MANCHESTER, N.H. – With a gritty 3-0 victory over Assumption College in its First Round matchup in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship tournament, Saint Anselm College (22-11, 12-9 NE-10) will take on Pace University (24-14, 11-7 NE-10) in the league's quarterfinal round Thursday afternoon at Southern New Hampshire University's Penmen Field. First pitch is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start on Manchester's north side.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | NE-10 TOURNAMENT HOMEPAGE (Courtesy SNHU)
SCOUTING THE HAWKS
After battling through a grueling April schedule that forced the playing of 22 games in a 14-day span, the Northwest's #4-seeded Saint Anselm appeared refreshed and revived in Tuesday's road game at #3-seed Assumption. Eight different batters recorded a hit on the afternoon. Freshmen Megan Murrell (Scarborough, Maine)—who recorded the only extra-base hit for either team on the afternoon—and Shannon McLaughlin (Tewksbury, Mass.) each scored an RBI hit, while junior Michaela Criscione's (Franklin, Mass.) infield shot also scored a run as the Hawks' three-run sixth inning ultimately proved the difference.
Senior hurler Tayla Trask (Lincoln, Maine) posted her 12th complete game of the season, striking out eight and scattering seven hits and issuing just one walk Tuesday. For the season, Trask has posted an 11-4 record on the year with a 1.77 ERA. Senior Paige Cormier (Rochester, N.H.), like Trask, has appeared in 18 games for the Hawks this season and has posted a 3.38 ERA.
Saint Anselm's road warrior mentality continued with Tuesday's win, improving to 16-6 on the season away from the Hilltop and 8-4 in true road matchups.
SCOUTING THE SETTERS
Pace enters Thursday's NE-10 Second Round matchup having finished off its regular season with six straight non-conference games, winning its last four and six of its last seven. Before the out-of-conference weekend slate, the Setters dropped two of three to American International College before clinching the #2-seed in the Southwest Division by taking the season series against New Haven.
Two Setters are hitting over .400 at the plate on the season, including sophomore Shelby Yung and senior Jeane Drury. The tandem has also combined for 87 hits, 62 runs scored and 47 RBI—32 of which coming from Drury's bat alone. As a team, Pace is outhitting opponents .301 on the season, while holding opponents to a .265 batting average.
Inside the circle, three pitchers have appeared in at least 16 contests this season and all have posted pretty impressive numbers. Junior Caitlin McCann, who has thrown a team-high 106 innings and posted a 10-4 record this year, boasts a team-low 2.31 ERA. Sophomore Kaitlynn Nelson has thrown 81 innings with a 9-6 record and an ERA of 2.59 and freshman Jaclyn Flores has accrued an ERA of 3.78, pitching 59.1 innings.
A RIVALRY RENEWED
Because the teams play in separate divisions, Thursday's matchup will be the first of this season for Saint Anselm and Pace. The last time these two played was ironically in last season's NE-10 Championship Second Round, but with the roles reversed.
Saint Anselm, as the #2 seed from the Northeast Division, used a solo homerun by then-sophomore Emily Crannell (Wilmington, Mass.) to tie the game against Pace—the #3-seed from the Southwest Division. Crannell then reached on an error to score then-sophomore Pattie Turner (Warwick, R.I.) for the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Hawks eked out the 2-1 victory at host University of New Haven's Softball Field.
STAR POWER
Nine All-Northeast-10 Conference honorees will take the field in the opening matchup at Penmen Field Thursday afternoon, including three First Team winners in the Pace dugout alone.
Trask and Turner, at pitcher and catcher, respectively, joined junior second baseman Julie LeClair (Taunton, Mass.) on the All-NE-10 Second Team the league announced Tuesday afternoon. Freshman outfielder Amanda Bickford (Salem, N.H.) was named to the Third Team, as well as an All-Rookie performer in her first season at Saint Anselm.
Drury at shortstop, as well as sophomore outfielder Yung and sophomore catcher Nikole Larm all earned First Team recognition for the Setters. Freshman third baseman Amanda Limon was also Second Team honoree and freshman outfielder Larissa Labs was named to the Third Team, with both Limon and Labs joining Bickford on the league's All-Rookie Team.
ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
The 2015 Northeast-10 Conference Championship tournament uses a single-elimination format, setting up the top seeds from each division with a double-bye into the league semifinal round and handing the #2-seeded teams a single bye into the quarterfinal.
Along with Saint Anselm's upset win over Assumption Tuesday, #3 Southern Connecticut State University held off #4 Le Moyne College in the Southwest Division First Round game to advance to the Second Round. The Owls will take on Northwest Division's #2-seed, Stonehill College following the conclusion of the Hawks' matchup against the Setters.
The Penmen of Southern New Hampshire University clinched the top seed of the Northeast Division with a 5-3 victory over Saint Anselm last Thursday, and in doing so, earned the hosting bid for this year's quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds. The Penmen will host the winner of Thursday's Saint Anselm/Pace game, while Adelphi, the #1-seed from the Southwest Division, awaits the winner of the Stonehill/SCSU matchup in Friday's semifinal round.
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