Box Score
LITTLE FALLS, N.J. – Sophomore Ana Abourashed (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex) blasted a two-out, ninth-inning solo home run to give the fourth-seeded William Paterson softball team (24-14) a 5-4 victory against top-seeded Montclair State (36-5) in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament May 4 at the MSU Softball Stadium.
With the victory, the Pioneers stayed alive in the six-team, double-elimination NJAC Tournament. William Paterson will next face Rowan in an elimination game Saturday, May 5, at 11:00 a.m.
The Red Hawks, ranked fourth in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 Poll, put their first three batters on base in the top of the first with two singles and a catcher's interference. Megan Tantum singled a run home, but WPU junior ace Diana Schraer (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) was able to limit the damage, getting a fielder's choice, strikeout and flyout to keep the score at 1-0.
Senior second baseman April Sardinas-Wyssling (Plainsboro, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro South) and freshman outfielder Christina Zippler (Blackwood, N.J./Washington Twp.) drew walks in the bottom of the first, followed by an Alicia Albert (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional) RBI single and an Abourashed sacrifice fly, pushing the Pioneers ahead, 2-1.
William Paterson tacked on a run in the bottom of the fifth, when Sardinas-Wyssling's leadoff triple was cashed in for a run by another triple to right-center, this one by Zippler. Montclair State responded in the top of the sixth when Maureen Shockley plated three runs with a home run, giving the Red Hawks their first lead in five innings, 4-3.
With runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Sardinas-Wyssling delivered a single, scoring freshman first baseman Jessica Reibis (Jackson, N.J./Jackson) and tying the score.
The Red Hawks had the bases loaded with two outs in the seventh, but Schraer induced an inning-ending popout. Montclair could not capitalize on a two-out single in the eighth, and in the ninth MSU did not put a runner on base for just the second time in the game.
Abourashed was 2-for-4 with two RBI, a run scored and the game-winning home run, her sixth round-tripper of the season. Sardinas-Wyssling went 2-for-3 at the plate with a triple, RBI and two runs scored, while Reibis was 3-for-4.
Schraer (18-5) allowed 14 hits, four earned runs, and one walk in 9.0 innings. She struck out six while working herself out of several jams, including a pair of runners on base with no outs in the third, and bases loaded with two outs in the fifth.
