Box Score

OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Apr. 28, 2016) - The second-seeded LIU Post softball team dropped a hard fought 5-4 decision in nine innings to third-seeded Molloy College on Day One of the 2016 East Coast Conference Championship, held at New York Institute of Technology Thursday in Old Westbury.

The Pioneers (34-12-1) found themselves down 4-0 early, after Molloy (31-22) scored four in the second inning of starting pitcher Ashley Martin (Long Beach, N.Y.).

Martin's day would end after the second, but the Pioneers picked up the junior hurler.

With one out in the bottom of the second, freshman first baseman Ashley Melendez (Levittown, N.Y.) singled home a run, making it 4-1.

Then, following a lead-off walk in the third, freshman catcher Julia Seader (Piscataway, N.J.) drilled a two-run homer, cutting the deficit to 4-3.

In the fourth, junior right fielder Mackenzie Buckley (St. James, N.Y.) tied it with a solo shot.

Neither side would score in the final three innings of play, sending the game to extras.

In the bottom half of the eighth, the Pioneers put a runner on second with two outs, but a diving play from Molloy's Kaitlyn Snyder kept the game tied.

Then, in the ninth, Milan Botte hit a two-out home run for the Lions, giving them a 5-4 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, LIU Post put two runners on, but couldn't score.

Freshman pitcher Hannah Olshevski (Robbinsville, N.J.) took the loss. The righty tossed six scoreless innings in relief of Martin before the run in the ninth.

Seader and senior third baseman Maria Palmeri (Middle Village, N.Y.) had multi-hit games for the Pioneers. Seader's home run was her 10th of the season, while Buckley's was her first.

Next up for head coach Jamie Apicella and the Pioneers is a date with fourth-seeded University of Bridgeport. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. from Old Westbury.