FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Saturday, April 17, 1999

ETOWN STUNS MESSIAH, 1-0, IN NINE-INNING, GAME-TWO EPIC TO EARN KEY DOUBLEHEADER SPLIT; JAYS MUST SWEEP SUSQUEHANNA SATURDAY

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Laurie Morris (Brielle, N.J./Manasquan) drove in pinch-runner Tara VanEtten with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Elizabethtown to a stunning 1-0 upset of No. 4-ranked Messiah in game two of their MAC Commonwealth League doubleheader on Saturday.  The Falcons captured the opener, 3-1, behind a two-hit complete game from Jessica Regan.

Kristy Nowell (Wilmington, De./St. Elizabeth) blanked Messiah on five hits in the nightcap for her second shutout and fifth win of the season.  With the split, the Blue Jays improved to 14-14 overall and 7-4 in the league.  Etown would reach the MAC playoffs for the first time since 1994 with a sweep of Susquehanna on Saturday, April 24.

Brilliant pitching and timely defense kept the second game scoreless until the Blue Jays' half of the ninth inning.

Michelle Casserly led off with a single, moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Kelly Spence and took third on a passed ball.  After Nowell was hit by a pitch, VanEtten pinch ran at first base and Melissa Reinhart loaded the bases on a fielder's choice.

Jennifer Zemba's groundball to third base retired Casserly at the plate for the second out, but Morris lined a two-strike pitch up the middle to score VanEtten and give the Blue Jays the upset win.

Zemba and Emily Marcheski collected the only other hits off of Messiah hurler Jessica Chambers, who lost for only the third time this season, despite striking out 11 Blue Jays and allowing only four hits and two walks.

In game one, Messiah scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and Regan outdueled Etown ace Linda Milnes to help the Falcons win for the 19th time in their last 20 games.  Reinhart doubled and scored on a Zemba sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to account for the Jays' lone run of the opener.

With Susquehanna 1-1/2 games ahead of Etown in the MAC Commonwealth League standings, the Blue Jays must sweep the Crusaders to reach the MAC playoffs.  The two square off on Saturday, April 24 at Etown starting at 1 p.m.  Thursday's suspended game against Albright has no bearing on the conference playoff race and will probably not be resumed.

The Blue Jays' game-two victory was the biggest upset by any of the College's sports teams since the women's soccer squad defeated No. 1 College of New Jersey on November 8, 1997.

Etown returns to action on Monday, April 19 with a single game at home against Franklin & Marshall College.  Game time is 4:30 p.m.
 

Jessica Regan and Lindsay Nelson; Linda Milnes and Melissa Reinhart. WP: Regan (13-2). LP: Milnes (7-7). SO-BB: Regan 8-2, Milnes 4-1. 2B: Kristie Samogi (M), Nelson (M), Reinhart (E).
 

Jessica Chambers and Katrina Krzemien; Kristy Nowell and Reinhart. WP: Nowell (5-4). LP: Chambers (11-3). SO-BB: Chambers 11-2, Nowell 1-1. 2B: Chambers (M), Jennifer Zemba (E).