LAKEWOOD, N.J. (May 6, 2011) - The third-seeded Dominican College Lady Chargers softball team advanced to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship round after defeating the top seed and host, Georgian Court University, 6-2, this afternoon in Lakewood.  With the win DC improves to 33-16 overall and 3-0 in tournament play and will face the winner of the Georgian Court vs. Caldwell contest tomorrow at 1pm. GCU and Caldwell will open the day with an elimination game at 11:00 am.

No. 5 Caldwell remained alive by going 2-0 on Friday by eliminating No. 6 Post University, 5-4, and No. 4 Wilmington University, 7-2. Georgian Court’s loss to Dominican was its first of the tournament. The winner of the GCU vs. Caldwell game Saturday morning will have to defeat Dominican twice to claim the CACC Championship because of the double-elimination format.

Left-handed hurler Childers improved to 20-6 on the season with the complete game victory over Georgian Court, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and six strikeouts. She now has two wins and a save thus far in the tournament. Lead-off hitter Deidre Jepson went 2-for-3 with one run and two RBI, while Childers helped her own cause with a triple, two runs scored and one RBI. Dominican is now 33-16 this season while GCU fell to 30-23.

Caldwell earned a 5-4 win over Post to start the day despite being out-hit, 9-to-5. Nicole Velardi hit a homer for the Cougars and Brittany Pulido allowed three earned runs in notching a complete game. Freshman shortstop Christina Udris blasted a home run for Post and also had an RBI single. Post rallied and loaded the bases in the top of the seventh inning, but Pulido induced a groundout to end the threat.

Caldwell survived to play Saturday with its second win of the day, a 7-2 triumph over Wilmington. The Cougars got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 6-0 edge after two innings. The most damage was done in a wild second inning, during which Caldwell scored four runs on only one hit. However, the Cougars were helped out by a pair of Wilmington errors. Kelly Ryan led the offense by going 2-for-4 with two runs, one RBI and a stolen base. Kourtney Wilson recorded the win by allowing two runs in a complete game effort.  Caldwell is now 30-22 this season.

Wilmington (29-21) advanced to face Caldwell after a tough 1-0 win over Bloomfield. Senior Heather Karasek went the distance and allowed only seven hits for the Wildcats in posting the shutout. Lindsey Ciresa had a solid relief appearance for BC, allowing only two hits in five innings of work. The lone run came on a Christin Headley sacrifice fly in the first inning.

The results from the tournament thus far and Saturday's schedule are below.

Thursday, May 5
Game 1 - #1 Georgian Court 8 #8 Felician 3
Game 2 -#7 Bloomfield 8, #2 Concordia 5
Game 3 - #3 Dominican  4, #6 Post 0
Game 4 - #4 Wilmington vs. #5 Caldwell - Noon
Game 5 - Wilmington 7, Felician 5
Game 6 - Post 6, Concordia 1
Game 7 - Georgian Court 4, Caldwell 3
Game 8 - Dominican 6, Bloomfield 3

Friday, May 6
Game 9 - Wilmington 1, Bloomfield 0
Game 10 – Caldwell 5, Post 4
Game 11 – Dominican 6, Georgian Court 2
Game 12 – Caldwell 7, Wilmington 2 

Saturday, May 7
Game 13 - Caldwell vs. Georgian Court - 11:00 am
Game 14 - Dominican vs. Gm 13 winner - 1:00 pm
Game 15 (if necessary) - Gm 14 winner vs. Gm 14 loser - 3:00 pm