D 3 softball

[WLCALUM83]

4/10 top 25 finals:


#  2 ETBU splits with #3 UT-Tyler  3-2, 1-3.

#  6 Central-IA splits with Wartburg  4-8, 7-3

#  9 (tied) Luther sweeps UW-Eau Claire 6-3, 7-3

#12 Salisbury sweeps Mary Washington 3-0, 3-2 (Leary tossed a 4-hit shutout in the opener, Brittingham got another win in the nightcap, thanks to the potential game-tying run being cut down at the plate-per Seagull release--next up for that squad --CAC Tourney action)

#15 Washington-MO beats Hope 6-2, then loses to IL Wesleyan 3-1

#16 Willamette splits with George Fox, 4-8, 8-0 (game 2 6 inn. per NWC site)

#17 UW-LaCrosse sweeps UW-Oshkosh  9-2, 13-5

#19 Linfield sweeps Pacific Lutheran 8-5, 5-4

#20 Transy sweeps Bluffton, 6-3, 8-0

#25 DePauw sweeps Birmingham Southern  4-1, 6-1

[ECSUalum]

ECSU goes 5-1 this week, (only loss to US Coast Guard Academy now 17-5, in DH split), to improve to 15-3 overall, 4-0 in LEC!!

Rathbun unbelievable!!!!!!

Should continue to creep up in next NFCA poll

[WLCALUM83]

4-11:  #19 Linfield sweeps Puget Sound 7-0, 10-1 (Harvey hurled a 1-hitter in the opener, Velasky got the win in the nightcap--Emillee Lepp belted 2 home runs on the day-per Linfield release)

[AUPepBand]

Gino Olivieri gets his 100th win as coach of Alfred University Saxon softball! Congrats, Gino!

http://saxons.alfred.edu/pressreleases/viewrelease.cfm?ID=6059

[WLCALUM83]

4-13 CAC Playoff Finals:

Top seeded -nationally #12 Salisbury 11, #6 seed Wesley 0 (Leary hurled a 2-hit shut-out)
2-seed York 5, 5-seed Stevenson 3 (York put up a 3-spot in the 5th to take the lead for good)

               (Info as per CAC press release) 

[whm_54]

Congrats to Eastern Connecticut sophomore Molly Rathbun and Wisconsin-Oshkosh senior Whitney Tornow who were named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III Co-Players of the Week for the week ending April 11.

Looks like Messiah College sophomore pitcher Jessica Rhoads quietly had a nice week as well going 5-0 with a .23 ERA giving up one earned run in 30 innings. It appears that Rhoads is having another great season following her amazing freshman year when she led Messiah to the Division III National Championship as well as being ranked first or second in just about every pitching statistic. If she continues putting up those kind of numbers the rest of the year it will be difficult for the Division III All-American Committee to snub her again this year.

[WLCALUM83]

4-14 Top 25 finals:

Ohio Northern (#4 in NFCA) sweeps Heidelberg, 6-2, 9-4 (Lady Polar Bears' Cretin went 5 for 7 on the day with a HR, and Cash--now 13-1, and Molnar --9-0, took the wins-per ONU release)

[ECSUalum]

NO. 1-RANKED EASTERN SOFTBALL GAINS VICTORY, TIE AT WESLEYAN (ECSU #1 in New England)
By Bob Molta on April 15, 2010 9:04 PM

Warriors score four unearned runs in opener; Cards rally in nightcap


MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -  All four of the runs scored by the Eastern Connecticut State University softball team in the 4-1 first-game win were unearned and Wesleyan University rallied for single runs in the sixth and seventh innings of the nightcap to gain a 2-2 tie in a game stopped after seven innings due to darkness.

[WLCALUM83]

4/15 CAC Tournament finals:

Salisbury 8, Hood 1
Stevenson 8, Wesley 0

(both losers eliminated)

Seagulls get York-PA next.

[WLCALUM83]

4/17 CAC Tournament Finals

#10 Salisbury 5, York PA 0 (Another complete game for Leary, Ritter had 3 RBI per Seagull stats)
Stevenson 6, Mary Washington 4
York-PA 3, Stevenson 0

(Mary Washington & Stevenson both eliminated, York-PA to face Salisbury again tomorrow for the title-York-PA needs 2 wins)

[WLCALUM83]

Some other Top 25 finals:

#  1 Louisiana College sweeps ETBU 4-1, 6-1
#11 DePauw sweeps Centre 5-1, 5-1 (Soultz & Barrow got the wins per Tiger release)
#12 Washington-St. Louis sweeps Harris Stowe St. 4-2, 6-1 (Voris & Cook got complete game victories-Bear release)
#14 Central-IA sweeps Dubuque  5-1, 10-4
#18 Linfield sweeps #25 Willamette  4-1, 7-3

[whm_54]

#7 Messiah College sweeps Albright 2-0 and 6-0. Jessica Rhoads pitched a 8 inning perfect game in the opener with 14 strikeouts and batted in the winning run in the top of the 8th and then followed that with a 3 hit shutout and 12 strikeouts in the second game to raise her record to 20-1 with a .37 ERA.

It will be interesting to see if the NFCA takes notice to her performance this week.

[ECSUalum]

By Bob Molta ECSU SID  April 22, 2010 9:36 PM
Rathbun pitches, hits Warriors past Judges; Game 2 cancelled due to darkness

WALTHAM, Mass. --  Behind sophomore All-America pitcher/DP Molly Rathbun (Hebron), Eastern Connecticut State University won the battle of New England's top-rated and nationally-ranked teams, edging Brandeis University, 3-2, Thursday afternoon at Marcus Field. The second game was cancelled after four innings with the teams tied, 3-3 .

Rathbun (13-1) pitched a complete-game two-hitter with 13 strikeouts and only one walk  and drove in all three runs with a two-run home run in the top of the first and an RBI single in the third. The home run was the team-leading third of the season for Rathbun , who has won ten straight pitching decisions this year and improved to 29-8 in her two-year career. She has 131 strikeouts and 23 walks this year and has fanned at least 11 batters in six of her 12 starts.

Eastern is ranked No. 1 in New England and No. 19 in Division III; Brandeis is No. 2 in New England and No. 14 nationally. They are the only New England teams ranked in the most recent NFCA Top 25. The Warriors are 8-0-1 in their last nine games and Brandeis was 15-1-1 in its previous 17.  It was the first meeting ever between the programs.

[whm_54]

I see the NCAA has released their first D-III regional rankings. I find it puzzling that defending national champion Messiah College is ranked only no. 6 in the East Region especially since they lost no starters to graduation and again this year they have probably the most dominating pitcher in the nation in sophomore Jessica Rhoads.

I can understand how they possibly flew under the radar last year as the only unranked team in the nation to qualify for the national championship tournament. But you can't make that case this year to explain the lack of respect given to this team. So I am left to hope that this will only serve to act as additional motivation to propel them toward defense of their national championship.

[Just Bill]

I see the NCAA has released their first D-III regional rankings. I find it puzzling that defending national champion Messiah College is ranked only no. 6 in the East Region especially since they lost no starters to graduation and again this year they have probably the most dominating pitcher in the nation in sophomore Jessica Rhoads.

I can understand how they possibly flew under the radar last year as the only unranked team in the nation to qualify for the national championship tournament. But you can't make that case this year to explain the lack of respect given to this team. So I am left to hope that this will only serve to act as additional motivation to propel them toward defense of their national championship.

Last year's performance and quantity/quality of returning players are not criteria in the Regional rankings.

Here are the criteria:

• Win-loss percentage against regional opponents
• Quality of Wins Index: only contests versus regional competition
• In- region head-to-head competition.
• In-region results vs. common regional opponents.
• In-region results vs. regionally ranked teams
• Ranked opponents are defined as those teams ranked at the time of the ranking/selection process only.
• Conference post-season contests are included.
• Contests versus provisional members in their third and fourth years shall count in the primary criteria. Provisional members shall remain ineligible for rankings and selection.