NEWTON, MA - Saint Joseph's College (25-15, 19-7 GNAC) was defeated by Simmons College (31-9, 21-5 GNAC), 6-5, on Saturday afternoon in the elimination round of the GNAC Softball Tournament to end the team's playoff run. SO Liddy van der Linden (Worcester, MA) was 2-4 with 2 runs, 2 RBI's and 2 doubles and both JR Alysn Ludwig (Waldoboro, ME) and FY Alyssa Dunn (Standish, ME) went 2-4 in the loss. FY Kiera Walsh (Benton, ME) takes the loss for the Lady Monks and falls to 14-7 on the season.

St. Joe's came out firing in the first inning to take a 4-0 lead. Ludwig led off with a single and scored on a SO Jillian Kimball (Albany TWP, ME) fielder's choice and van der Linden sent home both SO Anna Willis (Gorham, ME) and Kimball with a double. SR Megan Farrell (Abington, MA) grounded out to second base to score van der Linden to give the Lady Monks a four-run cushion in the early going.

The Royal Blue went on to add a run in the third with back-to-back doubles from van der Linden and Dunn to take a 5-0 advantage.

Simmons put a run on the board in the bottom of the fourth when FY Dannie Szabo (White Plains, NY) opened the inning with a double and later scored on a groundout to second base off the bat of SR Natalie West (East Bridgewater, MA) to reduce the SJC lead to 5-1.

The Sharks showed their teeth in the fifth inning by scoring five runs off six hits, including home runs from FY Annie Thompson (Pacific Palisades, CA), a three-run blast, and Szabo to take a 6-5 lead.

St. Joe's was unable to score a run in the top of the seventh and saw their tournament championship hopes come to an end.

Outfielder Anna Willis and shortstop Liddy van der Linden were both named to the 2008 GNAC All-Tournament Team for their play in the three tourney contests. van der Linden was 7-10 with three runs and four RBI's in the tourney and Willis played spectacular defense in right field for the Lady Monks to earn the honor.

The Lady Monks will play the final games of their season in a doubleheader at Colby College on Saturday, May 3rd with the first game scheduled to begin at 12:00 PM.