BUFFALO, NY – After establishing themselves as one of the top teams in the MAAC all season long, it's official: The Saints are here to stay and compete. Siena Softball (32-22) went from making a stand to making a statement Friday afternoon, as the #3 seed Saints eliminated #5 Marist, 3-1, and #6 Iona, 7-4, to advance to the 2022 MAAC Championship Finals at the Demske Sports Complex in Buffalo, New York.
 
After dropping its first game of the tournament, the Green and Gold have now won four straight elimination games as part of their unprecedented run, which has established a new single-season wins record and allowed them to stand as one of the MAAC's final two teams for the first time ever. Friday's wins marked the first time in program history that Siena has won more than two postseason games in a single campaign.
 
Siena is on a mission to become the first team in MAAC history to win six games out of the "loser's bracket" en-route to a MAAC Championship since the expansion of the bracket to six teams in 2014. The Saints would become just the sixth team in conference history to win the title after falling into the loser's bracket.
 
The Green and Gold now advance to their final challenge of the week in 2022 MAAC Regular Season Champion and #1 seed Canisius. The Saints will have to beat the Golden Griffins twice on Saturday in order to hoist what would be their first MAAC Title. Game one of Saturday's Championship Finals is set for 10 AM, moved up an hour due to the threat of inclement weather. If Siena emerges victorious, it will force a winner-take-all game two to be played shortly after the conclusion of the first contest.
 
#3 Siena 3, #5 Marist 1
 
After being swept by the Red Foxes during the regular season, the Saints rebounded to win a low scoring affair, following Marist's loss to Canisius on Thursday. The Red Foxes got on the board first with a single up the middle in the opening frame, but the Saints responded with one up the middle themselves, with junior Emma McLaughlin playing classmate Shannon Bonewit.
 
Working off a solid complete game performance from senior Ava Fitzmaurice (10-6), Siena took the lead for good in the home half of the fourth, beginning with an RBI double to left from Jocelyn Ulrich that scored sophomore Mikala Fletcher. Ulrich would later score following a fielding error on the pitcher to put the Saints up by a pair of runs. Siena held a 6-3 hits advantage, with Ulrich going 2-3 to lead the team offensively. Fitzmaurice recorded her first complete game victory since April 15, allowing just a single unearned run on three hits and striking out one batter.
 
#3 Siena 7, #6 Iona 4
 
The victory moved the Saints into uncharted territory in the postseason and set up a rematch with the team that handed them their only loss of the week thus far. Fresh off losing a tight 2-1 decision to the Golden Griffins, the Gaels came out hot in the opening frame, using a 2 RBI single and an RBI double to jet out to a 4-0 lead. Siena responded with three runs of its own in the bottom of the frame to get right back into it, working off an RBI single from Fletcher and consecutive knocks up the middle from Bonewit and McLaughlin.
 
Following one-third of an inning from junior Nicole Patille, freshman Adriana Romano (10-6) locked down the remainder of the game with a brilliant performance in the circle, tossing six and two-thirds shutout innings and allowing five hits while striking out ten. The Barnegat, New Jersey native moved into third on the program's single-season strikeout list, and set the freshman strikeout record in the process.
 
After nearly erasing their early deficit in the first, the Green and Gold completed a stretch of seven unanswered runs in the bottom of the second, with Fletcher doubling to score sophomore Isabella Pardo, Bonewit launching her first triple of the season to send in Fitzmaurice and Fletcher, and McLaughlin scoring Bonewit on an RBI single. Pardo's single to lead off the bottom of the first was good for her 67^th hit of the season, allowing her to set the program's single-season record for hits. Siena held an 11-8 hits advantage overall, with Fletcher going 3-4 with two RBI's and two runs scored to lead the way.