#7 Ave Maria University - 8 vs. #10 Penn State Mont Alto - 7 (8 innings)
In the opening game of the tournament, 7-seed Ave Maria University edged 10-seed Penn State Mont Alto, 8-7, in extra innings to advance to the second round against 2-seed Carlow University. Ave Maria used a walk-off hit from Sarah Vinci to help Beth Vaccarezza pick up the win in relief.
Mont Alto jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the third, as Jenna Rhodes and Kiera Fleagle smacked run scoring doubles. Pitcher Kristyan Gates also singled home a run to help her own cause as the Lions took the early lead.
Ave Maria's Sarah Vinci broke up Gates' perfect game in the bottom of the fifth with a single, and would later score on a groundout by Brandi Griswold to make it 4-1. Mont Alto added another run in the top of the sixth, and entered the seventh with a 5-1 advantage.
But the Gyrenes would answer, using a four run bottom of the seventh inning to tie the score at 5-5 to send the game to extras. Beth Vaccarezza had an RBI single, followed by a suicide squeeze bunt by pinch hitter Sarah Dowdy. Janet Holtfreter followed with a sacrifice bunt of her own, which scored Vaccarezza before Caitlin Constance tied the score with a sacrifice fly to right to score Griswold.
Using the tiebreaker, starting with a runner on second, Mont Alto scored two runs in the top of the eighth with the help of a Gyrenes' error. But for the second time in as many innings, Ave Maria would answer, as a fielder's choice and an error helped the Gyrenes tie the score at 7-7. Vinci would again come up big, crushing a double to deep left to score Marlie Braddy and give Ave Maria the walk off win.
Gates finished with four strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits. The Lions had knocked out Ave Maria starting pitcher Emily Lemin in the top of the third, but Vaccarezza would allow three more runs on four hits over the final 5 1/3 innings to pick up her first win of the championships.
Ave Maria will meet Carlow at 8:00 p.m. at Firestone Stadium later on Monday. Mont Alto will play in the consolation bracket at 6:00 p.m. on the Pony Field at Firestone Stadium.
