DeLand, Fla. - The Stetson softball team (34-20) saw its 10-game winning streak come to an end in a 6-1 loss to top-seeded Lipscomb (47-11) in the Holiday Inn Express-Orange City Atlantic Sun Conference Championships on Saturday. The Hatters remain alive in the quest for their second A-Sun tournament title in four years; they will take on fourth-seeded USC Upstate at 1 p.m. tomorrow in the semifinals. The winner will advance to a winner-take-all championship game vs. Lipscomb 30 minutes later.
The Lady Bisons, who are receiving enough votes in the latest NFCA/USA Today poll to functionally make them #29 in the nation, scored all the runs they needed on a Kellie Sirus three-run home run in the bottom of the first. It was the league-leading 16th home run of the season for the Lipscomb first baseman. Sirus also homered in her team's first game of the day, an 8-0 win over Kennesaw State, and totaled seven RBI on Saturday.
Stetson attempted a rally in the top of the second, loading the bases with one out on a pair of walks and an infield single from junior third baseman Jill Semento (Umatilla, Fla.). Senior center fielder Amy Joyce (Lake Mary, Fla.) would eventually drive her in with a two-out RBI single, but Lipscomb pitcher Alaina Jacobson worked out of the jam with no further damage.
Jacobson kept the Hatters off balance all night, holding Stetson to one run on two hits and three walks with four strikeouts. RBI singles from left fielder Mackenzie Tucker and second baseman Abby Keese plus an RBI double by catcher Mollie Mitchell accounted for the rest of the Lady Bisons offense. Senior Nicole Peltz (Navarre, Fla.) had three strikeouts for the Hatters in three innings of relief.
In other action Saturday, Lipscomb rolled to an 8-0 shutout of Kennesaw State and USC Upstate defeated Jacksonville 7-4. Both KSU and JU were eliminated after their second losses of the weekend. Live Stats and Hatter Vision/A-Sun.TV will be available for both games tomorrow as the conference will hand out its automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Tournament to either the Hatters, the Spartans or the Lady Bisons.
