Box Score

KEENE, N.H. -- Junior pitcher Erin Lyons (Salem, N.H.) posted her fourth shutout of the season to help the University of New England earn a spot in the final day of competition in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Softball Championship with a 4-0 victory over Simmons College in an elimination game played Saturday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex on the campus of Keene State College.

Lyons (10-8) allowed a hit in each of the first five innings and walked none while striking out three, as the third-seeded Nor'easters moved to 29-18 on the year.

Big Blue will resume tournament action Sunday morning at 9 a.m. (time pushed up from original schedule due to weather forecast) in another elimination contest -- a rematch with No.2 Brandeis. Top seed Keene State (which defeated the Judges, 11-1, in 5 innings) is set to face the winner at approximately 11 a.m.

UNE used the initial four at-bats to put a run on the board and account for all its scoring. In the first, sophomore Casey Brigham (New London, Conn.) singled up the middle and scored on a double to left by classmate Megan Gauger (South Paris, Maine). In the second, it was senior Stephanie Podolski (Coventry, Conn.) who reached with a two-out single, and made it 2-0 after first-year Allison Frazier (Tewksbury, Mass.) doubled to the gap in right-center.

A double was the RBI-source once again for UNE in the third, as junior Ashley Gott (Winterport, Maine) launched a two-base knock to center, scoring Brigham for the second time.

Lyons helped herself out with a lead-off single to left in the fourth, and took second with an error on the play. Sophomore Beth Smith (Delanson, N.Y.) entered the game as a pinch runner, and following an out and a sacrifice, junior Maegen Johnson (Standish, Maine) looped a single to center to increase the margin to four.

Gauger finished with two hits in the game, as did Simmons first-year Emily Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.).

Senior Courteney Collier (Bolton, Mass.) was tagged with the loss after three-plus innings of work for the fifth-seeded Sharks, who conclude the season with a record of 25-17.


To view the recap of UNE's first game of the day against Brandeis University, click HERE.