BRIGHTON, Mass. – Emmanuel softball kept its season alive on Saturday afternoon, working their way through the loser's bracket in Pod A of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament, claiming a 9-0 win over Regis, followed by a 2-0 victory against the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.), advancing the Saints into Sunday's play to determine the Pod A winner.
GAME ONE: Emmanuel 9 – Regis 0 (Final / 6 Innings)
The Saints were in front early in their first elimination game of the afternoon, with senior
Emely Rodriguez singling to left field, allowing a pair of Saints to score for a 2-0 lead. The two-run advantage held through much of the game, while first-year pitcher
Carmen Crockett was in the midst of a record-breaking performance.
Crockett and the Saints first 10 defensive outs of the game came via a strikeout, as the rookie pitcher allowed just two walks in the first 3.1 innings. The pitching performance continued throughout the first game, as the Pride only reached second base on two occasions.
Meanwhile, the Saints added to their lead in the top of the fifth, doubling the advantage to 4-0. An RBI double for sophomore
Grace Garon and sacrifice fly for first-year
Rylee Smith put the Saints ahead by four.
Emmanuel added further to its lead in the sixth, setting up the run-rule win in game one. Junior
Mia Fernandes started the scoring with an RBI single to center. Sophomore
Sydney Taylor knocked in two with a two-run double. Rodriguez and Smith added an RBI each on a single and a double, respectively, giving the Saints a 9-0 lead.
Crockett finished off the complete game in the sixth, but not before making history with her final strikeout in the sixth, giving her 16 strikeouts on the game, setting the new single-game program mark.
Until a Pride flyout in the sixth, the 15 outs preceding that out all came by a Crockett strikeout. Fernandes and Rodrigues both finished the game 3-for-4, including three RBI for Rodriguez. Eight of the Saints nine starters all recorded a hit in the win,
allowing the team to advance to game two.
GAME TWO: Emmanuel 2 – Univ. of Saint Joseph (Conn.) 0
Crockett was back in the circle in game two for the Saints, pitching another gem to help the Saints advance to Sunday's play.
A pitcher's dual through four innings, the Saints struck first in the fifth with Smith hitting a leadoff home run over the left field fence, giving Emmanuel a 1-0 lead. Smith's solo shot was the first of the postseason for the rookie and team-leading third of the season.
After allowing three hits in the first two innings of game two, Crockett was nearly unhittable, not allowing a hit to the next 10 consecutive Blue Jays batters.
Emmanuel added insurance in the seventh, as Rodriguez reached on a single, as pinch runner, sophomore
Samantha Serio, came in to take her place. First-year
Jacqui Martineau stepped in and delivered a double into the right-center gap, allowing Serio to score from first to give the Saints a 2-0 lead.
The tying run made her way to the plate for the Blue Jays in the bottom of the seventh, but a groundball up the middle was fielded by Fernandes, who stepped on second and threw over to first, completing a double play, as the Saints claimed a 2-0 win.
Rodriguez finished 2-for-3 in the game with a pair of singles. Martineau added a 1-for-3 game, including the RBI double in the seventh. Junior
MeKayla Poisson also finished 1-for-3 with a triple. Crockett struck out three more batters in game two, allowing five hits in the complete game win.
It's the first time since the Saints joined the GNAC that they have won back-to-back playoff games by shutting out their opponents. In addition, it's also the first pair of shutout wins on the same day by the Saints since April 7, 2023, in an 8-0 win and 16-0 win over Norwich.
UP NEXT
The Saints head into Sunday's play needing a pair of wins to come out of Pod A. The hosts of the pod, the Simmons Sharks face the Saints tomorrow at noon. If Emmanuel wins the noon game, a winner-take-all game will immediately follow.
