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LAKEWOOD, NJ (April 30, 2009) - No. 2 seed Caldwell College and No. 4 and host Georgian Court University emerged in the winner's bracket after the first day of action at the 2009 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Softball Tournament.  The Cougars and Lions will meet Friday at 2:00 pm, with the winner advancing to Saturday's championship round. No. 5 Holy Family and No. 7 Wilmington were eliminated with two losses today.  The tournament, which has been expanded to include eight teams this season, will resume on Friday at noon.

Pitching led the way for both Caldwell and GCU, as the Cougars rode two shutouts by sophomore Brittany Pulido, while sophomore Diana Sansevera hurled a pair of one-hitters for the Lions.     

Pulido started the day by striking out a career-high 11 batters in a 3-0 victory over Wilmington. She allowed only three hits and did not walk a batter. The Cougars scored the only run they needed in the bottom of the first frame on a sacrifice fly by senior 2B Gina Capardi. Patti Garofolo also provided a two-run double in the sixth inning. Pulido followed by allowing only two hits and fanning five in a 3-0 triumph over No. 3 Bloomfield. In that game, two Cougar runs came in the fourth inning on singles by Samantha Mayor, who entered the game as a pinch hitter, and Garofolo.

Sansevera threw a pair of one-hitters to lead GCU to a 2-0 mark thus far in the tournament. She defeated Holy Family to start the day, 2-0, then turned the trick again against top seeded Dominican later in the afternoon in a 1-0 win. Against the Tigers, she fanned eight and added five strikeouts against the Chargers.  Sammie Jo Garafalo drove in the game's lone run against DC in the fourth inning.

Dominican started the day with a 2-0 victory over No. 8 Post. The two runs came via solo home runs from shortstop Cara Piasecki and Danielle Garrison. That was all rookie Katrina Pistilli needed, as she scattered six hits to go with six strikeouts in the complete game victory.

Bloomfield began its day by pulling out a dramatic, 2-1 victory over No. 6 Philadelphia behind a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning off the bat of Kira Wagar. The Deacons managed only four hits against Lady Ram freshman Ali Schmidt, but Wagar collected three of them, including the dramatic homer. Brianne Moore allowed only three hits and one run for BC.

Schmidt and the Lady Rams rebounded to eliminate Wilmington in a game that the Lady Rams won in the bottom of the seventh inning, 5-4. The Wildcats tied things, 4-4, in the top of the seventh inning, but Philadelphia rallied to score the winning run after loading the bases with two outs and scoring on a Wildcat fielding error.

Post eliminated Holy Family, 3-2, behind the pitching of Stephanie Carillo who, despite allowing 10 hits in 7.0 innings of work, surrendered only two earned runs while fanning five. Shortstop Samantha Canning went 2-for-3 at the plate and drove in two runs.

2009 CACC Softball Tournament - at Georgian Court University

Thursday, April 30

Game 1 - #1 Dominican 2, #8 Post 0

Game 2 - #4 Georgian Court 2, #5 Holy Family 0

Game 3 - #2 Caldwell 3, #7 Wilmington 0

Game 4 - #3 Bloomfield 2, #6 Philadelphia 1

Game 5 - Georgian Court 1, Dominican 0

Game 6 - Caldwell 3, Bloomfield 0

Game 7 - Post 3, Holy Family 2 

Game 8 - Philadelphia 5, Wilmington 4

Friday, May 1

Game 9 - Post vs. Bloomfield - Noon

Game 10 - Philadelphia vs. Dominican - Noon

Game 11 - Caldwell vs. Georgian Court - 2:00 pm

Game 12 - Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner - 4:00 pm - Field 2

Saturday, May 2

Game 13 - Game 12 winner vs. Game 11 loser - 11:00 am - Field 1

Game 14 - Game 11 winner vs. Game 13 winner - 1:00 pm - Field 1

Game 15 - "If Game" - Game 14 winner vs. Game 14 loser - 3:00 pm - Field 1