DURHAM 2, SENECA 1

NORTH YORK, Ont. - The Durham College women's fastball team kept their playoff hopes alive on Tuesday night after squeezing out a Game 2 victory over Seneca by a score of 2-1. Earlier in the evening, the Sting earned a 1-0 victory over the Lords.

With one game remaining in the regular season, Durham (6-8) is tied with Conestoga (6-8) for third place in the OCAA standings, with Seneca (5-9) trailing by just one game.

The OCAA regular season will wrap up on Thursday night with Durham hosting the Humber Hawks at Durham Field starting at 6:30 p.m. With a win, the Lords will clinch a playoff position. Seneca will be hosting Conestoga in North York at 7 p.m. The top four teams will qualify for the OCAA championship.

Both games on Tuesday night were pitchers' duels as the teams combined for just four runs in over 14 innings of fastball.

The Lords bats were silenced in timely situations during Game 1 as they left eight runners on base including the bases loaded in the fifth inning.

Durham was able to keep things close as Danielle Crosby pitched six innings, allowing only six hits and zero walks.

In Game 2, the teams went scoreless for four innings with starting pitchers Ashley Black (Durham) and Lauren McLaughlin (Seneca) limiting the opposing teams scoring chances.

The Lords finally broke things open in the top of the fifth inning, when Black had a two-run double, with Bethany Sheppardson and Jessica Pike scoring. However, Seneca was able to bounce back with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Durham lead to 2-1.

After sitting the Lords down in the top of the seventh, Seneca would put two runners on base in their half of the inning. That is when the lights went out - literally. A breaker would blow at the diamond, causing the lights to go out which forced a 30-minute delay.

When play finally resumed, Seneca trailed 2-1 but had two runners on and only one out. Durham's defence would come back on the field and record two straight outs, giving the green and gold a 2-1 victory.

"The team played great defence in both games," said Durham head coach Jim Nemish. "They kept their composure in the tight going even though hits were hard to come by."

Thursday's game against Humber will be alumni day at the ballpark. Durham College is also hosting the LOSSA Fastball Championship on Wednesday beginning at 8 a.m.

Source: Durham College