Softball

FREEDOM CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Delaware Valley College 6, King's College 4
Aggies Advance To Championship Round

EDWARDSVILLE (PA) - Brittany Stockert hit two home runs and knocked in three runs as Delaware Valley College reached the Freedom Conference Championship Round for the first time in program history with a 6-4 victory over defending champion King's College.

The win improved the Aggies to 17-18 overall and it was their second win over the Lady Monarchs (20-13) in the tournament. They opened the double-elimination with a 5-4, 14-inning thriller against King's in the opening round. Delaware Valley will now meet top-seeded DeSales University in the championship round (1:00 p.m. and, if necessary, 3:00 p.m. on Saturday) and will have to beat the Bulldogs twice to win the conference crown.

Delaware Valley used the long ball on Saturday as it tied a school record with four home runs in the game. The round-trippers began in the first inning when Bethany Pavlik set an Aggie single-season record with her eighth homer of the year. The solo shot went over the left field fence for a 1-0 lead.

Stockert, the Delaware Valley hero from game one on Friday, then led off the bottom of the second with a home run down the left field line to make it 2-0. Stockert hit the game-tying grand slam home run in the seventh inning and drove home the game-winning run in the 14th inning in the tournament opener.

The Lady Monarch bats woke up in the third inning as the defending champs used four hits to score four runs and take a 4-2 advantage. Abbey Knoblauch knocked in the first run with an RBI single and Leanne Harvey tied the contest with an RBI ground out. With two outs and Knoblauch on second, Meaghan Galvin hit a blast over the center field fence to take the lead.

However, Delaware Valley responded in the fourth as Kelly Andrews led off with a single and the Aggies' all-time leader in home runs, Nicole Dorney, followed with the 19th long ball of her career. King's made a pitching change and Stockert greeted Lindsey Hoerner by hitting her second home run of the game and third of the tournament for a 5-4 Delaware Valley lead.

The Aggies padded the lead in the fifth and it was Stockert coming through once again. The sophomore designated hitter followed up two-out walks by both Andrews and Dorney with a run-scoring single to center field.

Jennifer Bummer, who came in from the bullpen in the fourth, took care of the rest as she retired King's in order in the sixth and allowed just one hit in the seventh. The hit was a two-out infield single by Galvin. However, Bummer got Hoerner to ground out to second to put the Aggies in the championship game. Bummer evened her record to 9-9 with the win.