Binghamton took a 3-1 lead in the third on Sarah Herskowitz's two-run blast to left and held that lead until the sixth when UMass Lowell plated three to take a 4-3 lead on doubles by West and Marianne Sparacia. Sophia Pappas tied it in the seventh with a pinch hit solo homer to help force extra innings.
Stony Brook 2, UMass Lowell 1
Melissa Rahrich spun another gem in the circle to lead Stony Brook to the championship game for the first time since 2015. The Seawolves struck right away, taking a 1-0 lead on Jordan Nowakowski’s solo homer in the second. Irene Rivera added an RBI single to tack onto the lead in the third. UMass Lowell got one back in the fifth on a sac fly by Marianne Sparacia, but couldn’t score again. Rahrich allowed just one run on four hits to earn her third win of the tournament.
UMBC and Stony Brook will play in the championship game on Saturday at 12 p.m. Should the Seawolves win that game, the two teams would meet again in the decisive game at approximately 2:30 p.m.
Visit Championship Central for links to box scores and recaps from Wednesday’s and Thursday’s games and watch live and live stats links for Friday’s games.
Follow @AmericaEast and @AEDigitalNet on Twitter to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AESB hashtags to join the conversation.
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