ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Union College softball program knocked off Skidmore and RPI in back-to-back elimination games to reach the Liberty League Championship. The Dutchwomen will now face the University of Rochester tomorrow with the first pitch of game one scheduled for 10am.

GAME 1 (W 2-0 over Skidmore)

Union College left 11 runners on base but escaped with a 2-0 victory over Skidmore in the first elimination game of the 2015 Liberty League tournament on Friday afternoon at Rochester's Southside Field.

The Dutchwomen got a 5-hit shutout from senior pitcher Allyson Staats to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament.  Staats has thrown complete games in both Union games in the tournament.  In Friday's first game she didn't issue a walk and struck out one and finished the game in an efficient 69 pitches.

Union threatened early, getting the bases loaded in each of the first two innings, but was unable scrape one across off of Skidmore pitcher Amanda Carilli.  Carilli was the tough luck loser in the game, allowing 10 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks while striking out 4 batters.

The Dutchwomen would break through in the fifth inning with a pair of two-out RBI singles from Linsay Cohen and Brianna Godlewski.

In the 6th, Skidmore looked to get back into it getting two runners on with one out behind singles from Dani DeGregory and Lizzete Roman-Johnston.  But Staats would settle in and get two fly outs to end the inning and stay up by a 2-0 score.

For Union, Cohen finished 2-3 with an RBI and run scored while Courtney Casey added a 2-4 day at the plate.  Five different Skidmore players each had one hit.

GAME 2 (W 2-1 over RPI)

Playing in its second straight elimination game, the Dutchwomen edged Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 2-1 to stay alive at the 2015 Liberty League Softball Tournament.

The Dutchwomen took the field just an hour after winning 2-0 over Skidmore in the first elimination game of the day.  RPI dropped both its games on Friday, falling to Rochester 6-0 in the winners bracket game before losing in the nightcap to Union.

Allyson Staats was again the hero in the circle for Union, tossing her third straight complete game in the tournament, allowing just six hits, one run while walking none and striking out five.

Union would get on the board first, pushing an unearned run across on a Lindsay Cohen double down the left field line.

After RPI starter Kristina Weltzin escaped a 2-on, 1-out jam in the top of the fourth, the Engineers would even the score in the bottom of the inning behind a solo blast down the right field line by Stephanie Caudle.

In the 5th, Union loaded the bases with one out, chasing Weltzin from the circle in the process.  RPI's Caudle, who came on in relief, escaped with no harm as Joanna Chalifoux would line into an inning ending double play.

The Dutchwomen then grabbed the lead in the 6th.  After Staats led off with a double and was pinch ran for, Camile Corbin reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners.  The next hitter, Molly O'Brien, hit a swinging bunt that the pitcher Caudle couldn't handle and would have allowed the run to score anyways, putting Union up 2-1.

Corbin made the play of the game in the bottom of the inning, throwing out the potential game tying run in the bottom of the 6th inning trying to tag up on a fly ball to center, preserving Union's 2-1 lead.

Staats then sat down the Engineers 1-2-3 in the 7th to seal the victory, her 15th of the season.  RPI's Weltzin went 4 innings, allowed 3 hits and 1 unearned run and 1 walk.  Caudle finished up with the final 3 innings, allowed 3 hits, 1 run with 2 strikeouts.

At the plate, Corbin was the only Union player with multiple hits, going 2-for-3.  Caudle was 2-3 with a home run for RPI while Morgan Kollmeier added a 2-3 game.

The victorious Union squad now moves on to Sunday's championship round against 2-0 and top-seeded Rochester.  If UR wins game one at 10 am on Saturday, Rochester wins the title.  But if Union manages to steal the first game, the same two teams will play a winner-take-all final game to determine the Liberty League's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.