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Catholic Box Score
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The No. 1 seed Susquehanna softball team opened play at the 2014 Landmark Conference Tournament with a 10-2 win over No. 4 seed Elizabethtown before falling to Catholic 6-5 in the third game of the day.
The Crusaders (22-15) will now play on Saturday at 12 p.m. against the winner of Saturday's opening game between Elizabethtown and No. 2 seed Moravian.
In game one, Lauren Creamer (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) came through with a three-run, pinch-hit home run to cap off an eight-run fifth inning to end the game 10-2 in favor of SU. Bridget Rafter (Highlands, N.J./Henry Hudson Regional) and Alyssa Cantalini (Kitchener, Ontario/St. David Catholic Secondary) both drove in two runs on one hit while leadoff hitter Amanda Neveroski (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Starting pitcher Morgan Lewis (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) gave up just two runs on four hits to pick up her 12th win of the season.
The Crusaders plated two runs in the first inning on a Sam LaCoe (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) RBI single and a Blue Jays fielding error before Elizabethtown cut the lead in half with a solo run in the third inning and tied it at two in the fourth.
SU was retired in order in the fourth before breaking out for eight runs on four hits in the fifth inning. Cantalini drove in two runs on a double to left center while Rafter's single down the right field line drove in two more runs. Creamer then ended the game with a three-run shot to left center, her team-leading fifth homer of the season.
Lewis also started game two and pitched the first 5.2 innings, giving up four runs – three earned – on nine hits. Jamie Fesinstine (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) came on to pitch the final 1.1 innings and was credited for the loss after the Cardinals scored two in the top of the seventh to take the lead for good.
Brianna Murphy (Hazlet, N.J./Mater Dei Prep) was 2-for-4 with one RBI, the lone Crusader with multiple hits in the game.
Catholic took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and added another run in the top of the fourth to go up 2-0.
Susquehanna responded with two runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth. Cantalini drove in the first run with a double to right center and Rafter's double to right center plated Cantalini for a 2-2 ballgame.
The Cardinals added another two runs in the top of the next inning for a 4-2 lead but in the bottom half of the inning, Neveroski knocked a two-out double to right center and came around to score of Murphy's triple to right field to make it a one-run game (4-3).
Fesinstine entered the game in the sixth and worked out of a jam before SU went ahead thanks to a two-run sixth inning. Creamer's RBI double to right center tied the game at four and pinch hitter Anna Heggenstaller (Liverpool, Pa./Greenwood) doubled to left center to score pinch runner Sam Zuponcic (Mantua, Ohio/Crestwood/Hiram) and give Susquehanna the 5-4 lead after six innings.
The Cardinals loaded the bases in the seventh and Rose Shaver came through with a RBI single to center that knotted the game at five before a Morgan Gieser sac fly marked the go-ahead run.
Susquehanna was then retired in order in the seventh to end the game.
