Stayin' Alive

FARMINGDALE, NY -  Last year NYU-Poly and Farmingdale battled it out for the Skyline Conference Championship in softball. This year, they'll do it again... but this time Farmingdale has the one game advantage thanks to a come-from-behind 7-5 win over the Lady Jays Saturday afternoon.

NYU-Poly built up a 4-0 lead on the Lady Rams and starter Hope Zino, thanks heavily to Zino. With no outs and the bases loaded in the fourth, she hit pinch-hitter Natalia Stockinger (Putnam Valley, NY) and freshmen Christi Bruin (Auburn, WA), before walking sophomore Corine Fitzgibbons (Brooklyn, NY) to add three runs on the 1-0 lead.

But, a combination of timely hits and NYU-Poly fielding miscues led to a pair of two run innings and a 4-4 tie. The Lady Jays responded to take a 5-4 lead into the sixth when sophomore Annamarie SMith (Henderson, NV) drove in Fitzgibbons.

But, in the home half, Farmingdale scored three runs, keyed by a 2-RBI triple by Kristen Flint to snag the victory and remain undefeated in the double-elimination format.

NYU-Poly had to play the winner of the losers bracket, which ended up being Mount Saint Mary. The Lady Knights defeated Old Westbury 2-1.

In a pitcher's duel, NYU-Poly held on for another 2-1 victory, with freshmen Lyndsey Rathburn (Mission VIejo, CA) earning the win, while sophomore Miranda Merilli (Altoona, PA) picked up the save.

Sophomore Shelby Bruns (Elko, NV) had the game-winning hit, an RBI single with two outs in the second.  Mount Saint Mary answered with a run in the top of the fourth, but could manage no more on the NYU-Poly pitchers. 

NYU-Poly will play Farmingdale at 11:00am tomorrow. If the Lady Jays win, they will play again at 1:00pm. The winner will represent the Skyline in the NCAA Championships.