Bangor, Me. - On day one of the North Atlantic Conference softball championships, Lesley University defeated Thomas College but fell to UMaine-Farmington to advance to the second day of play. The Lynx will next play Husson College on Saturday at noon to determine the right to play UMaine-Farmington for the conference championship.
Game One vs. Thomas College
One day after being named NAC Player of the Year, sophomore catcher Jodi Fralick (Woburn, Mass.) went 4-for-4 while driving in two runs and crossing the plate once herself.
Georgia Saltzman (Lynn, Mass.) went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored in the winning effort. The first baseman's double in the fifth inning was part of a three-run rally to break a 2-2 tie.
On the mound for the Lynx was Alicia Burnett (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) who turned in another solid outing. The junior finished with a complete game, giving up just three earned runs while striking out nine batters.
The Terriers took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning as a two-out Kristy Clements (Monroe, Me.) double plated Brittany Morin (Winslow, Me.). Clements would later score on an error.
In the bottom of the third inning with the Terriers leading 2-1, NAC Rookie of the Year Alyson Durben (Stow, Mass.) tripled with two-outs. Fralick would then single home Durben to tie the game.
The Lynx would score three runs in the fifth inning to take a 5-2 advantage but the Terriers rallied in the top of the seventh to tie the game at five runs a piece. Lesley would then load the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning without recording an out. Saltzman hit a sharp grounder to the third baseman that was mishandled and a run would score to give the Lynx a game one victory.
Game Two vs. UMaine-Farmington
In the second game of the day against UMaine-Farmington, the Lynx would play a tight game with the Beavers but would eventually lose 3-2 to split the day's games.
Gianna Spaziante (Hawthorne, N.Y.) and Sarah Wilson (Lowell, Mass.) had three and tow hits, respectively for the Lynx. Durben had a RBI double in the fifth inning to tie the game at 2-2.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Beavers got on the board with a two-run homerun to straight away centerfield by McKell Barnes (Durham, Me.).
With the game was tied up 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Beavers loaded the bases and got a RBI single from Kelly McDonough (Windham, Me.) to take the one-run lead.
Lesley was unable to tie the game up in the next two innings and lost to Farmington.
Burnett was on the mound again for the Lynx and pitched 6.0 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits while striking out seven.
Lesley will have to beat Husson and Farmington on Saturday to force a deciding championship game with Farmington on Sunday.
To learn more about the Lesley University softball team, please visit their website.