For the second-straight year, Frostburg State advanced through the loser's bracket to a championship showdown against defending champ and top-seeded Salisbury in the 2012 CAC Softball Championship Tournament.

The host Gulls, ranked 17th in the country, opened Saturday's third-round action with a 3-0 victory over second-seeded Mary Washington. 

Third-seeded Frostburg State then won two-straight games to advance to the title showdown.  FSU eliminated fifth-seeded Stevenson in the second game Saturday, 6-3, then scored twice late in the last game of the day to secure a 2-1 victory over UMW.

The stormy weather expected to last throughout Sunday in the Salisbury area set up the decision to postpone the rest of the tournament.  The new schedule features FSU traveling to Salisbury on Saturday (4/28) for a potential twinbill. 

The Bobcats must defeat the Gulls twice to win the title.  If Salisbury wins either game, the Sea Gulls win the title and an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

In Game 1, Salisbury advanced to the CAC championship game after taking down Mary Washington, 3-0.  Salisbury (34-5) jumped out to a one-run lead in the first inning as sophomore Harley Hill led the inning off with a single and then advanced to second base on junior Sarah Alpaugh's sacrifice bunt. Senior Erika Brittingham's  single to right field brought in Hill for the first run of the contest. 

Brittingham pitched all seven innings for the Sea Gulls picking up her 19th victory on the year. The Georgetown, Del., native retired 18 batters in the first five innings, allowing just one hit, that coming in the third inning. The senior ended the day having fanned 11 Eagles, walking one and allowing three hits.

SU's second run was scored off Hill's double to left-center field, plating junior Lindsay McCabe.  The Sea Gulls tacked on an additional run in the third inning, starting with a triple from junior Hannah Mills. Mills touched home after tagging up at third base when McCabe sent a sacrifice fly out to right field, giving the Gulls a 3-0 lead.

The best scoring opportunity for Mary Washington (24-18) came with two runners on in the top of the sixth inning with two outs. Alecia Boykin drove a shot out to center field where Alpaugh made the catch to end the inning unscathed.

Frostburg State overcame deficits in both of its CAC tournament semifinal games and punched its ticket to the CAC finals tomorrow against top-seeded Salisbury. The Bobcats followed a 6-3 win over No. 5 Stevenson with a 2-1 victory against No. 2 Mary Washington.

Against Mary Washington, the Bobcats fell behind 1-0 after two hits netted a run for the Eagles. The offense for Frostburg only mustered two hits in the first five innings. After the two-run sixth inning that put the Bobcats ahead, the hit column still only showed two. Frostburg took advantage of two walks, a hit-by-pitch, and two Eagle errors to push across the two unearned runs without the benefit of a hit.

After two outs, senior Jordan Wright walked to force home junior Shari Beavers. Senior Beth Whitehead then reached on a fielding error to plate freshman Amanda Hennessee to give the Bobcats a 2-1 lead.

Juniors Taylor Vandegrift and Kerri O'Malley had the hits for Frostburg. Senior pitcher Lauren Scrivener pitched all seven innings, allowing just the one run on five hits to get the win.

In order to face Mary Washington, the Bobcats had to erase a 3-0 first inning deficit to defeat No. 5 Stevenson, 6-3.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, O'Malley doubled with one out to move Scrivener, who led off with a single, to third base. A grounder to short by Vandegrift did not net an out, and Scrivener crossed to tie the score at three. After a second out and an intentional walk to sophomore Caitlin Lovend to load the bases, Hennessee came through with the big hit to break the tie by singling to center to score two runs.

Stevenson used a pair of two-out singles to plate its three runs in the top of the first against Wright, who started in the circle for Frostburg. The Bobcats answered back with two runs in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Vandegrift and a freebie thanks to a wild pitch with the bases loaded to score O'Malley.

Vandegrift and Hennessee each had two hits and two RBIs to lead the team, while O'Malley scored twice.