MILWAUKEE – Aurora University made amends for an early exit from last season’s Northern Athletics Conference Tournament, defeating Benedictine University, 5-2, on a sunny Mother’s Day at Alverno Field to capture the 2010 crown and advance to the upcoming NCAA Division III softball tournament.
The No. 2 Spartans (35-7) pick up their third NAC title in the four-year history of the league, knocking of the top-seeded Eagles (36-7) for the second time in two days to make for the second consecutive year the No. 1 seed has been denied the tournament title.
In yesterday’s highly-anticipated match-up that looked set up for a pitching battle between Aurora’s Anna Snyder, the NAC Player of the Year, and Benedictine’s Brittany Adcox, the NAC Pitcher of the Year, the outcome proved just the opposite with the Spartans striking for six runs in the first inning en route to an 8-3 win. The Eagles recovered to ward off elimination in yesterday’s final game, knocking off No. 4 Lakeland College, 9-1, in five innings to set up a re-match of the conference’s top seeds on Championship Sunday.
Adcox (Plainfield, Ill./Central), the Eagles’ sophomore ace, proved once again that she is as talented with her bat as she is in the circle, took credit for both of Benedictine’s RBI. Her first RBI put the first run on the board for Benedictine in the second inning, carding a bunt single into no-man’s land in the Spartans’ infield to send junior Sam Corban (Plainfield, Ill./Central) home from second base after she reached on a double.
Benedictine’s other scoring push arrived in the fifth inning, as the Eagles placed a pair of runners on first and second base for an Adcox single up the middle to score pinch runner Ashley Parrot (Homewood, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) from second.
Although both teams each recorded nine hits in the game, Benedictine stranded 11 runners on base while Aurora managed to come up with timely hits, particularly in the fifth inning, to push more of their runners through.
A solo shot to right field by the NAC Freshman of the Year, Tristan Wilcox (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon), put Aurora on the board in the third inning to tie the game at one run apiece until the Spartans strung together three hits for three runs in the fifth to command a 4-1 lead.
After lacing that home run, her 10th of the year, Wilcox came up with another key hit in her next at-bat to put runners on first and second base, sparking a three-run push in the fifth frame. Sophomore Maggie Cooper (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) followed Wilcox to bring home the first run with a single, followed by a second RBI single by junior Shannon Starr (Itasca, Ill./Lake Park). Freshman Brooke Spencer (Orland Park. Ill./Carl Sandburg) helped register the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to right field to score freshman Caroline Calabrese (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East), who pinch ran for Cooper.
The Spartans tacked on one more insurance run in the sixth on a belted RBI triple by senior Karisa Hansen (Elgin, Ill./Larkin) to wrap up scoring for the game.
Throughout the game, particularly in the closing innings, Snyder (Grayslake, Ill.) looked every bit the Spartans’ senior champion pitcher. In the bottom of the seventh with the championship crown close at hand, Snyder battled back after giving up two hits to the first two batters she faced to help knock out the Eagles’ next three batters, including Adcox for the third out in an appropriate pitcher-versus-pitcher face-off, to bring the NAC title back to Aurora.
With the win Snyder captures her 23rd victory of the season in the circle, tallying four strikeouts and three walks, while Adcox was handed just her fourth loss of the season to drop to 22-4 with three strikeouts and no walks allowed.
Starr led the Spartans at the plate with a 3-for-4 effort today with one RBI, rounding out a fantastic tournament in batting a stellar .555 for the three games.
Adcox was the Eagles’ top batter, going 2-for-4 on the day, while sophomore Kara Walsh (Oak Forest, Ill./Marian Catholic) also had two hits on four attempts.
Aurora, who earns the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, will now await the announcement of its opponent for next weekend’s regional round games. Benedictine, who is regionally-ranked, will await a possible at-large bid as the Eagles have posted an impressive 36-7 overall record this season.
