BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott College softball team will faceoff with Brandeis University at 4:00 p.m. in the first game of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, May 13th. The Gulls (28-10-1) travel down the road to Wellesley College where the Blue Pride is hosting the NCAA Regional event at their facilities. Six other teams will be playing at the Wellesley Regional Site including top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State, Husson University, Rivier College, Bowdoin University, US Coast Guard Academy and Salem State College.

Endicott captured its eighth-consecutive The Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship last weekend in Beverly, Mass. \#Jenna Bortolotti\# (Milton, Mass.) went a perfect 3-0 during tournament play with a 0.67 ERA and 16 strikeouts during the tournament while \#Sarah Spaziano\# (Norton, Mass.) was a perfect 7-for-7 at the plate with two doubles, one homerun, two RBI, four runs scored and a stolen base in postseason action. Endicott is one of the hottest teams in the nation as the Blue and Green are unbeaten in their last 19 games (18-0-1).

The Gulls are making their eighth trip to the big dance and have posted a 9-14 mark in tournament play. Endicott hosted a 2009 NCAA Regional site and went 1-2 with an 11-6 win over Husson before falling to Regional finalist Springfield College, 4-3, on the Gulls’ final day of the tournament. Back in 2008, the Gulls advanced all the way to the Regional Finals before falling to Cortland State, 3-1 in the final.

This season the Gulls have been led by the hot bats of \#Merry MacDonald\# (Braintree, Mass.) and \#Megan Downey\# (Ballston Lake, N.Y.), who are first and second on the team in batting average at .402 and .390, respectively. MacDonald also led the team in hits (53), runs (32) and stolen bases (21). \#Ashley Wright\# (Merrimack, N.H.) was the team-leader in homeruns (7), doubles (10) and RBI (26) while making only one error in centerfield and leading the team in outfield assists (4). \#Jenna Bortolotti\# has anchored the pitching staff, as the junior is currently 20-5 with a 1.48 ERA and 101 strikeouts and has won 20-straight decisions since returning from the Spring Break trip to start the season.

Brandeis makes its inaugural trip to the NCAA Tournament after posting a 27-7-1 mark this season and grabbing an at-large bid to the dance. The Judges are led by five All-University Athletic Association selections. Earning first-team accolades were sophomore outfielder Brittany Grimm (Perkiomenville, Pa.), who led the team with a .432 batting average (fifth in the UAA), 51 hits and 18 extra-base hits; junior 2B Melisa Cagar (Ridgewood, N.J.), who stole 29 bases and scored 42 runs, both second in the Association, and is the school's career-leader with 71 steals; and senior pitcher Emily Vaillette (Milford, N.H.), who posted a 15-4 record (second in the league in wins) with a school-record 1.49 earned-run average (third in the league) and is second on Brandeis's career list with 38 wins and tops with a 2.28 career ERA.

The first-round NCAA game will be just the second all-time meeting between the two schools, with the first coming in 1985, when Endicott took a 5-1 victory. Against other teams in the NCAA tournament field, Brandeis owns a 7-2 record (sweeps of Washington University, Salem State and Wesleyan (Conn.), a split with Bowdoin and a loss to Eastern Connecticut State), while Endicott is 1-1 (win over Illinois Wesleyan, loss to Fontbonne). The teams have just one common opponent, with both the Judges and Gulls sweeping Wheaton (Mass.). 

To view the Wellesley Regional Site tournament page, please click here.
To view the NCAA Division III Softball release, please click here.