Keuka Park, NY - The role of the underdog always presents an interesting scenario, because -- for whatever reason -- some teams despise the label while other teams thrive in the role and even covet the position.
While PBU probably couldn't be tagged as a surefire underdog to enter Friday's contest (PBU was 12-6 in conference action through the year while Penn State Berks was slightly better at 14-4), the Crimson Eagles did have several facts going against them to enter the game.
Penn State Berks swept PBU in their only meeting of the season during a doubleheader back on April 15. Additionally, the Lions have outscored PBU by a disproportionate count of 72-23 during their last seven meetings, with the Crimson Eagles managing just a lone victory over the four-year span.
But perhaps the most significant hurdle the Crimson Eagles needed to overcome Friday was the fact that the program had never won a Division III postseason contest in school history.
Good things records and streaks are made to be broken.
The #3 seeded Crimson Eagles defied the odds Friday and erased all of the aforementioned history with a 7-2 win over #2 seeded Penn State Berks in the first round of the NEAC playoffs. It marks the first time the softball team has triumphed in a postseason contest and puts the team one step closer to the mark they set out to capture at the beginning of the season: a conference championship.
Sophomore Betsy Ranck got things rolling early for PBU in the top of the first, tallying a run to give the Crimson Eagles a one-nil advantage. The Crimson Eagles were grateful to give up a solo run a half inning later as junior outfielder Jessica Ogden spared a potentially disastrous inning for PBU by gunning down a would-be scorer at the plate for the Lions' third and final out.
With both offenses sputtering the next four innings, PBU rallied together in the fifth.
Sophomore Betsy Ranck started the stanza off with a triple while an RBI infield single moments later from senior Liz Seiple gave PBU the go-ahead run. Up 2-1 with Seiple on first, junior Jessica Ogden decided to provide PBU a cushion that would last the rest of the game.
Ogden nailed her second career homerun (a legitamate inside the park homerun, nonetheless) to put PBU up 4-1 over the Lions. PBU's work wasn't finished, however, as the Crimson Eagles would tally two additional scores before the stanza was over.
Penn State Berks tried to generate a rally in the final inning, but fell short after scoring just one run resulting in the four-run PBU win.
The win puts the #3 seeded Crimson Eagles up against #1 seed and host Keuka College, a 5-0 winner over D'Youville earlier in the morning. The game is set to begin late Friday afternoon at 4:00 pm, with the winner to receive an automatic berth in Saturday's conference championship scheduled to begin at noon.
