Bridgeport Softball Claims Top Seed In 2021 ECC Softball Championship Tournament With Tuesday Night Sweep Of Staten Island
Bridgeport Will Host Mercy College To Begin Best Of Three ECC Semifinal Series On Friday In Seaside Park
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 1 |
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1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
Staten Island, N.Y.-The University of Bridgeport softball team wrapped up the top seed in this season's East Coast Conference Championship Tournament and at least a share of the ECC regular season title with a doubleheader sweep over the host College of Staten Island Dolphins on Tuesday night in New York City. The Purple Knights won game one, 3-0, and completed the sweep with a 6-4 victory in the nightcap. UB heads into the postseason with an 18-6 record both overall and in conference play. CSI is now 5-17 overall and in the ECC. On Wednesday, Molloy will end its regular season at Staten Island, and if the Lions sweep the Dolphins, they will also finish the regular season with an 18-6 mark, but Bridgeport will be the top seed in the championship tournament by virtue of winning three of four games from Molloy this year.
On Tuesday, UB got off to fast start scoring a run in the top of the first of the opener on a double by senior Kaira Ramon (Stamford, Conn.) who touched the plate after a single by sophomore Taylor Yates (Elk Grove, Calif.), who had three hits in game one. The exact same scenario scored the team's second run in the third inning, and the Purple Knights made the score 3-0 pulling off a double steal of home and second base in the sixth inning by Yates and freshman Kianna Robinson (Hamden, Conn.).
Senior Sarah Silver (Vernon, Conn.) also had two hits for the winners in game one.
In the pitching circle, sophomore Kaite Burawski (Hartley, Del.) earned her first of two wins on the evening by firing a five-hit, complete game shutout in which she struck out 14 CSI batters while issuing only two walks. Burawski now has pitched five shutouts so far this season.
In game two, Taylor Yates remained red hot at the plate drive in four runs with a pair of two-RBI doubles, one in the first and the other in the fifth inning which gave Bridgeport a 4-3 lead which it would not relinquish.
The Purple Knights extended their lead to 5-3 in the fifth plating a run on a Dolphins' errors, and the team's final run scored on a two-base sacrifice fly off the bat of Samantha Schiebe (Monroe, Conn.) in the seventh inning.
Kaite Burawski raised her season record to 11-2 with her win in relief of senior Miranda Hillman (Placentia, Calif.), as she allowed only one unearned run over five innings, as the Dolphins managed only four hits against her, as she fanned eight more batters with no walks.
Up next, the Purple Knights will host number four seed Mercy College in a best-of-three ECC Championship Semifinal series that will begin with a single game on Friday at a time to be announced in the near future and a doubleheader, if necessary, on Saturday in Seaside Park. The other semifinal series will have number three seed St. Thomas Aquinas traveling to second seeded Molloy. The winners of this weekend's series will meet the following weekend (May 14-15) in a three-game ECC Championship Series with an automatic NCAA Division II Championship berth on the line.