PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Rhode Island College freshman designated player Kayla Jandreau (Plainville, Conn.) belted a two-run RBI double with two outs in the top of the seventh to lead the top-seeded Anchorwomen past third-seeded St. Joseph’s, 2-1, in game nine of the 2008 NCAA Div. III N.E. Regional Softball Tournament at the Dayna A. Bazar Softball Complex.

Rhode Island College (35-7) will advance to the Championship Game tomorrow afternoon at noon. If the Anchorwomen win that game, they will advance to National Championship Round in Salem, Va. RIC will have to lose two games tomorrow in order to be eliminated. The Golden Eagles (32-7) will play Tufts University at 6 p.m. this evening.

St. Joseph’s senior starting pitcher Jennifer Martinez (Bay Shore, N.Y.) saw a 21.2 scoreless inning streak at the regional snapped just one out away from victory. RIC senior catcher Jeanne Rosa (Milford, Conn.) reached on an error, and with one out, classmate first baseman Christie Lotti (Waterford, Conn.) got on board with an infield bunt single. The pair was sacrificed to second and third, setting the stage for Jandreau’s heroics.

Jandreau went 3-for-4 in the win, accounting for three of the Anchorwomen’s five hits. Freshman Melanie Neece (Westfield, Mass.) earned her 20th win (20-3), throwing three innings of scoreless relief, which included seven strikeouts.

Martinez put the Golden Eagles up, 1-0, in the bottom of the first as she led off with a single, was sacrificed to second and eventually scored on a two-out error.

Jandreau led off the fourth with a double to left field. She stole third, but Martinez recorded two strikeouts and a ground out to end the threat.

The Anchorwomen put runners on second and third with one out in the fifth as Rosa and sophomore shortstop Kelsey Souza (Braintree, Mass.) reached on back-to-back bunt singles. Martinez once again struck out the next two batters to maintain the one-run advantage.

Martinez was up to the task once again in the sixth as Jandreau singled up the middle and senior third baseman Krystal Bilek (Fitchburg, Mass.) walked, only to be stranded on three pop-up outs.

Martinez loses for just the third time (30-3), allowing two unearned runs, while striking out 10 in seven innings. Rhode Island College sophomore starting pitcher Jenna Deveines (Lowville, NY) allowed one unearned run on five hits in four innings before giving way to Neece.

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