BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- The No. 1 LIU Brooklyn softball team (34-16, 14-2 NEC) ran their home record to 12-0 this season with an 8-1 win over No. 4 Mount St. Mary's (25-27, 9-7 NEC) in game 1 of  the 2019 Northeast Conference Championship at LIU Field on Thursday. LIU will now face No. 3 Saint Francis U. (27-28, 10-6 NEC) at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 10 in the winner's bracket, for the chance to advance directly to Saturday's championship game.

Sophomore Alina Castillo, just named the NEC Most Improved Player in a pregame ceremony, tripled down the left field line in the bottom of the first to get the Blackbirds on the board, scoring the league's Rookie of the Year Camryn Lyman from third. All-NEC First Team Catcher Samantha Garcia immediately followed with a single to right field to score Castillo for a 2-0 lead.

In the top of the fifth inning, a pair of singles led to the first Mount run, to cut the lead to 2-1. The Northeast Conference's Pitcher of the Year, LIU's Elena Valenzuela (18-3) proved worthy of her award, going 7.0 innings, giving up only four hits and the one run with three strikeouts. In fact, Valenzuela did not allow a flyball to the outfield all game, as the freshman earned her league leading 18th win and 16th complete game.

But the Blackbirds loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame when sophomore Ryleigh Bermea blasted her fourth home run of the season, a grand slam over the left field fence to give the home team a 6-1 cushion.

In the sixth inning, the tandem at the top of the LIU lineup, leadoff hitter Patricia Griffin and Lyman hit back-to-back doubles to extend the lead to 7-1. Then, two batters later, Castillo hit a sacrifice fly to score Lyman from third and close out the scoring at 8-1.

Bermea, who was named the Lynn DeVivo Bao Player of the Game back on Alumni Day in April when the teams met in previously in Brooklyn, went 4-for-9 this season against Mount in three games, with a triple, two home runs and a whopping 11 RBIs… Griffin was 4-for-4 with one run scored, while Castillo went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs for LIU.

In game two of the championships, No. 3 Saint Francis U., the two-time defending champions, defeated No. 2 Sacred Heart, 7-0, to set up a rematch of last year's championship final and send SHU into the losers bracket.