Wellesley Falls To Springfield in NEWMAC Title Games (4/27/08)

Final game scores of 2-1 proved to be unlucky tallies for the Wellesley Blue Sunday afternoon as they fell to Springfield in two games by the same score. The NEWMAC Championship title enables Springfield to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000. Wellesley advanced to the Championship games with wins over Babson and Wheaton earlier in the tournament. Capturing one victory on the day would have secured the NEWMAC title for the Blue. The Pride advanced to the title games by eliminating Babson, Clark, Wheaton, and finally, Wellesley. Wellesley now awaits an at-large bid as their only chance to compete in the NCAA Tournament.

In the Championship game, Springfield's Sam Rhodes (22-5) pitched superbly and picked up her third win of the day. After the first inning, the score remained tied at 0-0. The Pride would notch a run on the board in the top of the second with a solo homerun shot. The Blue would respond favorably in the bottom of the fourth inning as Sophomore, Alex Warren, blasted a homerun over the right centerfield fence. Wellesley pitcher, Beej Grundlock, disrupted a Springfield scoring threat in the top of the fifth inning with one out and loaded bases by striking out two consecutive Pride batters. The score was still tied after the completion of the seventh inning thus forcing extra innings. Utilizing the international tie-breaker rule, Springfield would score in the top of the eighth inning off of solid and timely hitting. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Wellesley, too, would place a runner on second due to the international tie-breaker rule. Sophomore, Ilana Orloff, would advance to third on a Sophomore, Megan Wood, sacrifice bunt. Third base would be as far as Orloff would advance, however, as Springfield was able to force a pop-up and a groundout to capture the NEWMAC Championship.

Defensively, Grundlock pitched all eight inning for the Blue, allowed only two runs (only one of these was earned), and allowed seven hits. She struck out thirteen batters and walked three. For Wellesley, Orloff was .500 on the game, going 2-4. Warren was responsible for the Blue's lone RBI of the game.