Softball Falls in Championship to Farmingdale

FARMINGDALE, NY -  Three unearned runs and 10 runners left on base resulted in a 3-2 loss for NYU-Poly in Saturday afternoon's Skyline Conference softball championships.

Despite all that, the Lady Jays battled back to the last out and with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, had the tying and winning runs on base. But, Farmingdale pitcher Hope Zino was able to get freshmen Sadie Hoeschen to fly out to right to end the game.

It would be NYU-Poly that would strike first when Annamarie Smith (Henderson, NV) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the first inning. That brought home freshmen Karina Amaro (Goleta, CA).

Farmingdale would answer with a run in the second and two more in the third to take a 3-1 lead on sophomore starter Miranda Merilli (Altoona, PA).

Merilli would finish the day allowing seven hits while striking out six and walking none. Zino allowed five hits, walked three and struck out five.

The Lady Jays made it exciting in the seventh. With one out, sophomore Shelby Bruns (Elko, NV), who reached on a walk and advanced to third on an error, scored on a wild pitch. After a walk to sophomore Corine Fitzgibbons (Brooklyn, NY) the Lady Jays had runners at first and second with only one out.

But Zino got Smith to ground into a fielder's choice and followed that with the fly out by Hoeschen to seal the championship for Farmingdale.

NYU-Poly finishes the season with a 23-15 overall mark, while Farmingdale will advance to the NCAA Division III championships as the Skyline automatic bid.