Softball Comes Up Short After Late Rally
By Ryan Gaydos
@KUTowerSports
There is not one bad thing you can say after the Kean University softball team’s effort in the New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament this week. The team was a No. 6 seed coming into the tournament and made the finals after a rocky road that included a win Saturday against Rowan.
However, the Cougars fell just short to Montclair State Sunday in the game that Kean needed to win to stay alive with one loss already in the tournament. However, the Red Hawks defeated the Cougars staving off the late rally charged by the Cougars’ offense 5-4.
Three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning was capped off by a Courtney Melchionna double to left field that scored Courtney Yard and Sandra Binkiewicz. Melchionna finished the day 1-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout to add to her two RBI. Binkiewicz also contributed an RBI in the inning, which scored Meghan Cegielski.
Yard finished the day going the distance allowing three earned runs on eight hits striking out three batters. Her counterpart Alex Hill picked up her 33rd win for Montclair State. Hill allowed four runs but struck out 13 batters. The Red Hawks are the 2013 New Jersey Athletic Conference champions and well-deserved after a great season.
The Cougars put together a great run and that should not go unnoticed either.
Next for Kean is possible bid into the NCAA Tournament. The selections take place Monday morning at 10 A.M.