AMHERST, MA (5/13/04) - Entering the top of the sixth inning, Saint Joseph's (20-27) had managed just one hit off Temple (25-16) starter Richelle Villescas and looked as if it would fall to the Owls for the 12 consecutive time and fourth straight in Atlantic 10 Tournament play. But two singles set the table for one of the stranger plays in recent Hawk history and provided SJU with a 2-1 come from behind victory over its city rival. St. Joe's advances to the winner's bracket final against Massachusetts, a 1-0 winner of Fordham. It is the first time since 1999 that SJU won its opening round game at the A-10 Tournament. Senior Lindsey McNamara led off the inning with a single to center, just the second Hawk safety of the game. She then proceeded to steal second base, her second swipe of the game, to move into scoring position for All-Atlantic 10 catcher, Alicia Cunic. Cunic, who has slugged six homeruns this season, laid down a perfect drag bunt down the third base line to put SJU runners on the corners with no outs. As had happened in the first and fourth innings when the Hawks stranded two baseruners, the next two batters recorded outs and freshman Rachel Pawlikowski was down in the count, 1-2. A wild pitch from reliever and A-10 Pitcher of the Year Kim Watkins got by Temple catcher Alexis Gary and McNamara beat out a close play at the plate to score the tying run. The ball, however, got away from Watkins after the tag, and Cunic rounded third and scored from second for what proved to be the game-winner. Pawlikowski then ripped a triple to rightfield, but was stranded on third base. With a 2-1 advantage, the Hawks received a little bit of luck in the bottom of the sixth as a Laura Gutscher fly ball to leftfield hit off the padding of the fence, just six inches short of a homerun. The Owl settled for a double and was stranded on second. Senior Dana Travis threw a masterful performance, allowing only an unearned run in the second inning. The co-captain tossed a complete-game with nine strikeouts and scattered five hits to improve to 15-10 on the season. Villascas, who was responsible for both runners that scored in the sixth, took the loss to drop to 14-12. The Hawks advance to face #1 seeded Massachusetts, who was one error away from a perfect game from hurler Kelli Arnold. The Minutewomen, however, needed a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat a feisty Fordham ballclub, 1-0. First-pitch is set for 12 p.m. and all the action can be heard live on sjuhawks.com. Temple and Fordham will meet at 2 p.m. with the winner of that game to face the loser of the UMass-SJU matchup.