Monmouth Upsets Top-Seed Canisius 12-1 in Softball Championship Quarterfinal
MAAC Sports
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Fifth- seed Monmouth University beat top-seed Canisius College in five innings by the score of 12-1 in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Softball Championship at Demske Sports Complex in Buffalo, New York on the campus of Canisius College.
Monmouth struck early, scoring in the top of the first inning on an RBI single by Justene Reyes with two outs, putting the Hawks up 1-0. Monmouth would add on to its lead in the top of the third, when Kayleena Flores hit an RBI single into center field with bases loaded and no outs. In relief for Canisius, Erica Mackie walked her first batter faced in Vanessa Cardoza, which drew a run in with bases loaded and still no outs. A wild pitch by Mackie would score the fourth run for Monmouth, making it a 4-0 edge. Another wild pitch after Raelynn Galindo drew a walk made it 5-0 for the Hawks. Monmouth would load the bases again, this time with one out, and add another run on an RBI ground out by Chloe Howerth, extending the Monmouth lead to 6-0 heading into the bottom of the third.
Canisius would have an answer in the bottom of the third, getting an RBI double from Jessica Berzins to put Canisius on the scoreboard, making it a 6-1 game.
In the top of the fourth with two outs and two on, Jill Freese would clear the base with a two-run double and extend the Monmouth lead to 8-1. Howerth followed that up with another two-run base hit, upping the lead to 10-1 for the Hawks.
In the fifth, Monmouth would add on to the score, picking up two more runs from a Vanessa Cardoza two RBI double extending the lead to 12-1. With Canisius failing to cut the score under eight points in the bottom of the fifth, the contest would come to an end with 12-1 being the final.
The winning pitcher from Monmouth was Sydney Underhill (7-13), only giving up one earned run in the contest while striking out two. Madi Weathers (11-9) of Canisius was the losing pitcher, striking out two batters in 2.0 innings of action.
Monmouth will take on second-seed Fairfield University on Friday at 11:00 a.m., with the winner advancing to the championship final. Canisius will face third-seed Manhattan College later today at 4:30 p.m. in an elimination game.