SCRANTON, Pa. – No. 2 Marywood University kept its tournament hopes alive in late-inning fashion to eliminate No. 3 Saint Elizabeth University this afternoon in the 2023 ECAC Division III Softball Championship.  The Pacers will face Penn College tomorrow in another elimination game at 12 pm.

The Pacers improve to 27-17 while the Eagles close out the season at 27-14.

With neither team able to push a run across in the first three and a half innings, Marywood struck first in the bottom of the fourth when Tori Para parked a one-out solo home run down the left-field line to make it 1-0 before the inning ended.

Down a run and with two outs in the top of the sixth, Julia Stewart kept the Eagles’ chances alive when she singled down the left line. She later scored when Carly Bressler doubled to the left-center field gap, which tied the game at one.

Marywood pinch hitter Alex Dusman opened the bottom of the seventh with a walk. Following a strikeout, Dusman stole second to move into scoring position. She later was able to move up another 60 feet when Mara Hamm grounded out to the pitcher for the second out of the inning. With the game-winning run on third, Emily Rose’s RBI single to center drove in Dusman to give the Pacers the 2-1 victory.

Kaitlynne McCarthy took the loss for the Eagles to fall to 17-6 on the year. She allowed two hits and one run (earned) over the course of 3.1 innings of work. Starter Kami DeGaetani allowed one run (earned) on four hits in 3.1 innings.

Pacer starter pitcher Marissa Gregory threw her eighth complete game this season to earn her 15^th win and improve to 15-3. She allowed one run (earned) on seven hits while fanning 12 in the process.

Samantha Hemhauser and Stewart combined going 4-for-7 with a run scored and a stolen base. Bressler finished with the team’s only extra-base hit.

Jessica Hanley, Rose, and Para each finished with two hits. Para tallied her second home run of the season and 34^th team-leading run scored while going 2-for-3 with an RBI.