Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – Senior Sara Heller hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth to lift the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) softball team to a 2-1 win over the University of Rochester in game one of the championship round of the Liberty League Tournament.  Both teams are now 27-13 on the season and will battle for the title beginning at 12:55pm at Doris Robison Field.
 
Rensselaer held a 1-0 lead heading into the top of the seventh inning before Rochester got the equalizer.  With bases loaded, senior Katie McLean (Cazenovia, NY/Cazenovia) stepped up to the plate.  She sent a chopper to pitcher Kristina Weltzin (Commerce Town, MI/Walled Lake Northern), who elected to go home to get the runner.  Her throw went over the head of Heller (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland), allowing the Yellowjackets to score.
 
Weltzin pitched her way out of trouble over the next two batters and saw senior Kelly Erkert (Burlington, NJ/Burlington Township) make the catch of the game as she dove into shallow centerfield to catch a blooper off the bat of freshman Brittany Grage (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) and end the frame.
 
The Engineers were unable to get the go-ahead in the bottom of the inning, forcing an extra session.  Weltzin pitched strong in the top of the frame getting sophomore Kristen Baldino (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) to strikeout looking and rookie Alyssa Murillo (Vacaville, CA/Vacaville) to ground out and send it to the bottom of the eighth.
 
Opening the eighth, Heller stepped up and swung on the first pitch, sending a shot over the left centerfield wall for the game-winner.
 
The Engineers opened the game's scoring in the bottom of the fourth after rookie Jocilyn Rudisill (Galloway, NJ/Absegami) advanced to third on a ground out by Heller.  Junior Gillian McCarthy (Worthington, OH/Thomas Worthington) singled, drawing the second baseman out enough for the run to score.
 
Weltzin moved to 20-8 on the season, allowing just one run on three hits over 8.0 innings.  She struck out three and walked six.  McCarthy went 2 for 3 in the game with a run scored and an RBI, while Heller was 1 for 4 with the game-winning run.
 
For Rochester, Grage allowed two runs on six hits.  She struck out five batters and surrendered just one walk. 
 
The game also marked the sixth straight contest in this year's tournament that has been decided by one run.