MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College softball team will start off the 2021 NCAA Division II Softball East Region Championship against Adelphi University on Thursday, May 20 at 1:30 p.m. in what is a rematch of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship series.

Just five days removed from winning the NE10 Championship, the Hawks and Panthers will battle in game five of the NCAA Division II East Region Championship. Saint Anselm owns a 29-4 overall record and is joined by another nationally-ranked program in the field, Georgian Court - the Lions are ranked 23rd in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Poll while the Hawks sit above the Lions as the No. 18 program in the country.

Adelphi earned the top seed in the NE10 Southwest Division Championship after claiming the regular season title. The Panthers opened the NE10 postseason with a 1-0 victory over Le Moyne on Thursday, May 6 before downing New Haven in the Southwest Division finals by scores of 3-2 and 2-1. After falling twice to Saint Anselm in the NE10 Championship, the Panthers earned an at-large bid with a 27-8 record. Adelphi would claim its first victory in the regional on Wednesday, downing Bridgeport, 3-2.

Check out the tournament central page for more information about spectator policy, tickets, and much more.

Live Statistics and Live Video will be available via the NE10 Now Network.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM

• The Hawks are led by junior Bre Klaiber (Ironton, Ohio) and senior Morgan Perry (Bethany, Conn.), who claimed NE10 Northeast and Division II Conference Commissioner Association (D2CCA) East Region Player and Pitcher of the Years accolades, respectively, in the month of May. Klaiber's bat and Perry's arm have powered the Hawks to the second seed in the NCAA Division II East Region Championship and an active 13-game winning streak.
• Klaiber led the Hawks to a 29-4 overall record in 2021, winning the NE10 Regular Season and Tournament Championship. The NE10 Northeast Division Player of the Year led the conference with a .444 batting average and a .537 on-base percentage, while ranking fifth in the league with a .689 slugging percentage. Her 40 hits were third most in the NE10 while she was also fifth in the league with 23 runs batted in.
• Klaiber's on-base percentage ranks 25th in all of NCAA Division II and also sits 41st in the nation with her .444 batting average. She played a key role in the Hawks NE10 postseason title run as she was named to the NE10 All-Tournament Team.
• A two-time D2CCA East Region Pitcher of the Year, Perry has helped Saint Anselm boast a stingy 0.70 team earned-run average into the regionals. She led the NE10 with a 0.47 earned run average, recording a perfect 17-0 record in the circle with 15 complete games, 11 shutouts, two no-hitters, and one perfect game. She leads all NCAA Division II pitchers with 12.8 strikeouts per seven innings, fanning 190 batters on the year. That mark ranks 10^th in the nation for the most strikeouts this season by any Division II pitcher.
• Perry is also second in the nation in allowing just 3.37 hits per seven innings and is slotted sixth with a 0.74 walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP). She was named the NE10 Northeast Division Pitcher of the Year and was a member of the NE10 All-Tournament Team as well.
• Sophomore Kylie Fitzpatrick (Danville, N.H.) received a spot on the All-East Second Team after logging a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage over 33 games, recording 43 putouts and 43 assists without an error. Fitzpatrick has also helped the Hawks post a team fielding percentage of .965, ranking fourth in the league.
• Fitzpatrick has also contributed to the Hawks offense in many ways throughout the 2021 season, posting one or more hits in 17 of her last 19 games, including a three-hit performance against Franklin Pierce on Apr. 18. In 2021, she has racked up 38 hits and is the owner of a .369 batting average, while also stroking two home runs. After earning the NE10 Northeast Defensive Player of the Year, she also claimed her first-ever NFCA All-East First Team honor.
• Sophomore McKenna Smith (Old Town, Maine), one of the unsung heroes of the Hawks roster, was named the Most Valuable Player in the NE10 Tournament. She threw a complete game in the second game against Adelphi, striking out four batters and allowed three hits and one run in the process.
• Smith heads into the regional with the fifth-best earned run average in the nation (0.63). She has started in nine of her 13 appearance in 2021, allowing just nine runs and 42 hits. She enters the NCAA regional with a 7-2 record and 77 strikeouts on the season, posting a career-high 14 strikeouts in the victory over Saint Michael's on Apr. 24. Smith also earned All-NE10 accolades this season, grabbing a spot on the All-Conference Third Team, while also being named to the NFCA All-East Second Team.
• Freshman Gracie O'Hara (Shrewsbury, Mass.) has made an instant impact on the Hawks program as a freshman. She earned a spot on the D2CCA All-East First Team, playing in the designed player spot 19 of her 30 games. O'Hara has totaled .299 batting average over that time. O'Hara has hit for power in her brief Saint Anselm career, recording six doubles, three triples, and two home runs. O'Hara also was named Third Team All-NE10 and was selected to the All-Rookie Team for her performance on the field.
• Klaiber has scored one of more runs in the past 11 of 13 contests, including posting a four-hit performance with two runs scored against Southern New Hampshire in the NE10 postseason. Klaiber, Fitzpatrick, and senior Lauren Washburn (Carmichael, Calif.) owns the longest hitting streak on the team with each recording hits in a span of 10 games. Out of that group, Klaiber has a current two-game hitting streak.
• Senior Shannon Colson (Rochester, N.H.) and senior Erin Thompson (Newton, N.H.) hold the longest active hitting streaks on the team with three. Colson is known for her speed on the base paths, recording seven stolen bases so far this season. After recording her 200th career hit in the NE10 Championship, Colson puts her eyes on the all-time record for career hits as her current assistant coach Amanda Bickford '18 holds the program record with 237. Colson is also four at-bats away from breaking the all-time record, held by Bickford with 609.
• Heading into the regional, the Hawks have totaled 58 multi-hit games with 13 having student-athletes post three or more hits in a single game. Fitzpatrick and Klaiber lead the team with nine multi-hit games. Saint Anselm has recorded 42 games with multiple runs batted in as Washburn leads the squad with 10.
• Klaiber looks to extend her current streak of reaching base to 20 straight games on Thursday. That marks the longest streak on the team as Fitzpatrick had a 16-game streak earlier in the season. Since 2011, Nicole Boucher owns the longest reached base streak in the program with 25, logging 15 multi-hit games and seven games with multiple runs batted in.
• The Hawks defense has kept all opponents to two or less runs throughout the season, except cross-town rival Southern New Hampshire who scored three runs. Saint Anselm has recorded 17 shutouts, ranking fourth in the nation.
• The team's pitching staff has combined for the best earned run average in all of Division II, recording a 0.70 mark with Perry and Smith claiming earned run averages of under 1.00. Perry heads into the upcoming contests with a 0.47 earned run average, ranking third in the country.

ANALYZING ADELPHI

• Adelphi, who were tabbed the NE10 Southwest Division regular-season champions, enter the regional tournament at 27-8 overall, winning 11 of its last 13 games played. The Panthers battled the University of Bridgeport in the opening day of the regional, taking the contest by a slim 3-2 victory with the help of a two-run fifth inning.
• In the contest, Hannah Pineda led off the game in the second inning with a solo home run down the left field line, putting the Panthers up 1-0. The Purple Knights were not done as Sam Ferreri drove in two runs in the third off a double. Sophia Cicchetti of the Panthers tied the game at two with a double to right field, scoring one run. Pineda got her team on the board for the final time, drawing a walk with the bases loaded.
• The Panthers are piloted by former LIU Post assistant coach Carla Campagna, who in her third season, has collected a 63-33 record since joining the program. In her inaugural season, Campagna guided the Panthers to a 32-20 record and a NE10 Northwest Division regular-season title. Adelphi would reach the finals of the NE10 Championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament for an eighth-straight year.
• Four Panthers student-athletes have registered .313 batting averages or higher with Emily Whitman leading the team with a .350 mark. The team heads into the second day of the regional with a .273 batting average, ranking seventh in the NE10.
• The ace of the Adelphi pitching staff, Ally Muller, was named the Southwest Division's Pitcher of the Year after totaling 15 shutouts to her name, which ranks fifth in the country along with a 5.80 strikeout-to-walk radio. Muller was also named to the D2CCA Second Team as a pitcher, who ranks sixth in the nation in 3.65 hits allowed per seven innings. She also has earned 17 wins on the season, ranking second best in the conference.
• The Panthers pitching staff heads into the contest with a team earned run average of 1.44, posting 15 shutouts, including 172 strikeouts from Muller.
• The Southwest Division Defensive Player of the Year, Faith Camilleri, tallied 249 putouts, backed by a .988 fielding percentage at first base. Camilleri was also recognized to the NE10 All-Conference Third Team and All-Rookie Team. Offensively, she is third on the team in slugging percentage (.533) and third in hits (33).
• Whitman and Daniella Roselli joined Muller as first-team selections. Whitman -- out of the leadoff spot -- paces the team in hits (41), stolen bases (17 -- second-most in NE10), batting average (.350) and slugging percentage (.581). Roselli sits second on the team with a .329 batting average and fourth with 25 hits. She also made the NE10 All-Rookie Team.

ALL-TIME vs. ADELPHI

• These two programs are known for close games in their history as the all-time series is at 9-9-1 following this past Friday's contests in the NE10 Championship. This marks the first time in program history that both of these programs will face each other in the NCAA postseason.
• At the South Athletic Fields against the Panthers, the Hawks are 6-3. Since 2007, the Hawks are averaging 3.32 runs per game against Adelphi.
• Saint Anselm and Adelphi played each other less than a week ago as the Hawks took down the Panthers twice in the NE10 Championship by scores of 7-3 and 2-1.

ALL-TIME, NCAA POSTSEASON

• The Hawks are making their fifth-ever NCAA tournament appearance (2002, 2015, 2018, 2019). Across the past three seasons, the Hawks are 6-0 in regional play and most recently won the East Region title in 2018, making it all the way to the NCAA Division II National Championship series.
• In the NCAA Tournament, the Hawks have totaled a record of 14-9, including seven straight wins in the 2018 NCAA run. Saint Anselm has hosted the past three straight regionals along with the two super regionals from 2018 and 2019. In that span, the Hawks are 9-2 when owning the home field advantage in the NCAA Tournament.
• In the Hawks first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the Hawks captured their first-ever victory in the big stage in 2002 when they defeated C.W. Post, 7-1.
• Adelphi owns a 31-26 record in the NCAA postseason since debuting there in 2000. The Panthers have earned an NCAA postseason spot in each of the last 18 complete campaigns.