BEVERLY, Mass. -- Sophomore Becky
Miller had Coast Guard's only hit of the game, but it was
also the biggest one. A three-run homer which propelled
the third-seeded Bears to a 3-1 victory over sixth-seeded
Bridgewater State College in the 2009 NCAA Division III New England
Regional Tournament held at Endicott College.
Freshman Hayley Feindel improved her record to
32-4 as she went the distance, allowing just one run, a solo homer,
while striking out nine.
Coast Guard Academy (37-5-1) broke a scoreless tie in the second
inning with Miller's three-run shot. The table was set for the
Bears' shortstop after teammate Courtney Wolf
worked a leadoff walk, followed by a sacrifice bunt from
Colleen Denny. Another free pass issued by
Bridgewater starter Alyssa Verronneau allowed
Maddie Buchert to trot to first, before having the
bases wiped clean by Miller's second round-tripper of the
season.
The score would remain 3-0 in favor of Coast Guard until the top of
the sixth when Bridgewater State senior Allie
LeBlanc connected on a 1-and-1 pitch and drove the ball to
centerfield for a solo homerun. The late Bridgewater charge
wouldn't be enough, however, as Feindel recovered from the homerun
by retiring the last five batters in order to secure the win.
Bridgewater State (28-10) notched eight hits on the afternoon and
left five stranded in the 3-1 setback. Despite the loss, the Bears
got an outstanding pitching effort from senior reliever
Stephanie Pierce. Pierce came on to start
the third inning and tossed four innings of no-run, no-hit ball.
LeBlanc went 2-for-3 for the Bears with her team-leading fifth home run of the season. Sophomores Penny King and Tracey Sanko also finished 2-for-3 at the plate.
Bridgewater's best scoring chance, aside from LeBlanc's homer,
came in the top of the first inning. With one out, sophomore
Heather McPherson singled and moved to second when
LeBlanc reached on an error by the shortstop. After a sacrifice
bunt moved the runners to second and third, Feindel was able to
induce a soft pop-up to third to end the threat.
Coast Guard will take on seventh-seeded Springfield College in a
winner's bracket semifinal game on Friday afternoon at 4:00
PM. Springfield knocked off second-seeded Rhode Island
College, 5-2, in their opening round game. Bridgewater State
slips into the loser's bracket where it will take on RIC on Friday
at noon.