MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College softball team will host Southern New Hampshire University in the Northeast-10 Conference Divisional Semifinals on Thursday, May 6 at 3 p.m. on the South Athletic Fields.
 
Saint Anselm, the 18th-ranked team in the NCAA Division II, finished the regular season with a 24-4 overall record and won the Northeast Division Regular Season Championship for the third consecutive season. The Hawks will look to keep the winning going into the postseason by capturing their second-straight NE10 Championship title for the first time in program history.
 
The Hawks come into this semifinal match after sweeping both series against Stonehill and Saint Michael's. The Penmen advanced after edging the Bentley University squad, 1-0, in the First Round on Tuesday, May 4. Thursday's matchup will include a single-elimination, seven-inning game for an opportunity to play in the NE10 Divisional Final, which becomes a best of three series starting on Sunday, May 9. The winner of this game will play either Assumption or Franklin Pierce.
 
Live Statistics and Live Video of the NE10 Divisional Semifinals are available via the NE10 Now Network. As a reminder, off-campus spectators are not permitted to attend home Saint Anselm athletic contests.
 
SCOUTING NO. 18 SAINT ANSELM

• The Hawks have won each of their past eight games, compiling a 24-4 overall record heading into NE10 postseason play. Saint Anselm won the Northeast Division Regular Season Championship for the third-straight season and is currently ranked No. 18 in NCAA Division II, according to the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top 25 poll.
• Before Stonehill pushed across a sixth-inning run in game two on May 1, Saint Anselm had thrown 32 consecutive innings of scoreless softball, the longest streak in team history.
• The NCAA released its first full set of regional rankings this week - the Hawks check in at No. 2 on the eight-team list. Saint Anselm is behind the 32-4 Georgian Court squad. Six of the top teams in the East Region will be selected following the conference tournaments and selected as participants, heading to Saint Anselm for the regional tournament. On Monday, May 17, the NCAA will announce the field of 48 teams on NCAA.com with 10 a.m. selection show.
• Recently, senior Morgan Perry (Bethany, Conn.) was named one of the Top 30 finalists for the 2021 Schutt Sports / NFCA Division II Player and Pitcher of the Year awards.
• Seven Hawks student-athletes were named to All-Conference teams by the Northeast-10 Conference on Wednesday. The group was headlined by Northeast Division Defensive Player of the Year Kylie Fitzpatrick (Danville, N.H.), Northeast Division Pitcher of the Year, Perry, and Bre Klaiber (Ironton, Ohio), who was named NE10 Player of the Year in the Northeast Division.
• The three major award winners are joined by teammates Lauren Washburn (Carmichael, Calif.) and Shannon Colson (Rochester, N.H.), who earned spots on the Second Team after strong senior campaigns. Freshman Gracie O'Hara (Shrewsbury, Mass.) accompanied sophomore McKenna Smith (Old Town, Maine) on the Third Team All-Conference list while O'Hara also was selected to the All-Rookie Team.
• Perry has now won Pitcher of the Year accolades twice in her career, winning in 2021 by posting a perfect 14-0 record in 14 appearances as a senior. She has logged the second-best earned-run average in the entire nation with a 0.33 mark and has struck out 165 batters in 84 innings pitched. Most impressively, she has conceded just four earned runs on the year and fired 12 complete games and nine shutouts. In 2021, she has earned NE10 Pitcher of the Week twice and NFCA National Pitcher of the Week once. Earlier this season, Perry threw a no-hitter and a perfect game against Saint Michael's – the perfect game is thought to be the first in team history.
• Individually, Perry ranks first in Division II in the strikeouts per seven innings category (13.6) and has given up just 3.25 hits per seven innings, the second finest mark in Division II. Across a stellar career on the Hilltop, Perry has struck out a program-record 717 batters, ranking sixth on the NE10 all-time strikeout list. She ranks first all-time in program history in opponent batting average (.210), wins (81), appearances (113), starts (105), shutouts (34), innings pitched (650) and strikeouts (717).
• This marks the second Defensive Player of the Year award for Fitzpatrick as she first claimed the honor back in 2019. Fitzpatrick played in 28 games for the Hawks, logging a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, recording 34 putouts and 35 assists without an error.
• Fitzpatrick has posted one or more hits in 11 of her last 12 games, including a three-hit performance against Franklin Pierce on Apr. 18. She also ranks second in the NE10 by scoring .92 runs per game and has logged six two-run games this year. In 2021, she has racked up 32 hits and is the owner of a .376 batting average, stroking two home runs.
• Earning the Northeast Division Player of the Year award, Klaiber helped the nationally-ranked Hawks to a regular season title with her conference-leading .440 batting average. Over 27 games played, Klaiber has recorded 33 hits, 19 runs scored, 19 runs batted in, and 15 walks. Across a season-high 10 game hitting streak that spanned from Apr. 13 through Apr. 30, Klaiber batted .633 with 19 hits in 30 at-bats, racking up three doubles and a triple during that timeframe.
• The transfer from LIU Post notched a season-high four hits against Saint Michael's on Apr. 24 and, earlier in the season, she launched a grand slam against Assumption on Apr. 7 that helped the Hawks to victory. Across 168 career games between LIU Post and Saint Anselm, Klaiber is a .339 hitter with 169 career hits in just shy of 500 career at-bats.
• Washburn batted a career-high .360 as a senior, collecting 31 hits in 86 at-bats and driving in a team-leading 24 runs in just 28 games played. One of the toughest to strike out in the NE10, fanning just three times all season, Washburn heads into the NE10 postseason with an active eight-game hitting streak as she is batting .458 with 11 hits in 24 at-bats - she has totaled 13 runs batted in during the streak.
• Capturing her second career Third Team honor, Colson is batting .317 in her fifth season with the Hawks. She owns a .317 batting average with 26 hits alongside 22 runs scored, swiping six bases and drawing 13 walks. She logged three hits in the victory over Bentley on Apr. 5 and recently tallied her first career home run, doing so against Stonehill on Apr. 30. Colson is the program record-holder in games played (188) and stolen bases (87) - she sits just six hits away from 200 in her career.
• O'Hara has made an instant impact on the Hawks program, totaling a .319 batting average over 25 games played as a freshman. O'Hara has hit for power in her brief Saint Anselm career, recording six doubles, two triples, and two home runs. She is currently on a six-game hitting streak, dating back to the contests against Saint Michael's on Apr. 24.
• Smith recorded her first ever All-NE10 accolade on Wednesday, earning a spot on the Third Team. Smith helped the Hawks post the best team earned-run average in the nation with a 0.67 mark. Individually, Smith ranks sixth in NCAA Division II with a 0.66 ERA, averaging 8.6 strikeouts per seven innings to rank fourth in the NE10. She posted a career-high 14 strikeouts at Saint Michael's on Apr. 24 and finished the regular season with 4.70 hits allowed per seven innings.

CHECKING OUT SOUTHERN N.H.

• The Penmen, a perennial power in the region, are just one game above .500 in 2021 with a 13-12 overall record. Owners of a 10-5 record at home on the year, SNHU owns a 3-7 mark when playing on the road.
• The Penmen narrowly beat Bentley on Tuesday in the NE10 First Round, using a walk-off single after a Falcons throwing error moved the baserunner into scoring position.
• Coralie Mathieu leads the Penmen with a .438 batting average, rapping 14 hits in 32 at-bats on the year. Jackie Gavin, an All-Conference performer for the Penmen, is batting .373 with 25 hits, all singles.
• Emily Critch leads SNHU with four home runs and has logged seven extra-base hits on the season.
• Chloe Griffin has excelled in the circle and at the plate, pitching to an 8-4 overall record with an earned-run average of 3.03 and a batting average of .352 (31-for-88).
• The Penmen are coached by Deb Robitaille, who is in the midst of her 16th season with Southern New Hampshire. The four-time Coach of the Year in the NE10 is in search of her team's seventh NCAA berth under her guidance.

All-TIME vs SOUTHERN N.H.

• The Penmen own a 27-21 record over Saint Anselm since 2004.
• The Hawks have defeated the Penmen in the past 10 of 11 games, dating back to Apr. 9, 2018. Since 2004, Saint Anselm is 18-11 with home field advantage against the Penmen.
• On Apr. 11, 2021, the Hawks swept the Penmen, narrowly downing the Penmen 2-1 in game one before walking off with a 9-1 victory in game two, thanks to a grand slam by senior Kat Stackrow (Wynantskill, N.Y.) to conclude the day.
• The squad has also held the Penmen to one or less runs in nine of the last 11 contests between the rivals.

ALL-TIME in NE10 POSTSEASON

• Heading into the 2021 NE10 Championship, the Hawks are 17-20 in the postseason over 16 years. Saint Anselm, as a program, has only appeared in one championship game situation, winning the team's first NE10 postseason championship in 2019. Despite the Hawks leading the recent success over the Penmen, Southern N.H. has made three finals appearances and two NE10 titles.
• In the last NE10 Championship, Perry won the Most Valuable Player award in the tournament, helping the Hawks earn the team championship.
• Facing numerous times in the NCAA postseason, Thursday's contest is the first time in program history that each of these programs will be facing in the NE10 Tournament.