D 3 softball

[deiscanton]

Day 1-- Thursday, May 6, 2010

MASCAC tournament

Game 1-- Final  (@ Westfield, MA)-- Westfield State 14,  Framingham State 0  (5 inn)  (Game ends on 8 run rule)

Westfield's Madeline Tomich pitches a 1 hitter-- struck out 5 Framingham State batters.

Framingham's Alysia Morrissette started for the Rams-- gives up 9 runs, 6 earned runs on 3.1 innings pitched.

Game 2-- Final  (@ Salem, MA)   Salem State 1, Worcester State 0  (8 inn)

2 outs, 1 runner LOB when game ended in bottom of 8th at Salem.

Salem's Katelynn Fanning pitched a complete game 7 hit shutout in 8 innings of work.  Fanning walked 1 batter and struck out 10 Worcester batters out of the 30 Worcester batters she faced.

Day 2-- Saturday, May 8, 2010 @ Westfield, MA

Game 3-- Final--  Framingham State 9   Worcester State 8  (Elimination Game #1)

(Worcester State eliminated)

Game 4-- Final   Westfield State 4   Salem State 1

Game 5-- Final   Salem State 7   Framingham State 6

(Framingham State eliminated)

Day 3-- Sunday, May 9, 2010

Game 6--  Final   Salem State 5   Westfield State 1

Game 7--  Final   Salem State 6   Westfield State 2   (Westfield State eliminated)

Salem State wins MASCAC Championship and is NCAA bound.

[oldNorse]

Iowa Conference results  Day 1                           Day 2

Top bracket                                                         
Coe 9, BV 0...Coe   
Coe 2, Simpson 5.....Simpson advances,                      Simpson
                                                                                   
Central 10, Loras 0....Central advances,
Luther 4, Central 1....Luther advances                        Luther

                                                                                  Coe vs Loras
                                                                                  Central vs BV

[AUPepBand]

NFCA Top 25 just released for week 11

New #1 is Louisiana College, by virtue of defeating Texas-Tyler to capture the American Southwest Conference Championship and the ASC Pool A automatic bid to the NCAAs over the weekend.

Texas-Tyler falls to #2 in the national rankings.

Fellow American Southwest Conf team East Texas Baptist is #10 in this week's national poll.

On the New England front, Eastern Connecticut is tied with Christopher Newport at #11 in this week's national rankings, while Brandeis moves up 1 spot from #18 to #17 in this week's national poll.

Rivier drops out of the top 25 due to losing 2 games against Tufts last week.

Wash U-- St Louis drops from #9 to #18 in this week's poll thanks to losses vs NCAA DII Missouri-St Louis and cross-street rival Fontbonne of the SLIAC last week.  Wash U plays a doubleheader vs 13th ranked DePauw on Saturday.

Alfred breaks into the top 25-- debuting at #25 in this week's national poll.

Alfred hosting EMpire 8 Tournament Friday and Saturday (games to be played at Alfred State College, across the street). #1 seed AU plays #4 seed RIT; #2 seed Ithaca faces #3 seed St. John Fisher.

Should the Saxons stumble, what are the chances of AU, heretofore never before making the NCAA Tournament, grabbing a pool b spot, with the Saxons currently 32-4?

[deiscanton]

Congrats to Alfred on their first ever Top 25 NFCA softball ranking.   Eariler this year, Brandeis broke into the top 25 of the NFCA polls for the first time in school history as well, so I can share in your excitement. It is very exciting to realize that your softball team has a realistic chance of going to the NCAAs for the first time in school history, so as a fan of Brandeis, I can relate to what the Alfred fans are feeling right now about their softball team. 

(Side note:  I am used to my Brandeis basketball teams being nationally ranked, but not other Brandeis sports teams being nationally ranked in their respective disciplines.)

Actually, since the Empire 8 has a Pool A automatic bid, Alfred would be fighting for one of the 18 Pool C spots if the Saxons do not win the Empire 8 tournament this weekend.   Pool C is reserved for conference runner-ups in conferences that have Pool A automatic bids, and the remaining Pool B candidates that do not receive one of the 3 Pool B slots.

Alfred is currently ranked at #2 in the Northeast as of the 5/5 regional rankings, so their Pool C chances would be very strong, IMO. 

Here is Alfred's NCAA tournament resume-- in short

As of May 2,  the Saxons are 27-3 in region  (Regional winning pct is .900)   Alfred has a strong strength of schedule number of .550 (according to the NCAA as of 5/2/2010), and Alfred is 2-2 in region vs regionally ranked opponents.   Alfred split with Cortland State (#1 Northeast) on April 1, 2010  (L 0-6, W 5-2), and split with Ithaca (#3 Northeast) on April 10, 2010  (L, 2-8, W 3-2).   

Alfred's chances of getting one of the 18 Pool C slots if the Saxons do not win the Empire 8 tourney this weekend are pretty good, IMO.   

A conference needs 7 or more teams playing in the conference to be eligible for a Pool A automatic bid.  In addition, the conference, if recently formed, would have to be in existence for at least 2 years.

Neither the University Athletic Association nor the Liberty League have Pool A automatic bids to the NCAA softball tournament.    In the case of the UAA, only 6 of the 8 UAA schools have varsity softball teams, and only 5 of those 6 schools compete against each other in UAA play--  Chicago chooses not to participate in the UAA softball tournament in Florida and plays an independent schedule.  

The Liberty League has only 4 softball teams that officially compete in Liberty League in other sports.   UAA member Rochester also plays a Liberty League schedule against the other 4 teams, but that only makes for a 5 team softball league.   Therefore, Liberty League teams would initially be vying for the 3 Pool B slots at first.

Teams also eligible for Pool B consideration this year would be the independents of Division III, the Upper Midwest Conference  (UMAC hasn't been in existence for the 2 years required to become an official Pool A conference), and the New England Collegiate Conference  (NECC hasn't been in existence for the 2 years required to become an official Pool A conference as of this season.)

The New England Collegiate Conference is not eligible for a Pool A automatic bid this year,  but should be joining the Pool A conferences next year.   No NECC team is in the New England regional rankings, so I will not be covering the NECC tournament results-- any NECC fan can post the results of the tourney if they so desire.

[deiscanton]

NESCAC tournament

4 team, double elimination  Top 2 teams in each division of NESCAC Softball qualify for tournament.

Tufts is the defending NESCAC and New England Regional Softball Champion.

NESCAC West Champion is this year's host--  NESCAC West Champion is Williams

NESCAC East Champion is Tufts

Day 1-- (@ Williamstown, MA)-- Friday, May 7, 2010

Game 1   Final--  Bowdoin  8   Williams 1
Game 2 Final--   Wesleyan 13   Tufts 3  (5 inn)  (8 run rule)

Day 2-- Saturday, May 8, 2010

Game 3    Final-- Williams 8  Tufts 4

(There will be a new NESCAC champion-- Tufts is eliminated)

Game 4    Final--   Wesleyan 12   Bowdoin 6

Day 3-- Sunday, May 9, 2010

Game 5   Final--  Bowdoin 6  Williams 0

(Williams eliminated)

Game 6-- Final--  Bowdoin 5   Wesleyan 2

Game 7   Final    Wesleyan 10   Bowdoin 1  (5 inn) (8 run rule)  (Bowdoin eliminated)

Wesleyan wins 2010 NESCAC softball tournament-- Wesleyan is NCAA bound.

[ECSUalum]

Eastern Connecticut State's Rathbun throws a 10-0 no hitter vs RIC yesterday in LEC softball Tourney!!

NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll - May 5

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Poll is voted on by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Records shown are as of May 3. First place votes are in parentheses.

Rank     Team               Record Pts Pvs
1 Louisiana College (7) 41-6 199 2
2 Texas-Tyler (1) 37-7 187 1
3 Salisbury 33-2 183 3
4 Ohio Northern 35-3 170 4
5 Luther 34-5 160 5
6 College of New Jersey 30-6 149 7
7 Cortland State 34-6 148 8
8 Linfield 35-5 139 11
9 Messiah 32-7 128 10
10 East Texas Baptist 31-11 125 6
11 Christopher Newport 36-8 102 15
11 Eastern Connecticut 28-4-1 102 19

[deiscanton]

ECSU alum--

I did see the Rathbun no-hitter vs Rhode Island College live on LittleEast TV  this morning  (Friday, May 7)-- that performance was impressive, although I wish that the live feed could have held all game-- the webcast feed went down a few times during the game and I had to catch the end of it on the archive.

I took a break from the tournament to do a workout-- so I had to catch up on the W. Conn vs. S. Maine game-- I just decided to update the Little East post of the tournament rather than start a new post for today's action, although I was wondering whether or not you were watching the game on LittleEast TV or in person in Keene, NH this morning.

It looks like there is rain in the forecast for tomorrow-- I'm wondering if the rain is going to mean that the New England conference tournaments will not be able to be completed by the end of the day on Sunday-- Little East can finish on Sunday if need be, but the MASCAC and NESCAC conference tournaments already have their title games scheduled for Sunday and a complete rain-out on Saturday will make it hard for those tournaments to be completed.

Update to post-- Little East down to 3 teams now:  Eastern Connecticut, Western Connecticut, Keene State.  

Eastern Connecticut to play Western Conn shortly-- Winner of this game goes to the title round-- Loser has to play Keene State tomorrow in an elimination game to try to advance to the title round.

Bowdoin advances to Saturday's winner's bracket game in the NESCAC vs winner of Tufts/Wesleyan game.  Williams plays an elimination game scheduled as the first game tomorrow vs loser of (Tufts/Wesleyan).

MASCAC is off today-- tournament to continue tomorrow-- weather permitting.

Update:   Eastern Connecticut seemed to be on their way to the Little East title game with a 9-0 lead in the middle of the third and Molly Rathbun on the mound for the Warriors, but Western Connecticut chased Rathbun out of the game in the third with 2 home runs and put up a 5 spot in the home half of the third.

E. Conn leads 9-5 after 3 but it is a ball game!

Update:  After 5 1/2 inn, E. Connecticut now leads W. Connecticut, 10-5, but as W. Conn is the home team for this ball game, this game will go the distance.  E. Conn's #10 Kassondra Silva has pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief for Rathbun so far, and Silva resumes pitching in the bottom of the 6th for the Warriors.  However, Silva faced a few batters in the 6th,  Molly Rathbun has now come back in the game to pitch, which is allowed under the NCAA softball rules.    Rathbun is now going to try to close out the game in relief of herself.  (I believe that Silva is the potential winning pitcher, even though Rathbun started-- since Rathbun did not last the requisite 5 innings to get credited for the win-- I will have to check the box score.)

In the bottom of the 6th,  Rathbun entered the game with 2 W Conn runners on base.   However, she retired the W Conn side to make the score E Conn 10 W Conn 5 after 6 innings.

Update-- Final   E Connecticut 10, W Connecticut 5    Molly Rathbun closed out the 7th in a 1-2-3 inning, and E Connecticut survived a wild softball game to advance to the Little East championship game.

Box score update-- Molly Rathbun's line from the E. Conn vs W. Conn game:

Molly Rathbun-- 4.2 IP, 6 hits, 5 runs given up  (all 5 earned-- courtesy of the 2 homers she gave up in the bottom of the third,  2 walks, struck out 7 batters of the 22 W. Conn batters faced.

E Conn's Kassondra Silva pitched 2.1 innings of relief-- gave up 5 hits, but no runs.  She walked 2 and struck out 1 W Conn batter.  Silva closed out the 3rd inning, pitched the 4th and 5th inning, and faced 2 W. Conn batters in the 6th before Rathbun reentered the game.

Molly Rathbun does get credited with her 22nd win of the season.   Only Rathbun loss of the season was against DePauw in March, where she gave up 2 unearned runs in the 8th inning of an extra inning ballgame.

Note-- Weather will dictate the start time on Saturday for the next game.   Keene State is now scheduled to play West Conn at noon, but rain could push the start time back further.

[ECSUalum]

diescanton,

I actually missed that you had already reported the Rathbun no hitter and the latest National Rankings.

Great job with the NE Softball updates.

ECSU finally closed out WCSU  10-5 a few minutes ago

Not sure of weather tomorrow in Keene area, but looks thundery by mid afternoon.  I think the Keene/Westconn elimination game probably will be played.

Surprised at LEC TV disruption, as I have been watching mens/womens Basketball, LAX and Baseball/Softball for last two years without many problems.  Jonathan Harper, LEC Commissioner is contact if you wish,(jonathan@littleeast.com),.  He is a good guy and always responds!!

[AUPepBand]

Alfred University has advanced to the title game of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament on the strength of 10-4 and 5-1 wins today over RIT and St. John Fisher, respectively.

Tomorrow at Alfred State College, Ithaca and St. John Fisher will meet at 11 a.m., with the winner facing Alfred at 1 p.m. An Alfred win will give AU its first ever berth in the NCAA tournament as the E8 AQ. A Saxon loss will result in a title game between the same two teams at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

Here's a recap of today's Empire 8 Softball Tournament:

http://saxons.alfred.edu/pressreleases/viewrelease.cfm?ID=6131

On Saxon Warriors!

[oldNorse]

Iowa Conference....IIAC  RESULTS
Day 2

Coe defeated Loras....Coe advances, second bracket

Central defeated BV....Central advances to play Coe

Luther defeated Simpson.

Simpson to play winner of Coe and Central at 11 AM Saturday

[WLCALUM83]

Northern Athletics Conference:

Day 1 results: 

Lakeland 11, Concordia-WI 5 (Roberts got the win in relief)
Marian 7, Dominican 6 (mild upset, but was a back & forth game, a last-at bat Star rally fell just short)

Day 2 results:  (only 2 games played due to wet grounds):

Benedictine 2, Lakeland 0 (IL Eagles pitcher got boatloads of K's)
Aurora over Marian

Other than Game 2 result, everything's holding to expected form so far.

[deiscanton]

Due to the heavy rain and thunderstorms affecting the entire New England region, the Little East title game has been postponed to Sunday.

Therefore, no new Pool A bids out of New England will be decided today, May 8.

The Little East is trying to get the Keene State vs Western Conn elimination game played today  (start time tentatively scheduled for 3 PM Eastern as of right now)-- but Eastern Connecticut will not play the eventual winner of that game until 11 AM Eastern on Sunday, May 9 at the earliest.

The NESCAC is tentatively trying to resume their tournament with the Williams vs Tufts elimination game at 3 PM Eastern today weather permitting.

The MASCAC tournament has also been delayed by rain.

That is the weather update as of Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 2:11 PM Eastern.

Update--  Softball action has resumed in New England, with Framingham State eliminating Worcester State in the MASCAC tournament by a 9-8 score.    MASCAC action had resumed at 1:30 PM Eastern in Westfield, MA.  

Framingham will play the loser of the Westfield State vs Salem State game later today.  (Update:  Framingham State will play Salem State in an elimination game).

Little East play has resumed with Keene State playing Western Conn, and NESCAC tournament play has resumed with Williams playing Tufts right now as of 3:30 PM Eastern Saturday May 8.

Weather update-- Saturday 4:22 PM Eastern-- NESCAC tournament play was suspended due to lightning delay in Williamstown, MA.

Tufts leading Williams, 4-0, in the top of the 6th in Game 3 of the NESCAC tournament when play was suspended.

At 4:52 PM Eastern, NESCAC play resumed after the lightning delay, and Williams has put up an 8 spot in the top half of the 6th to take an 8-4 lead over Tufts as of 5:11 PM Eastern  (Tufts is designated home team for this game.)

Update-- 5:30 PM-- There will be a new NESCAC champion, as Williams has just eliminated Tufts, 8-4.

In the Little East, Keene State has defeated W. Conn, 8-2, at 4:40 PM Eastern, to advance to tomorrow's Little East championship game(s) vs Eastern Connecticut.

Update-- at 7:15 PM Eastern,  Salem State eliminated Framingham State, 7-6, in the MASCAC tournament.

Westfield State vs Salem State in tomorrow's MASCAC championship game(s).

[deiscanton]

Saturday's action-- Pool A bids clinched

SUNYAC-- Cortland State  (3:12 PM Eastern)--  Cortland wins the title game, 1-0 over Plattsburgh.

Cortland's Katie Finch pitches a 1 hitter  (her no hit bid broken up by Plattsburgh by a double in the bottom of the 7th-- Plattsburgh was designated home team--  Katie Finch struck out 11 Plattsburgh batters.)

Colonial States Athletic Conference-- Neumann

CUNYAC-- Baruch

MAC Commonwealth--  Messiah

MAC Freedom-- King's

Heartland-- Transylvania

Iowa IAC-- Luther

North Coast Athletic Conference-- Denison

Ohio Athletic Conference-- John Carroll

Presidents-- Thomas More

SLIAC-- Fontbonne  (Final one of the day-- clinched at 8:35 PM Central)

(Note:  Post updated Sunday morning to include Saturday's CUNYAC tourney and CSAC tourney results-- CUNYAC and CSAC were also decided on Saturday, but I did not see the posted final results of those tourneys until early Sunday morning.)

The remainder of the Pool A's will be decided tomorrow.

[oldNorse]

Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference......IIAC  results

Simpson (Regional #3) beat Central (Regional #4)

Championship Game:
Luther (Regional #2) beat Simpson (Regional #3)  16-6

Luther.....IIAC Champs !!!

Luther, Simpson, Central, and possibly Coe, should go on.

[WLCALUM83]

NAthCon Tournament Day 3 update:

Concordia-WI 7, Marian 2 (Marian eliminated)
Lakeland 9, Dominican 5, (Dominican eliminated)
Lakeland 12, Concordia-WI 6 (Concordia-WI eliminated)
Aurora 8, Benedictine 3 (Spartans continue being the thorn in Benedictine's side)

Benedictine 9, Lakeland 1  5 innings (Lakeland eliminated)

It'll be Aurora and Benedictine going at it tomorrow for the NAthCon berth, Benedictine needs 2 wins to advance.