Temple University Athletics
Softball Wraps Up Fourth Seed In A-10 Tournament With Split At SBU
5.6.07 | Softball
May 6, 2007
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
OLEAN, NY - Sophomore Courtney Norene drove in the game-winner with two outs in the eighth inning to lead Temple to a 5-4 victory over St. Bonaventure on Sunday at McGraw-Jennings Field. With the win, the Owls clinch the fourth seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament and will face off with fifth-seeded Charlotte on Wednesday at the University of Massachusetts.
Temple returns to the conference tournament for the first time since winning the league title in 2004. Massachusetts compiled a perfect conference record (18-0) and wrapped up a bye with the first seed. Fordham is seeded second, followed by Saint Louis, Temple, Charlotte and George Washington.
Should Temple defeat Charlotte on Wednesday at noon, it would meet the host Minutewomen on Thursday, also at noon. The tournament is double-elimination with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
With the score knotted at 4-4, senior All-America candidate Adrienne Repsher was hit by a pitch with one out. She then moved to second on a groundout and to third on an error, bringing Norene to the plate. The sophomore delivered with a single through the left side to give TU the lead.
Winning pitcher Brianna Dairy stranded a pair of runners in the eighth to complete the regular season. She struck out eight batters in eight innings to improve to 6-4.
Trailing 4-3 with two outs in the sixth, Temple (17-19, 9-7 A-10) tied it up on a heads-up play by freshman Natalie Wagner. With the bases loaded, Christine Keleher struck Norene out, appearing to get the Bonnies out a huge jam, but the final strike was in the dirt and a tag had to be applied to either Norene or one of the bases. The Bona defense started to trot of the field thinking the inning was over and Wagner alertly crossed the plate before they could tag any of the runners out. After a small meeting by the umpires the run stood after they confirmed that no tag had been applied to Norene.
The Cherry and White took a 3-0 lead in the second on a three-run double by senior Jessica Rohn. The Bonnies cut the deficit to 3-2 in the third and took the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the fifth.
Wagner, Norene and junior Brittany Burks each had two hits in the victory.
The Bonnies (18-18, 6-9 A-10) took a 5-2 lead after two innings and made it stand to win the opener. Temple was held to just four hits, including two off the bat of Dairy. Rohn had a two-run double in the first to give TU a short-lived lead, as SBU scored five in the second.
Freshman Ashley Smuda (9-10) suffered the loss after allowing five earned runs in 1.1 innings.
