Softball Wins 15-inning Marathon to Advance at TAAC Championship

Friday, May 4

Boca Raton, Fla.

6:00 PM ET

Florida Atlantic

Stetson

Softball Wins 15-inning Marathon to Advance at TAAC Championship

5/4/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball

May 4, 2001

Box Score

BOCA RATON, FL -

FAU Wins Longest Game in TAAC Tournament History
Lady Owls defeat Stetson in 15-inning marathon

Boca Raton, FL-- Florida Atlantic University's softball team defeated Stetson University 1-0 in a 15-inning marathon on day two at the Trans America Athletic Conference Championship. The game was the longest ever played in championship history. The win, coupled with an evening victory against Samford advances the Lady Owls to Saturday's championship game where Florida Atlantic (44-19) will seek its fifth consecutive TAAC title.

FAU starting pitcher Nicole Myers and Hatters' starting pitcher Kelli Lightner both went the distance, giving up a total of only 12 hits between them. The two pitchers combined for 390 pitches.

Myers improved to 24-11 while striking out 25 in the complete game three-hitter. She broke her own school record for strikeouts in a game, which had previously been 19. At one point, she retired a school-record 25 consecutive batters.

The Lady Owls scored the only run of the game in the top of the 15th inning. Kim Nicosia led off the inning with a triple before Diane Sanchez hit a one-out single that drove in Nicosia.

FAU was stymied twice with the bases loaded, once in the first and the other time in the 12th.

Lightner (22-11), on the other hand, pitched a complete game with 14 strikeouts. The loss eliminated Stetson (29-24) from the tournament.

In FAU's second contest of the day, Chris Sutcliffe improved to 14-4 after pitching a complete-game one hitter with four strikeouts.

The game was scoreless between the only two undefeated teams left in the tournament until the bottom of the sixth. Diane Sanchez led off the inning with a walk before pinch runner Kristin Gonzalez advanced to second on a sacrifice and scored on a single by freshman Jaime Sawyer.

Friday's victories extended FAU's TAAC Championship winning streak to 19.

Earlier in the day, Samford came from behind to defeat Georgia State 6-4 in a game continued from Thursday when rain halted play.

The winner of the Samford-Troy State game advances to play FAU in Saturday's championship game, scheduled for 1 pm.

The winner of the TAAC Championship will be awarded an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins May 17.