Colgate Upsets Army 3-1 in PL Tournament Opener

Courtney O'Connell went the distance for the 10th time this year.

Game Box

WEST POINT, N.Y. (5/13/2010) – Courtney O'Connell (Palm Harbor, Fla.) pitched her 10th complete game of the year, while Nicole Siedhof (Canton, Pa.) and Natalie Siedhof (Canton, Pa.) drove in all three runs as fourth seeded Colgate upset top seeded Army 3-1 in the second game of the 2010 Patriot League Tournament, Thursday at the Army Softball Complex.

With the victory, the Raiders, who moved to 26-21 overall, will square off with third seeded Bucknell at noon in the winner's bracket. The Bison upset second seeded Lehigh 4-3 in the opener on a late two-run double.

O'Connell went the distance scattering eight hits over seven innings to improve to 9-6 overall. Army starter Beverly Nordin suffered the loss and fell to 7-8 after allowing nine hits and three earned runs.

Colgate drew first blood in the top of the first. Melissa Babb-Renta (Glenview, Ill.) led off with a single to left field. After Alana Dyson (Grovetown, Ga.) reached on a fielder's choice, both runners advanced a base due to an illegal pitch. With two outs, Nicole Siedhof singled to center to knock home Babb-Renta and Dyson. The junior was erased heading to second for the third out.

Army appeared to have something brewing in the bottom of the second inning. The Black Knights put together a single by Alexis AuBuchon, a hit by pitch and a walk to load the bases, however O'Connell pitched out of the jam by inducing a groundout to third to end the threat.

Despite not crossing the plate in the third inning, Dyson lined a two-ball, two-strike offering from Nordin to left field. It marked the 57th hit by the freshman and that allowed her to break Melissa Rawson's single season Colgate rookie hit record set back in the 2000 season.

The Black Knights hit the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning as AuBuchon and Tiffany Held registered back-to-back doubles. With no outs and runners on first and third, O'Connell got Angela Deger to ground to third. Stephanie Hartquist (Homer, N.Y.) applied a tag on Held between third and home and then threw on to first to complete the double play. Jessica Garcia lined out to pitcher to end the inning.

Up 2-1, Colgate pushed across its third run in the top of the sixth. Jennifer Ortega (Aberdeen, N.J.) led off by ripping a single down the third base line. After Ortega moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, Emmie Dolfi (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) followed with a single up the middle to bring Natalie Siedhof up with runners on first and third with one out. With Ortega moving, the freshman pushed a bunt into “no mans land” to give the Raiders a two-run advantage.

The Black Knights opened the bottom of the frame with a second double by AuBuchon. However the sophomore was stranded at second after O'Connell forced a pop up to short, a groundout to third and a strikeout.

Down 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the Black Knights had runners on second and third with two outs. Erin McClain sent a shot to center that appeared like it could drop and tie the game. At the last second, Dyson reached out and snagged the ball before it hit the ground to end the game.

Print Friendly Version