Lebanon Valley Edges NYU-Poly 1-0
Pitchers dual goes to Flying Dutchmen
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The third-seeded Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen (32-11) beat the sixth-seeded NYU-Poly Fighting Blue Jays (31-11) 1-0 in the third game of the NCAA Division III Softball Regional being hosted by Ithaca College. Lebanon Valley will play Ithaca game on Friday at 4 p.m.; NYU-Poly will take on Dickinson College, who lost to Ithaca 2-1. The loser is eliminated from the NCAA tournament.
Junior shortstop Meagan Donoghue drove in the game's only run with a one-out home run in the sixth inning, breaking up a pitching duel between Lebanon Valley junior Laura Snyder and NYU-Poly freshman Miranda Merilli (Altoona, PA).
Snyder, now 14-5 on the year, struck out 14 batters -- two short of her career high. She allowed four hits and one walk and worked out of jams in the sixth and seventh innings.
In the sixth, senior Ryan Graybill (Missouri City, TX) and freshman Elizabeth Shrandt (Newtown, PA) hit one-out singles but Snyder put away the next two hitters. Graybill's hit tied Polytechnic's career hit record. In the seventh, freshman catcher Natalia Stockinger (Putnam Valley, NY) walked to lead off the inning and a sacrifice bunt by junior left fielder Tara Bucci (Montgmoery, NJ) moved freshman pinch-runner Catherine Mistretta (Bellmore, NY) to second before Snyder retired the final two Blue Jays.
Merilli gave up five hits in the complete-game effort and didn't walk a batter. Junior left fielder Katie Freeman had two of Lebanon Valley's five hits.
