Wellesley Softball Advances to NCAA Regional Final; Blue Eliminate Saint Joseph's

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College secured a trip to the regional championship round of the NCAA Tournament with a 6-0 win over Saint Joseph's in the fifth game of the 2014 NCAA Division III Softball Wellesley Regional.

The Blue move to 29-10 on the season, and advance to face Bridgewater State at 12:00pm on Sunday. A Wellesley win would force a second game, immediately following the first one. The winner will move on to the NCAA Super Regionals next weekend. Saint Joseph's closes out their 2014 season at 34-6.

Wellesley senior Lindsay Johnson pitched her second complete-game shut-out of the day, a five hit beauty that saw her strikeout three and walk only two.

The Blue were led offensively by senior Jayne Ellis, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and first-year Anna Pisac who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Ashtyn Coleman and Emilyrose Havrilla each had an RBI for the Blue, while Havrilla went 2-for-4.

The Monks were led by Carla Tripp, who went 2-for-2. Lindsay Moore and Danica Gelason each had a hit, while also reaching base and a walk.

Johnson put the first eight batters away before surrendering a single to Tripp in the bottom of the third. Jaclyn Tsang made an impressive diving catch to close out the inning, breaking on a sinking liner into shallow right field and laying out for the grab.

Wellesley got on the board first in the top of the fourth, rallying to put runners on first and second with two outs as Ellis and Havrilla both put balls in the outfield. Pisac smacked a sharp liner into center field to bring Ellis home and put the Blue up 1-0.

Saint Joseph's threatened to even it up in the bottom of the fourth, as a single from Moore and a walk drawn by Gleason put two on with one out.  Theresa Hendrix  reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners, but a popup to first base ended the threat.

The Blue exploded in the fifth as Jennifer Migliore led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Coleman put a double on the warning track in deep center field to bring Migliore home, giving Wellesley a 2-0 lead. Tsang beat the throw to first on a bunt single to put runners at the corners with one out, and then stole second to get into scoring position. Ellis then singled to center to bring Coleman and Tsang home and put Wellesley up 4-0.  A Havrilla single to shallow center then plated Ellis, while Pisac followed with a triple to deep center field to get Havrilla home for her second RBI, as Wellesley nabbed a 6-0 advantage.

The game was delayed with one out and a runner on first for Saint Joseph's in the bottom of the sixth as lightning was reported in the area and both teams were instructed to take cover. Play resumed after 30 minutes, and saw Gleason double to left center to put two runners in scoring position. However, a popup and a groundout ended the threat, and Johnson worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to seal the win.