Box Score Softball
NCAA Tournament - Kean Regional
#19 Kean 3, #18 Lebanon Valley 1

Updated Tournament Schedule

UNION, N.J. - #18 Lebanon Valley had its chances, but tough pitching and timely hitting by #19 Kean handed them a 3-1 defeat in NCAA Tournament regional play on Saturday.

The loss puts LVC into the regional's loser's bracket. Originally scheduled to go again later on Saturday, play for the day was halted due to rain; Keene State and Husson will resume at 10 a.m. Sunday, with LVC playing the winner at 11:30 a.m. Lebanon Valley will have to win that game and beat Kean twice later on Sunday to advance out of the double-elimination bracket.

The Dutchmen (33-5) were not without their chances, stranding 11 in the game, but Allie Hartman's fifth-inning home run was their only score of the game as Courtney Yard (22-8) got the Cougars out of trouble inning after inning.

Katie Deardorff set LVC's all-time hits record in the game, reaching on an infield single in the fourth inning for her 171st career base hit to surpass Amy Batz '07.

Kean put two on the board in the second, loading the bases with two outs for Martin's single to score Varriello and Moorehead.

LVC left Jorey Aumiller and Kelli Valle on second and third, respectively, in the bottom half, then stranded the bases loaded in the third. Kean added an insurance run in the fifth when Yard helped herself with an RBI single, but Hartman answered with her 16th career home run, a shot to deep right-center, to cut the Kean advantage to 3-1.

That would be all Yard allowed, however, as LVC stranded baserunners in the fifth and sixth and went down in order in the seventh as they tried to mount a comeback.

Sam Derr (23-2) took only her second loss of the season, allowing seven hits and striking out four in a 112-pitch outing. Yard struck out eight and scattered eight hits on 126 pitches.