MAAC Tournament Notes
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. ? The Manhattan College softball team (19-25, 11-5 MAAC), fresh off winning a share of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season title for the first time in program history, enters the MAAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Lady Jaspers begin their quest for a postseason conference title on Thursday afternoon, when they meet third-seeded Canisius (23-22, 9-7 MAAC) at 1 p.m. at Marist's Gartland Field. A live video webcast of every MAAC Tournament game will be available at www.maacsports.com.
Manhattan secured a share of the first regular season MAAC championship in program history with a 3-1, 10-inning win at Fairfield on Monday. The Lady Jaspers enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed because Fairfield won the tiebreaker. Kristina Walraven (Thompson Ridge, N.Y.) leads Manhattan with a .338 batting average, and her .455 average in conference games was the best in the MAAC. Ashley Rampino (Manalapan, N.J.) has a team-best five home runs and 27 RBIs, and is tied for the team lead with seven victories in the circle. Rampino also leads the pitching staff with 78 strikeouts. Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) also has seven wins in the circle, including a complete gem in the 10-inning win over Fairfield. At the plate, Donnelly leads the squad with eight doubles.
Canisius has won six MAAC Tournament championships since 2000, including the last two. The Griffs finished tied for third with Niagara, but won the tiebreaker over the Purple Eagles to claim the No. 3 seed. Lauren Hope leads Canisius with 41 hits and a .304 batting average, while Lizzy Gatto is batting .290 this season. Katie Lancellotti paces the Griffs in home runs (6) and RBIs (26). Mallory Aldred, the current MAAC Pitcher of the Week, has a 16-6 record with a 1.85 ERA. She has also struck out 156 batters in 128.2 innings. Canisius swept the season series against Manhattan, winning 10-0 and 9-2 in Buffalo on April 6.
Top-seeded Fairfield (21-26, 11-5 MAAC) plays No. 4 Niagara (27-17, 9-7 MAAC) in the other first round game. The Stags won a share of the MAAC regular season championship for the first time since winning three straight from 2002-04. Kristina Lingo leads Fairfield with a .295 batting average, while Meghan Borst paces the team in hits (40), doubles (11), home runs (4) and RBIs (29). Sarah Minice has recorded 18 of Fairfield's 21 wins in the circle, including five shutouts. She has a 2.44 ERA and has struck out 149 opposing hitters in 186.2 innings. The Stags and Lady Jaspers split a twinbill in Connecticut on Monday. Fairfield earned its share of the regular season title with a 5-1 victory in the first game, while the Lady Jaspers notched their extra-innings triumph in game two.
Niagara (27-17, 9-7 MAAC) clinched the final spot in the MAAC Tournament with a doubleheader split at Rider on Wednesday. The Purple Eagles had won eight straight before dropping the second game of that twinbill. Teresa Healy leads Niagara in most offensive categories. She is hitting .353 with a MAAC-leading 10 home runs, 36 RBIs, 48 hits, 12 doubles and 37 runs scored. Five other Purple Eagles are batting over .300, as Niagara boasts a team batting average of .293. Julie DiMatteo leads the pitching staff with 10 wins and a 2.71 ERA, while Michelle Krier has nine wins and a 2.91 ERA. Manhattan opened its MAAC season with a doubleheader sweep of the Purple Eagles on April 5. The Lady Jaspers won the first game, 9-6, before posting an 8-4 victory in the nightcap.
The Manhattan-Canisius winner will play the Fairfield-Niagara winner at 11 a.m. Thursday's two losers play at 1 p.m., with the loser eliminated. The winner of that game plays the loser of the early game in an elimination contest at 3 p.m. The winner of that contest moves into Saturday's championship game against the winner of Friday's first game.