BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott softball team travels to No. 13 Kean for the start of the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament on Friday, May 10 at 2 PM. Kean is the host of the regional pod that also includes Christopher Newport and the College of Staten Island.
THE MATCHUP
The Gulls and the Cougars are meeting for the third time in program history and the series is even at 1-1. The last time the two met was on March 16, 2011, and Kean came away with a close 6-5 victory during that contest.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Endicott (32-5) captured the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) championship title with a 10-0 victory over the University of New England on Sunday, May 5 to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Kean (37-6) earned an at-large bid to the tournament after reaching its conference championship. The title game was canceled due to weather which gave No. 1 seed TCNJ the championship and automatic bid.
No. 9 Christopher Newport (33-7) won the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) after winning back-to-back games in a best of three series with Mary Washington on Saturday, May 4.
The College of Staten Island (18-15) captured its seventh consecutive City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) title with a 9-6 victory over top seed Hunter College on Saturday, May 4.
SCOUTING ENDICOTT
The Gulls are led offensively by senior Gina DeMilt (Princeton, N.J.) who has an overall batting average of .432 with 11 doubles, five triples, one home run, and 28 RBI on the season. Jamie Hopgood (Warwick, R.I.) currently leads the team in RBI (41), doubles (13), and home runs (8).
Maggie Oram (Lexington, Mass.) is 15-1 in the circle for the Gulls with an ERA of 1.75 and 92 strikeouts on the year.
SCOUTING KEAN
The Cougars will look to Caroline Ratti (South Plainfield, N.J.) for offensive firepower as she leads the team in both RBI (44) and home runs (9) with a .410 batting average.
In the circle, Kean is led by Jackie Riley (South Amboy, N.J.) who has an overall record of 16-1 with an ERA of 1.37.
SCOUTING CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT
CNU has set a new single-season team record for home runs this year with 60 in 40 games. Kaitlyn Hasty (Chesapeake, Va.), the CAC's Player and Rookie of the Year, also set a new individual home run mark by blasting 19 this spring.
Grace Wild (Potomac Falls, Va.) and Patty Maye Ohanian (Burke, Va.) lead the team in batting average with .437.
Aubrey Bates (Lorton, Va.) has an 11-2 record in the circle for the Captains with an ERA of 1.27 in 88 innings pitched.
SCOUTING THE COLLEGE OF STATEN ISLAND
The Dolphins are led offensively by Patricia Riches (Staten Island, N.Y.) who has a .540 batting average with 12 doubles, four triples, four home runs, and 36 RBI.
Meanwhile, pitcher Alison Meagher (Clark, N.J.) is 9-3 on the season with a 1.82 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 79.1 innings of work.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
The winner of this weekends regional will advance to the Super Regional round on May 16-17.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)