• Box Score

CALIFORNIA (May 15) – With the game scoreless entering the bottom of the seventh, junior right fielder Amanda Wallace (Oakmont, Pa./Penn Hills) delivered a walk-off double on Saturday afternoon to give the No. 13 California University of Pennsylvania softball team a 1-0 win over Shepherd in the second day of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Tournament at Lilly Field.

With the victory, the top-seeded Vulcans improve to 36-12 overall this season and 2-0 in the double-elimination tournament. Cal U returns to the diamond tomorrow, Sunday, May 16, when it faces Kuztown at 12 p.m. Meanwhile, Shepherd falls to 36-16 overall after losing to both Cal U and Kutztown on Saturday.

After junior Maria Greco (Pickering, Ontario/Notre Dame Catholic) tossed seven shutout innings, sophomore catcher Alyson Johnson (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central) reached base on a throwing error to start the bottom of the seventh. Freshman Melissa Lupinacci (Irwin, Pa./Hempfield) entered the game as a pinch runner for Johnson and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman center fielder Jami Otter (Whitby, Ontario/Anderson C.V.I.). Wallace followed with the game-winning, walk-off double to the left-centerfield gap that scored Lupinacci from second.

Greco (15-7) tossed a five-hit, complete-game shutout in the victory against the Rams. She allowing just one walk and posted three strikeouts over 7.0 innings. The junior hurler forced Shepherd to leave six runners on base, including three in scoring position.

Shepherd sophomore Tricia Bettura (20-8) suffered the loss after yielding one run (unearned) on four hits and no walks in 6.1 innings of work.

The Rams moved a runner into scoring position in both the second and third before Greco finished both innings without allowing the runner to move past second. In the bottom of the third, Cal U collected its first hits of the games when senior designated player Kayleigh Braim (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) and junior second baseman Merissa Daley (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) collected back-to-back, two-out singles. However, the inning ended on a flyout with both runners left on base.

Shepherd started the fourth with a single, but the runner was later called out early for leaving the base early. In the bottom of the fifth, Wallace opened the frame with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt before Bettura retired the next two batters.

The Rams made a final attempt to crack the scoreless tie in the top of the seventh when it had runners on first and second with one out. Greco then induced a groundout to junior third baseman Danielle Easton (Hanover, Pa./South Western) who quickly threw to sophomore shortstop Jillian Russell (London, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic) covering third for the force out. Greco then ended the inning with a strikeout of a pinch hitter.

The Vulcans were able to make the game-winning rally in the bottom of the inning, capped with the double by Wallace.

Wallace collected two of the four hits for the Vulcans, while Daley and Braim each posted on in the victory.

2010 NCAA ATLANTIC REGIONAL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, May 14
Game 1 - (#1) California (Pa.) d. (#4) Fairmont State, 7-4
Game 2 - (#3) Shepherd d. (#2) Kutztown, 8-3

Saturday, May 15
Game 3 - California (Pa.) d. Shepherd, 1-0
Game 4 - Kutztown d. Fairmont State , 2-0 - Fairmont State eliminated
Game 5 - Kutztown d. Shepherd, 7-0 - Shepherd eliminated

Sunday, May 16
Game 6 - Kutztown vs. California (Pa.), 12 p.m.
Game 7 - If necessary, same teams as in Game 6, 2:30 p.m.