LAKEWOOD, NJ - Sophomore
Stephanie Miller pitched 9.2 innings over two games and allowed just one earned run as Bloomfield earned a split with Georgian Court as they continue to fight for a berth in the CACC playoffs.
Shannon Brennan went 2-3 with two RBIs to help lead the Bears to a game one, 5-1 win. Bloomfield dropped game two 3-0.
In the first game of the doubleheader, Bloomfield (21-16-1, 11-10 CACC) used a consistent offensive attack as they scored runs in four seperate innings to build a 5-0 lead going to the seventh.
Bloomfield scored single runs in the second and fourth innings in identical fashion. Each time,
Janese Timmons singled to left, stole second and was driven home by Brennan on a sharp single to right center.
The Bears extended their lead with two crucial runs in the sixth inning.
Greta Coleman reached on an error to start the inning and Timmons sacrificed her to second. A groundout by Brennan moved Coleman to third and she came in to score on an infield single by
Melissa Yepez. Yepez then came in to score all the way from first on a double to right center by
Lauren Bueno.
Bloomfield tacked on one more insurance run in the seventh. Miller led off the frame with a double to left and advanced to third on a grounder by
Angela Hauser.
Kirsten Wilson was sent in to pinch hit and she delivered a single to center to make the score 5-0.
Georgian Court scored their sole run of the game on two singles and two wild pitches in the seventh, but Miller closed the door on her ninth win of the season with a fly out to left.
Bloomfield reached double digit hits for the sixth time in their past seven games with Brennan, Timmons, Miller, Bueno and
Aubrey Orr each recording two hits. Miller (9-10) went the distance for the 12th time this year to pick up her ninth win of the season, which is the fourth highest total in the CACC.
Timmons also became the first Bloomfield softball player to reach 20 stolen bases in a season since Courtney Thornton did so in 2002. She's also just the ninth CACC player to reach 20 steals in a season during the Division II era.
In game two, Bloomfield wasn't as sharp and the result was another split in CACC play.
Georgian Court took a 1-0 lead in the first when Dara Schroeder singled, stole second, was sacrificed to third and scored on a wild pitch. They added a second run on a Bloomfield error in thie second inning to make the score 2-0 and scored the final tally of the game after two walks, a wild pitch and a ground out in the fourth.
That would be all the scoring for the game, as Bloomfield failed to muster any offense in the second half of the twinbill. Bloomfield managed just five singles, two of them coming off the bat of Wilson.
Wilson (12-6) started the game in the circle for Bloomfield and took the loss after pitching 3.2 innings. Only two of the runs were earned and she recorded five strikeouts along the way. Miller held Georgian Court down over the final 2.2 innings, allowing just one single, but Bloomfield never really threatened.
With five more conference games to go, the Bears are currently in a playoff position and most likely need to win two more games to clinch their sixth straight playoff appearance. Because the Bears hold tiebreakers over some squads, it is possible they can qualify for the CACC playoffs with the 11 conference wins they have now. A single makeup game against Caldwell is on the slate for Monday, weather pending. Game time is set for 12:00pm.
