Nashua, NH-  The double elimination portion of the GNAC Softball Championship Tournament started to day with  two games in Standish, Maine as # 2 seeded St. Joseph's College of Maine hosted #3 Emerson College and #6 St. Joseph College of Connecticut.  Meanwhile, in Nashua, NH, top seeded Rivier College took host to #4 Simmons College and #8 Norwich University.  Both Norwich and St. Joseph (CT) played in the preliminary round this past Wednesday to get to the double elimination portion of the tournament. 

In the first game of the day in Nashua, the Simmons College Sharks  defeated the Norwich Cadets, 5-2, thanks to some stellar pitching from Courteney Collier (Bolton, MA) who threw 7 innings, struck out 10 Cadet hitters and only surrendered 2 runs in the 7^th inning. 

Simmons struck first as they scored the first run of the game in the first inning thanks to an RBI single by Annie Thompson (Pacific Palisades, CA) that plated Collier.  Norwich pitcher Mackenzie Pratt (Hyde Park, VT) settled down after the first inning as she threw 3 scoreless frames before the Sharks offense broke out for 3 runs in the fifth, thanks to a homerun by Leah Derderian (Boylston, MA) down the left field line that ended up being the difference in the game.  Norwich made a late push by putting 2 runs across in the 7^th, but Collier put a stop to that by getting Kelsey Buker (Morrisville, VT) to pop out to first and Christine Clark (Weymouth, MA) to ground out to second to end the game.

With the win, the Sharks moved on to play Rivier, where the Raiders had just enough to get by Simmons College as they defeated the Sharks 1-0 in a 8 inning thriller.  Freshman short stop Taylor Cournoyer (Mansfield, MA) knocked in the winning run as she hit a deep fly ball to center field that allowed Brenna Campbell (Nashua, NH) to cross the plate. 

Pitchers Monica White (Augusta, ME) and Courteney Collier (Bolton, MA) matched each other pitch for pitch throughout the game, but White showed why she is considered by many to be the best pitcher in the conference.  White went 8 strong, allowing no runs on 2 hits and struck out 15 Shark hitters. Collier had a fine game herself as she 7 and 1/3 innings allowing 8 hits and striking out 4. 

The Sharks had a chance to score in the first inning after a two out triple by shortstop Annie Thompson (Pacific Palisades, CA), but failed to do so as White stuck out first baseman Leah Derderian (Boylston, MA) to end the inning.  The Raiders had their first chance to put a run across after first baseman Marissa Mercier (N. Smithfield, RI) was bunted to third in the second inning, but also failed as Collier got a big strikeout to end the inning.  

The Raiders put the pressure on again in the 4^th inning after a walk by Mercier and a couple of base hits by Amanda Ryan (W. Bridgewater, MA) and Jess Mellen (Rockland, MA).  The Raiders failed to get them in as Collier came through again, inducing a pop-up to 3^rd and fly out to center by the Rivier 7 and 8 batters to end the inning.

After both teams failed to score after 7 innings, the base runner in extra innings rule took effect.  The rule allows each team to begin its turn at bat in each extra inning with a runner on second base.  The runner must be the player who completed the last at-bat in the previous inning.  In the top of the eighth inning, Simmons failed to take advantage of the opportunity as White shut the door on the Sharks, not allowing the runner to advance as she added 2 strikeouts and a fly ball to left field.  The Raiders, on the other hand, wasted no time and took full advantage of the base runner.  White led off the inning with a sacrifice bunt, which advanced Campbell to 3^rd.  The outfielders for the Sharks pulled in tighter so they would be able to throw her out on a base hit or a short fly ball, but Cournoyer, the Raiders batting average leader, got the job done for Rivier as she hit the ball over the center fielders head for the win.

With the victory, the Raiders will face Emerson College tomorrow in the winner's bracket at 2:00 PM.  Emerson defeated St. Joseph College (CT) 1-0 in the first game of the day in Standish, ME, then defeated host school St. Joseph's College of Maine 4-1 to remain in the winners bracket.  For the remainder of the tournament all games will be played in Nashua, NH on the campus of Rivier College.  Game times for Saturday are scheduled for 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM.  Please visit www.rivierathletics.com for up to date results and game times.