The ETSU softball team saw its run for a conference title fall short in Friday night’s semifinal game to Campbell from Patricia Wilson Field.
The Camels scored two runs in the first and tacked on three more in the third and advanced to tomorrow’s championship game with a 5-2 victory over the Lady Bucs.
Despite having the season come to an end, the Lady Buccaneers should hold their head high after breaking a few school records; including being the first team in school history to post a 30-win campaign.
With the loss, ETSU saw its season end with a record of 30-33; while Campbell improved to 40-23.
Sophomore Marissa Hardy (Rocklin, Calif.) was tagged with the loss, but the reliable right-hander did everything she could to help her team try to move on to the championship game.
Hardy’s season record finished 19-15, but tossed 24 of the 27 IP for ETSU over the last two days.
The Rocklin, Calif., native enjoyed a memorable season as she broke five Lady Buccaneer pitching records in 2008. Hardy broke the single-season records for wins, IP (229.1), appearances (41), strikeouts (261) and also set the new single-game strikeout mark with her 16K’s vs. Presbyterian in March.
Campbell struck first on Shayla Cullum’s two-run home run that hit the scoreboard in left-center.
ETSU looked to gain some momentum after junior Vicki McCoy (Ringgold, Ga.) gunned down Courtney Quinn at home when she tried to score on Katie Hinton’s single. However, Cullum got the job done for the Camels when she hit her 14th home run of the season. Hardy punched out Karlie Love to end the inning.
ETSU did a great job working out of a jam in the second. Campbell led things off with consecutive singles, but Hardy settled in and struck out a pair of Camel hitters and induced Robin Leathers to fly out to short.
Senior second baseman Briana Knight (Brier, Wash.) led off the third with a single to short and moved over to second when Katy Jett (Talbott, Tenn.) reached.
Knight was safe at second when Campbell tried to make the force, but Amanda Miller could not handle the throw from Keeli Michael.
McCoy advanced the runners in scoring position when she laid down a sacrifice bunt, but Brittany Stanley got Trisha Massenzo (Russellville, Tenn.) to pop out for the third out.
In the bottom of third. Sophomore Amanda Littlejohn made it back-to-back days with a home run against ETSU as she put Campbell ahead, 4-0, with a two-run shot over the center field fence.
The Camels continued to add to their lead as they plated an additional run and led, 5-0, after three. Miller’s bunt single was placed perfectly as neither Haverman nor Knight could get to the ball and scored Cullum from second.
Hardy did an excellent job working out of a difficult situation as Campbell had runners on second and third with nobody out. The right-hander fanned the next two hitters, then hit Leathers, but worked out of the bases loaded jam by getting Ashley Jones to pop out.
The Lady Buccaneers got on the board in the fourth thanks to the hot bat of Jessie Hackworth (Clinton, Tenn.). The junior third baseman extended her hitting streak to a season-high 10 straight games with a solo shot that flew over the fence in left-center, cutting the deficit to 5-1.
For the second time ETSU left runners left hanging at second and third after Stanley worked out of the inning without allowing any runs cross the plate in the fifth.
Hardy did her job by keeping Campbell off the board from the fourth through sixth innings and ETSU continued to fight until the very end. Knight worked a leadoff walk in the seventh, and scored when sophomore Cheniece Cason (Moreno Valley, Calif.) doubled to left, making it a 5-2 game.
However, Stanley buckled down and retired the final three Lady Buccaneer hitters to earn the win.
Stanley improved to 24-9 after going the distance and allowing two runs on six hits.
The Lady Bucs say good-bye to two spectacular seniors as Haverman and Knight played their final game in an ETSU uniform. Both players have meant a lot to the softball program and will be truly missed.

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