NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The top-seeded Mount Saint Mary College softball team (19-10) has advanced to the championship round of the 2015 Skyline Conference Softball Championships on Saturday, but the Knights now face an uphill battle on their trek to the Skyline Title.
 
The Knights opened up the second day of the Skyline Playoffs in a winner's bracket matchup with No. 2 Farmingdale State College (20-12), with the winner earning a trip to the championship round of the double-elimination tournament. After a hard-fought pitchers' duel, the Rams came out on top, 3-2, and head into Sunday without a loss recorded in the tournament.

Because of their loss in the morning, the Knights were forced to play an elimination game later in the afternoon. They awaited their opponent, which would be the victor of the loser's bracket matchup between No. 3 College of Mount Saint Vincent (14-19) and No. 4 The Sage Colleges (18-15). The Gators rolled to an 11-4 win over the Dolphins, keeping themselves alive, while eliminating Mount Saint Vincent from the tournament.
 
Like the morning matchup, Saturday's finale between the Knights and Gators came down to another pitchers' duel. After playing evenly for most of the game, the Knights notched a pair of runs late in the contest, and held on for a 3-1 win. The Knights now need to beat Farmingdale State in back-to-back games on Sunday to earn the Skyline Title, while the Rams need just one win to take home their fifth straight championship.
 
Farmingdale State 3, Mount Saint Mary 2

All of the scoring in the morning game took place in the first inning. As the away team, the Rams got the first crack at it. Catcher Meagan Anderson opened the game with a single up the middle. Third baseman Andrea Klarman followed with a walk, and then the big blow came off the bat of center fielder Michelle Mongiello, who stroked a three-run homer to center to give the Rams a 3-0 lead before recording an out. Junior starter Victoria Goldbach (Middle Village, N.Y.) settled down after the homer, striking out the next two batters and forcing a ground out to end the inning.
 
Miscues hurt both teams in the bottom of the first, but the Knights still managed to put themselves right back into the game. Sophomore second baseman Shannon Sommer (Brewster, N.Y.) walked to start the inning, and was then sacrificed over to second by junior center fielder Sabrina Gordek (Levittown, N.Y.). Senior third baseman Danielle Soto (Miller Place, N.Y.) then singled through the left side, but Sommer was thrown out trying to score from second for the first out.
 
Senior catcher Stephanie Karcher (Oxford, Conn.) walked to put two runners on. Sophomore first baseman Michelle Surdan (Acton, Mass.) then beat out a slow roller to the shortstop, which was thrown over the first baseman, allowing Karcher to move over to third and Soto to score to get the Knights on the board. Freshman designated player/pitcher Cindy Connoly (Walden, N.Y.) then hit a hard grounder to second, which was misplayed, allowing everyone to advance, including Karcher, who scored to get the Knights within a run. The Knights managed to load the bases, but were unable to bring any more runs across in the inning.
 
Goldbach settled in to retire the next six batters for the Rams, but the Knights still trailed Farmingdale State by a run heading into the fourth. After the first Ram hitter popped out in the inning, first baseman Lori Michalowski singled through the left side for the Rams' first hit since the first inning. Later, left fielder Allison Dailey singled to put two runners on with two away. Second baseman Brittney Ciaramitaro was then hit by a pitch, loading the bases and giving the Rams a good chance to score. Goldbach once again escaped trouble, forcing shortstop Kerri Ossenfort to ground into a fielder's choice to third to end the inning.
 
The Knights nearly tied the game with two away in the fifth. Karcher came up with nobody on, and hit a high fly ball to deep left field. With the wind blowing in, the ball managed to just stay inside the outfield fence, allowing the left fielder to make the catch and end the inning. Neither team was able to generate a scoring opportunity the rest of the way, giving the second-seeded Rams the victory.
 
Taylor Webb pitched a strong game for the Rams, allowing two unearned runs and striking out seven across the complete seven innings to improve to 8-3 on the season. Goldbach pitched well after allowing a home run in the first, but those three runs destined her to take the loss and drop to 4-1 on the season. She allowed three runs in four innings while striking out four batters. Connoly came on in relief, tossing three scoreless innings and fanning four hitters.
 
No Ram hitter recorded multiple hits on Saturday, but Mongiello delivered all of the offense with three RBIs and a run on her three-run homer. She hit 1-for-3 on the morning. Anderson also went 1-for-3 with a run scored.
 
Surdan tallied two of the Knights' four hits in their first game of the day, going 2-for-3. Soto scored a run after batting 1-for-3.
 
Mount Saint Mary 3, Sage 1

Connoly took the circle for the Knights in game two against Sage, and turned in a stellar effort that has been the norm for her all season. She did, however, get off to a rocky start, after second baseman Alexa Silk tripled in the first, and was later brought home on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Morgan Dunn to give the Gators an early 1-0 advantage.
 
The Knights did not allow that to last long, as junior right fielder Chelsea Dexter (Beacon, N.Y.) singled in Surdan in the top of the second to tie the game.
 
Connoly allowed just one more hit the rest of the way, while the Knights were not finished producing. Freshman left fielder Taylor Canto (Walden, N.Y.) singled up the middle to open the fifth, and was moved over to third after back-to-back sacrifice bunts by Gordek and Sommer. The strategy worked, as freshman designated player Courtney Barbara (Fishkill, N.Y.) singled Canto in to give the Knights a 2-1 lead.
 
Karcher led off in the top of the sixth, and unlike her near-miss late in Saturday morning's matchup, she got all of this one, giving the ball a ride over the right-center field wall for a solo home run that sent the right fielder crashing through the outfield fence. While the home run gave the Knights a two-run lead and capped off the scoring for the elimination game, it also put Karcher in a tie for the program record of 85 career RBIs.
 
Connoly yielded just two hits and one run in seven innings in Saturday's finale, striking out six batters to improve her record to 10-5 on the year. Katie Kovage suffered the loss for the Gators after allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits in five nnings.
 
Karcher's home run was part of a 2-for-4 effort for the Knights' co-captain. Sommer hit 2-for-3 out of the leadoff hole, and Barbara batted 1-for-3 with an RBI. Dexter hit 1-for-2 and also knocked in a run.
 
Silk picked up half of the Gators' hits in the fifth game of the tournament, going 1-for-3 with a run scored. Third baseman Katy Rimawi tallied the other hit in a 1-for-3 effort. Dunn went 0-for-2, but brought in the only Gator run on a sacrifice fly.
 
The Knights are now in a do-or-die situation for Sunday's championship round, as they must win twice against Farmingdale State to secure the Skyline Conference Championship trophy. The Rams now hold a 2-1 record against the Knights this season after defeating them in Saturday's opener. The tournament will continue on Sunday, April 25, at 11 a.m. at the MSMC Softball Field. Should the Knights win, a second and final game will be played at 1:30 p.m.
           
Follow the Knights on Twitter at @MSMCKnights
Tweet #MSMCSoftball