Tracy Davis, McDaniel
Caroline Brehm (Hanover, Pa./New Oxford) did her job, holding Messiah off the scoreboard. Her battery mate for 10 innings finally rewarded her when Tracy Davis (Christiansburg, Va./Christiansburg) cleared the left-field fence with two outs in the bottom of the inning to keep McDaniel's season going with a 1-0 win in the first elimination game of the 2012 NCAA Division III softball regional on Friday.
With the win, the Green Terror (28-13) advances to play on Saturday, taking on the loser of the Ferrum-Christopher Newport game at 3 p.m.
Stephanie Schell led the Falcons (35-10) with a 2-for-3 day at the plate.
Brehm limited Messiah to three hits and eight total base runners while striking out 11. With her ninth strikeout of the day - one of the looking variety to end the seventh - she matched the single-season Centennial Conference (CC) record with 334. She now holds the record by herself with two strikeouts in extra innings for 336 in 203 innings of work. The 10 scoreless innings in a single game also matches the CC record for consecutive scoreless innings in a game.
For Davis, it was her third hit of the game. With two outs, she cranked the first pitch she saw just to the right of the 10-foot fence down the left-field line. In the second inning, she floated a ball to right field that kept carrying and got into the corner for a triple. She added a single in the sixth, matching McDaniel's NCAA tournament record with three hits in a game.
The Green Terror had a chance to win the game two innings early with the bases loaded and one out but Messiah pitcher Sara Dietrich wiggled out of trouble to prolong the game.
The Falcons best opportunity to score came in the third inning when Abi Butcher drew a leadoff walk and a throwing error on the ensuing sacrifice attempt coupled with a stolen base put runners at second and third with no outs.
Brehm, however, got Messiah to popup a bunt attempt and back-to-back strikeouts.
Jackie Liebowitz (Bellerose, N.Y./Benjamin N. Cordozo) and Stephanie Maring (Woodbine, Md./South Carroll) added two hits apiece for McDaniel.