Box Score AKRON, Ohio – The No. 1 seeded Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College softball team defeated No. 9 Cleary on Monday night to advance in the winner's bracket of the 2016 USCAA National Championship. The Pomeroys snuck by the Cougars 3-2 to beat Cleary for the third time this season after sweeping the Cougars in the regular season.
The Pomeroys started slow, having not played in three weeks, but persevered to win on opening day of the national tournament. Senior Sarah Burnham pitched a complete game to earn her 13th win of the season.
SMWC's bats came alive in the fifth to give Burnham the helped she needed, as the Pomeroys trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth. SMWC notched three runs in the bottom of the fifth via RBI hits by sophomore catcher Kelly Combs and junior second baseman Emma Riffe. It all started with sophomore Kerri Schrock's single and stolen base to place her in scoring position for Combs. Combs then scored Schrock on a single up the middle.
With the score knotted at one, Riffe then gave the Pomeroys the lead with a two-run single up the middle to score freshmen Mariah Stout and Taylor Andrew. SMWC was done scoring after taking the 3-1 lead, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Cleary went on to pick up another run in the top of the seventh to cut SMWC's lead to one before Burnham retired the final batter of the night with her fifth strikeout of the night.
The Pomeroys will now face No. 5 College of Saint Joseph's – Vermont tomorrow at 4 p.m. LIVE video and statistics will be available via the USCAA, while you can also follow the action at the #PomeroySB headquarters.
