Box Scores - L 1-0 / L 2-1 (8 inn.)

CALIFORNIA - Bloomsburg won a pair of one-run games to knock East Stroudsburg University out of the PSAC softball tournament, 1-0 and 2-1 (8 inn.), on Friday afternoon at Lilly Field on the campus of California University of Pennsylvania.

The Warriors (20-21) were making their third straight appearance in the PSAC tournament for the first time in school history and were the No. 3 seed in the PSAC East. They got standout pitching performances from senior Jennifer Bensinger and junior Jackie Battaglino, but the Huskies limited the ESU offense to 10 hits and one run on the day.

Bloomsburg (31-8), the No. 2 seed in the Central and the 18th-ranked team nationally, played three games on Friday. The Huskies fell to California 2-0 in their second game before coming back for their extra-inning win in an elimination game for both teams. Bloomsburg and Cal will meet again on Saturday to determine who will advance to the three-team PSAC Championship round next Sunday.

In the opener, the Huskies scored the game's only run in the first inning after Danielle Lazorka doubled and scored on a single by Nikki Shiko.

Bensinger held Bloomsburg's bats to three hits the rest of the way, but Tara Reed allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out 12 batters for the Huskies. ESU managed multiple base runners in the sixth and seventh and had its best chance to score in the sixth inning, as senior C Amanda Feist singled with one out but was thrown out at home trying to score from second base on the second of the Huskies' two errors for the final out of the inning.

In the seventh, sophomore OF Alicea Ashe walked and sophomore SS Brittany Racek reached on an error to put runners on first and second with two outs, but Reed got a ground ball back to the circle and a strikeout to end the game.

The Warriors struck in the top of the first in the second game, on the third home run of the season by freshman 3B Rachel Gieringer, but Bloomsburg tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning as Lazorka singled from the leadoff spot and scored on a double by Reed.

Neither team managed much offense the rest of the way as Battaglino and Bloomsburg's Sheelin Fisher were locked up in a pitchers' duel. Reed started the second game for the Huskies but was relieved by Fisher after the first inning, who recorded nine strikeouts over the final seven innings while giving up five hits.

Bloomsburg broke through for the winning run in the eighth inning, an RBI single by Mandy Koch that scored Shiko with two outs. The Huskies loaded the bases with the help of a walk and an error to start the inning, and Battaglino got a force out at home for the second out before Koch's base hit to right for the game-winner.

Gieringer and Feist both had three hits on the day, including 2-for-3 performances in the second game. Battaglino and Bensinger both threw complete games for the Warriors.

ESU will await the selection of the NCAA Atlantic Regional field, which will be played on May 8-10 at a site to be determined. The Warriors were ranked eighth in the region in the latest poll released on Wednesday.