Softball Falls to Babson in NCAA Regional, 1-0

BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior Kathleen Conway (Simsbury, Conn.) tossed a two-hit shutout and sophomore Lindsey Schmid (New Canaan, Conn.) raced home with the game's only run on a fielding error in the bottom of the second inning as third-seeded Babson College topped sixth-seeded Bridgewater State University, 1-0, in game three of the Babson Park Regional on Friday morning at Alumni Field.

With its 13th win in the last 15 games, Babson moved to 33-12 on the season while Bridgewater State falls to 26-16 overall.

Conway was magnificent in her first NCAA Tournament start, allowing just a leadoff double to Bears' senior Melissa Harmon (Shrewsbury, Mass.) in the top of the third inning and a single to sophomore Jessica Laudauti (Berkley, Mass.) in the fifth inning. The left-hander struck out 11 batters and retired the final nine batters of the game to move to 21-5 on the season. She now has 19 complete games and seven shutouts on the season and has won 16 of her last 17 decisions dating back to April 5.

Junior Amber White (Middleboro, Mass.) was equally as good for Bridgewater State, allowing just three singles and an unearned run while striking out two and walking none in a complete-game effort. White, who lowered her earned run average to 0.61 on the season, good for fifth in the nation, is now 15-7 on the season.

Senior Jackie Enos (Taunton, Mass.) had two hits for Babson while classmate Ashleigh Phelps (West Chester, Pa.) added a two-out single in the sixth inning. The three hits for the Beavers was their lowest output since being two-hit by Springfield College back on March 30.

After Conway struck out the side in the top of the second inning, Schmid reached after being hit by White's 0-1 pitch. Phelps laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her over to second, and she would advance to third one batter later on a groundout by Conway. Junior Christa Shorette (Southington, Conn.) hit a two-out groundball that was misplayed by the Bears' second baseman, allowing Schmid to score as the Beavers took a 1-0 lead.

Conway worked out of a jam after allowing a leadoff double to Harmon in the top of the third inning, striking out a pair and inducing a one-out groundball to shortstop. Bridgewater State senior Brianna DeNucci (Newton, Mass.) advanced to second base with two outs in the top of the fifth inning but Conway ended the inning with a strikeout.

Babson advances to a winners' bracket game on Saturday morning at a time to be determined while Bridgewater State will face an elimination game against Husson University on Friday afternoon at 3:00pm.

GAME NOTES: The Beavers hold a 14-6-1 edge in the all-time series against Bridgewater State and have won five straight meetings…Babson has made three NCAA Tournament and has played Bridgewater State all three times with the other meetings coming in 2005 and 2006. The Bears are making their 21st NCAA Tournament appearance, which is tied with Rowan University for the most championship berths in the Babson Park Regional and is tied for the third-most in the 62-team field…Babson is now 6-6 in one-run games while the Bears fall to 9-9 in games decided by a single run.