BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Trailing by four runs heading to the bottom of the sixth inning, the LIU Brooklyn softball team rallied for five over the final two frames to take a thrilling 5-4 victory over Saint Francis U. in a winner's bracket game at the 2016 Northeast Conference Tournament on Friday. Sophomore Victoria Zamora delivered the game-winning, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to send the Blackbirds to Championship Saturday for the fifth straight season.

LIU Brooklyn will face longtime rival Robert Morris on Saturday, May 14 in the NEC Championship Round that will begin at 12:00 p.m. The Blackbirds will be searching for their 14th NEC title, while the Colonials are going for the eighth crown. The contest will be broadcast live on NECFrontRow.com.

Each team went scoreless through the first two innings, before the Red Flash started the scoring in the top of the third. An error and hit by pitch put a pair on with nobody out for the visitors, and a groundout by NEC Rookie of the Year Hayley Norton advanced both runners up a base.

First Team All-NEC shortstop Jordan Seneca was the next batter to the plate and grounded a ball to short. Junior Kayla Gloady attempted to cut the runner down trying to score but her throw was not in time as SFU took a 1-0 lead. The advantage was bolstered two batters later when Madison Cabell stroked a double into the left-centerfield gap to plate two more and bump the cushion to 3-0.

LIU Brooklyn struggled to muster much offense early on against SFU starter Ethel Santai, but did appear to get untracked in the bottom of the fifth as sophomore Angie Vazquez and senior Alyssa Gospodarek each singled to put two on with nobody out.

After a fielder's choice, a substitution was made and freshman Schae Dickson lined a single into centerfield that would have cut the Blackbirds' deficit to 3-1 and given the team an second-and-third, one-out opportunity. But after a brief meeting by the umpires, it was ruled that there was a substitution infraction and that junior Karlie Brady, who did not come to the plate in the sequence, was ruled out on the batting out of order penalty.

LIU would fail to score in the inning and the Red Flash took advantage with another run in the top of the sixth on an infield single from Kindra Witthus. Sophomore Erynn Sobieski was able to limit the damage to just one run, however, stranding two base runners as the contest moved to the bottom of the sixth.

The Blackbirds would immediately cut into their deficit in the inning as senior Ariana Lopez lined a home run over the center-field fence to put the score at 4-1. After a pitching change, Zamora walked on four pitches to put a runner on with nobody out.

Following consecutive outs, Vazquez followed with a base hit through the left side and Gospodarek came through with a clutch two-run double to right center that put the score at 4-3. Gloady made a bid to tie the game, but a diving catch by Norton closed out the scoring opportunity.

Sobieski worked around a two-out single to keep the Red Flash off the board in the seventh, setting the stage for the walk-off heroics. Freshman Patricia Griffin started the rally with an opposite-field single, before senior Whitney West recorded her second hit of the day to put a pair on base with nobody out. A groundout moved each runner up a base for Zamora, who lined the game-winning hit into right-centerfield to score two and send the LIU Brooklyn bench onto the field in celebration.