Colgate Rallies To Down Bucknell at PL Tournament

Emmie Dolfi tied the game in the sixth with a three-run homer.

Final Box

WEST POINT, N.Y. (5/14/2010) – Nicole Siedhof (Canton, Pa.) laced a single up the middle in the top of the eighth to score the game winning run as fourth seeded Colgate overcame a three-run deficit to down the third seed, Bucknell 5-4 in its second game at the Patriot League Softball Tournament, Friday at the Army Softball Complex.

With the victory, the Raiders improved to 27-21 overall and remain the only undefeated team in the double elimination tournament. Colgate now advances to Saturday's championship round. The Raiders will find out who they will play later Friday. Army and Lehigh followed in an elimination game. The winner between the Black Knights and Mountain Hawks will play Bucknell later today in another elimination contest. Colgate is one win away from advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007 and the fourth time in school history.

Alana Dyson (Grovetown, Ga.) led off the top of the eighth by reaching first on an error by the shortstop. After the freshman advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Stephanie Hartquist (Homer, N.Y.), she was moved to third on a groundout. On a one-ball, two-strike count by reliever Alex MacLean, the Siedhof stroked a single between second and short to provide the winning margin.

Courtney O'Connell (Palm Harbor, Fla.) retired the first two batters in the bottom of the eighth. After allowing a walk, the freshman induced a ground out to short to end the game. O'Connell, who won her fourth decision in her last five starts, allowed only one earned run and scattered 10 hits over eight innings. She tied her season high with seven strikeouts while improving to 10-6 overall. MacLean, the Patriot League Freshman of the Year, suffered the loss and fell to 10-5.

Trailing 4-1 in the top of the sixth, Colgate rallied to even the score. With one out, the Raiders got back-to-back singles from Hartquist and Ortega. After a groundout in which both runners advanced a base, Emmie Dolfi (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) belted a full-court pitch over the left field fence for her fourth “round tripper” of the year to square the contest. It was the freshman's first three-hit game for the Raiders.

It didn't look good early for the Raiders as Bucknell pushed across a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. The Bison's first run came on a break as Mary Pavlovich managed to escape a tag and touched the plate with a stretched hand for the opening score. With a runner on third, Bucknell crossed the plate for the second time on the first of five Colgate errors.

The Raiders cut the Bison lead in half in the top of the fourth. With two outs, Jennifer Ortega (Aberdeen, N.J.) hammered a one-ball, two-strike offering from starter Bridget Gates deep over the left field fence. For the sophomore, it was her ninth homer of the year, which is tied for fifth on the single-season Colgate charts.

The Bison answered Colgate's run in the bottom of the fourth on a single by Pavlovich and then extended the lead to three with a run scoring hit from Sherry Finkel the following inning.

The Raiders finished with nine hits in the victory with Dolfi and Ortega combining for five of them. With her single in the sixth, Hartquist moved to within three hits of tying the single season Colgate hit record.

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