Box Score NORTHAMPTON, Mass. –
era. The 25-year head coach saw six of her teams meet or exceed the benchmark, including the 2004 squad that went 34-6 en route to the ECAC crown.
Smith, currently guided by third-year head coach
Kelly O'Connell, now advances to the double-elimination round and will face host, and second-seeded, Brandeis on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. The Falcons, meanwhile, end their 2014 campaign with a 17-18 ledger.
Martucci (19-7), the recently minted NEWMAC Softball Pitcher of the Year, also ended the game with 142 strikeouts on the season to tie Katie Maroney's 2004 total for fourth place on the single-season leader board. Martucci and Albertus Magnus' Shyleen Ortiz (8-7) yielded five hits apiece in the complete-game efforts.
Ruth Zimmerman (Edison, N.J./John P. Stevens) accounted for two of the Pioneers hits as
Brittney Blokker (Seattle, Wash./Ballard) added a double and two walks.
Caroline Kushner (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) and
Allison Snyder (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) each logged a hit while
Sarah Tully (West Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) earned the game-winning RBI.
Carli Matrisian went 3-for-3 with a double and the lone Falcon run scored. Veronica Hribko (RBI) and Brittney Urciuoli also hit safely as four others drew a walk.
After the Falcons took the 1-0 lead on an RBI ground out by Hribko in the second, Martucci fanned the side. A half inning earlier, Blokker doubled and moved to third on a ground out but Albertus Magnus got out of the frame with a grounder to short.
Smith looked to get on the scoreboard in the third as Zimmerman and Blokker were aboard with one out. They moved up to second and third on a delayed double steal before a ground out and a fly out ended the threat. The Pioneers ended the previous portion of the stanza with a "strike 'em out, throw 'em out" double play.
Joanna Giordano (South Salem, N.Y./John Jay) and Snyder each made great plays in the outfield to bookend the top of the fourth. Giordano came up with a sinking liner in left for the first out while Snyder, running toward the right field fence, made an over-the-shoulder grab to end the half inning.
The Pioneers finally broke through in the fifth courtesy of an Albertus Magnus miscue. Zimmerman and Blokker were on first and second with two outs as Brown connected what appeared to be an inning-ending grounder; however, the ball got away from the fielder allowing the tying run to score. A hard liner to third kept the game tied at 1-1.
The Falcons had the bases loaded with one out in the sixth and, as they have all season, the Pioneers bared down as
Edie Richardson (Franklin, Mass./Fontbonne Academy) combined with Zimmerman to erase the lead runner at the plate for the second out. Jessica Seaver put a fielder's choice into play, but it hit the runner heading to third as the game remained deadlocked at 1-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, Tully plated Kushner with a sacrifice fly as the Pioneers grabbed the 2-1 advantage. A fielder's choice and a fly out to center prevented the Pioneers from grabbing any insurance runs.
Despite a two-out walk in the top of the seventh, Martucci notched a trio of punch outs to seal the win.
