Middlebury Knocks Out Centenary
ITHACA, N.Y. – The third-seeded Middlebury Panthers (30-7) eliminated the seventh-seeded Centenary [N.J.] Cyclones (29-13) from the NCAA Division III Softball Regional at Ithaca College, posting a 9-1 win Friday in a game. The Panthers, who collected the program’s first NCAA playoff win, advance to play Saturday at 10 a.m. against the loser of Thursday’s Messiah-St. John Fisher game.
Left fielder Emily Burbridge hit a pair of home runs for Middlebury (she’s tied the school’s single-season record with six this spring), connecting for a grand slam in the first and a lead-off shot in the seventh.
Burbridge and Margel both had two of Middlebury’s nine hits. Right fielder Leslie Crawford scored two runs.
The Cyclones scored their run in the fourth inning. Left fielder Jen Vasta and catcher Cara Montferrat led off with infield singles and right fielder Nicole Fleming delivered a two-out RBI hit to pull Centenary to within 4-1 with the tying run at the plate but winning pitcher Ali McAnaney closed out the inning by coaxing a ground ball for the final out.
McAnaney improved to 10-1, striking out five and allowing four hits over five innings. Elizabeth Morris followed with two innings of no-hit relief, striking out four batters.
Second baseman Emily Kraytenburg’s two-run single highlighted the Panthers’ three-run fifth inning. Her hit brought home third baseman Emma Katz (who had singled home a run earlier in the inning) and first baseman Jessica Poracky.
