LAKEWOOD, NJ - The #7 seed Bloomfield College softball team scored a pair of upsets in the CACC Tournament, topping #6 Felician and #5 Holy Family, but fell twice to tournament finalist #2 Dominican to see their end run. The Bears were the only team outside of the top three seeds to advance to the final four and finished their season with 25 wins, the third-highest total during the Division II era.
After their performance,
Kirsten Wilson and
Janese Timmons were named to the All-CACC Tournament Team. By virtue of finishing fourth int he tournament, Bloomfield was awarded two spots on the All-CACC Tournament Team, which was selected by representatives of the conference.
GAME ONE RECAP#2 Dominican 6 #7 Bloomfield 2Bloomfield took on Dominican College in game one and fell behind early as the Chargers jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Bloomfield fought its way back into the game when
Aubrey Orr scored on a wild pitch and
Janese Timmons scored on a groundout by
Kirsten Wilson. However, the Bears could not hold the Chargers down. Dominican scored one more in the bottom of the third and two more in the fifth to give them their decisiovs 6-2 margin. Dominican outhit Bloomfield 13-7 as seven different Bloomfield starters registered hits. Timmons had the only extra base hit, a third inning double to reight center field.
Stephanie Miller pitched a complete game, allowing 13 hits and five earned runs in the loss.
GAME TWO RECAP#7 Bloomfield 4 #6 Felician 0Bloomfield bounced back from a game one loss and rode the shutout pitching of Wilson to a 4-0 upset over Felician. The Bears wasted no time in building an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. With one out, Timmons was hit by a pitch and stole second. She advanced to third on a single by Wilson and came in to score on a double by
Lauren Bueno.
Angela Hauser then drove home Wilson and Bueno with a single to right center. That would be all the support Wilson would need as the sophomore went the distance as she registered her sixth shutout of the season. Bloomfield added one more run in the seventh when Hauser and
Shannon Brennan each singled and pinch hitter
Bayley Legarreta belted a long double to left field to drive home Hauser with Bloomfield's fourth run. Wilson worked around a double and walk in the seventh to seal the win. Bloomfield had 12 hits in the win with Hauser leading the way with a 3-3 performance. The senior also finished with two RBIs and a run. Bueno and Orr had two hits each in the win. Wilson carried a perfect game into the fifth before allowing a two-out single after retiring the first 14 batters she faced.
GAME TWO FULL VIDEO GAME THREE RECAP#7 Bloomfield 4 #5 Holy Family 3Bloomfield capped perhaps the best comeback in the 2015 CACC Tournament when the Bears rallied from a 3-2 deficit with two outs and nobody on base to take home a 4-3 win over #5 Holy Family. The game was a back and forth affair as the Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a solo home run and sacrifice fly of Bloomfield starter Wilson in the third. Bloomfield however would tie the game when Wilson drove home Timmons with a single in the fourth and
Melissa Yepez scored on an error in the sixth. Holy Family took the lead off Miller in the sixth, who had come on in relief of Wilson. After a leadoff walk, a comebacker was thrown away to put runners on first and third with no outs. Holy Family executed a suicide squeeze to plate the unearned run for a 3-2 lead.
The lead stayed that way until the seventh when Bloomfield looked to be on the verge of elimination. However, with two outs and nobody on base, Orr singled to center. Timmons then drew a walk to set the stage for Wilson, who was re-entered into the game as a pinch hitter. On a 1-1 count, Wilson smoked a clean single to center to plate Orr with the tying run. When the ball was bobbled in centerfield, Timmons was sent home and scored the go-ahad run on a dramatic play at the plate. Wilson pitched the seventh for the save, striking out the final two batters after Holy Family put the tying and winning runs on base with one out. Bloomfield outhit Holy Family 9-7 with Wilson and Hauser recording two hits each. Miller pitched three innings in relief to pick up the win. She allowed just one run on three hits in three innings. Wilson started and pitched the first three innings before coming back out for the seventh. She allowed four hits and two runs while striking out four.
GAME THREE FULL VIDEOGAME FOUR RECAP
#2 Dominican 6 #7 Bloomfield 0After Bloomfield's dramatic win over Holy Family, the Bears returned to the field immediately to take on Dominican College again in the tournament semi-finals. The game remained scoreless into the third inning before Dominican broke through against Miller. After a bunt hit, infield single and sacrifice bunt. Alyssa Schwed doubled off the centerfield fence for the first two runs of the game. The score stayed 2-0 into the fifth inning when the Chargers broke it open by scoring three runs on three hits and a walk. The sixth run came in the sixth when a grounder was thrown away with a runner on second. Miller again pitched a complete game,allowing eight hits and five earned runs over six innings. Bloomfield managed just three hits in the game, singles by Wilson, Bueno and
Kelly Stites. With her hit in the first inning, Wilson became the 16th Bloomfield player to record 100 hits in her career during the Division II era and just the fourth to reach that mark over her first two seasons. Wilson and Stites were the only Bears to record a hit in all four playoff games in 2015. Wilson went 5-14 (.357) and Stites went 4-11 (.364).
