Box Score

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The third-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson softball team saw its historic 2014 season come to an end on Friday after falling to fourth-seeded LIU Brooklyn, 7-2, on Friday in an elimination game in the Northeast Conference Tournament at Conaty Park. With the victory the Blackbirds stay alive to face Central Connecticut State later this afternoon in another elimination contest and improve to 21-33 on the season, while the Knights end their year at 21-21 overall.

With the game all knotted at 2-2 in the top of the sixth, LIU's Nichole Toven led off the inning with a home run to put the Blackbirds in front for good at 3-2. FDU would place the tying run on base in the bottom half of the frame, but junior Bryana Dorado (Oxnard, Calif./Oxnard) was thrown out to end the threat trying to go first to third on fellow classmate Angelique Nieves (Union City, N.J./High Tech High School)' double.

LIU put the game away in the top of the seventh after scoring four times with two outs to take a commanding 7-2 lead. The Knights then went down in order in the bottom half to end the game.
Junior Megan Reiner (Los Angeles, Calif./John Marshall) (15-9) was charged with the loss after completing her 19th game of the season. She allowed seven earned runs on 11 hits, did not issue a walk and struck out six to give her 170 for the year while tying her 2012 single-season record for whiffs.

Shelley Procter earned the victory in the circle for the Blackbirds after limiting FDU to two earned runs on three hits in 5.1 innings of work while walking one and striking out one. Cassie Vondrak tossed the final 1.2 innings to record the save.

LIU took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a one-out RBI double from Morizi and a two-out RBI double by Green.

But the Knights would answer with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 2-2. Dorado led off the inning with her first home run of the season – a bomb over the left field fence on the first pitch. Freshman Madison Lerma (Escondido, Calif./Escondido) then singled with one out, before redshirt senior Liz Woidt (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) doubled to the left-center field gap to plate Lerma. However, Woidt would be stranded after a strikeout and pop out.

The pitchers would control the next three innings, with each side constructing one scoring chance before coming up empty until the Blackbirds' sixth inning.

LIU's top of the order combined to go 6-for-11 with five runs and five RBI, as Whitney West, Toven and Morizi each had two hits with West and Toven scoring twice and Toven driving home three. Kayla Gloady added two hits and one RBI for the Blackbirds.