Women's Softball
Softball: Denison advances to NCAA Regional Championship game
Date: May 10, 2008
Location: GLASSBORO, N.J.
Senior Bri Scrofano has been the winning pitcher in all six of Denison's postseason wins in 2008. Her and the Big Red will gun for their first NCAA regional championship on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
The Denison Big Red improved to 3-0 and advanced to the NCAA Division III Regional Championship game on Saturday after a pair of victories over the No. 2 seeded Mount Union Purple Raiders and top-seeded Muskingum. In the opener DU blanked Mount Union 5-0 and rallied for a 3-2 win over the Muskies in the nightcap.
Denison, who entered the seven-team regional as the No. 6 seed, is the only remaining unbeaten team left in the regional. One of the remaining three other teams (Mount Union, Muskingum or Western Connecticut) will need to defeat the Big Red twice on Sunday to advance to the NCAA Division III Championships next weekend in Salem, Va.
Senior hurler Bri Scrofano (Longs, S.C./McDowell) continued her brilliant postseason by scattering four hits over seven innings against Mount Union. She struck out three and did not walk a batter as she made short work of the Purple Raiders. Leading 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth, the No. 9 hitter, Erica Evans (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington), delivered a two-run home run over the wall in left-center field. Denison would add a fifth run in the fifth and that would be all the insurance Scrofano would need.
In the nightcap the Big Red were facing a familiar opponent in regional rival, Muskingum College. The Muskies, who are making their 18th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, entered the game with a 37-9 record. On April 3 in New Concord, Ohio Muskingum swept a doubleheader against the Big Red but needed three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning of game two to secure the wins.
For the first time in this postseason a pitcher other than Scrofano would take to the circle for Denison as sophomore Sam Rumschlag (Carmel, Ind./Cathedral) got the call from head coach Tiffany Ozbun. Rumschlag, who entered the game with a 6-4 record, kept the dangerous Muskingum lineup off balance and did not allow a run through four innings.
In the top of the fifth, Muskingum scored two runs off three hits and one error and Rumschlag would leave the game with two outs and hand the ball over to Scrofano who induced a ground out back to the box to get out of the inning trailing 2-0.
It didn't take DU long to strike back as Claire Kopko (Washington, Pa./Trinity) led off the inning with a walk and Rachel Cotterman (New Lexington, Ohio/Fisher Catholic) singled to right moving Kopko to second. After Evans' grounder to short cut down Kopko at third base, senior left fielder Ali Teopas (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview) drew a walk to load the bases for Mary Beth Krolikowski (Brunswick, Ohio/Holy Name). A Krolikowski grounder to third base would result in Cotterman being thrown out at the plate, but Evans was hustling on the play and put pressure on the defense resulting in an error by the first baseman that would score Evans and move Teopas to third. Ali Silver and Rumschlag would follow with back-to-back RBI singles to put Denison on top for good.
Fatigue certainly did not seem to be a factor for Scrofano over the final two innings as she retired the Muskies in order while striking out three. Since the postseason began for the Big Red at the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament last weekend, Denison has rattled off six straight wins and Scrofano has been the winning pitcher in all six contests. She has upped her overall record to 18-4 and during that six-game span, boasts an ERA of 1.30 in 32.1 innings pitched.
The Big Red attempt to advance to their first NCAA Division III National Championship on Sunday when they take on either Muskingum, Mount Union or Western Connecticut State at 1 p.m.