D 3 softball

[WLCALUM83]

Final:  WPI 5, Tufts 1 (This forces a deciding 3rd game); WPI scored single runs in all innings but the 2nd and 7th. Katie Martin tossed an 8-hit CG to get the win.

Final:  TLU 6. Belhaven 2 (Bulldogs used a 7th inning 3-spot to get more distance; Sydney Ouellette got another complete game win.)

Millikin 8, Wartburg 5 Top of 7th.

[WLCALUM83]

Tufts/WPI update:  WPI came up with a 6th inning 6-spot to take a 6-1 lead on Tufts.
            Jumbos down to their last at-bats. Here we go.
            Groundout to 2nd  1 Out
            Groundout to 2nd  2 Outs
            Infield hit.
            Force-out at 2nd  3 Outs

The NEWMAC squad pulls off the mild upset, and advances to the Finals!
             Katie Martin tossed a 3-hit complete game.

Millikin/Wartburg is the only Super Regional to be decided yet.
             

[WLCALUM83]

Final:  Millikin 10, Wartburg 6 (Knights, down 8-0 at one point, make a furious rally in last 2 at-bats, but fall short. Addison Sargent gets the win.

[WLCALUM83]

With all the finalists now determined. CNU is the on-paper favorite. Any one of the first 5 teams listed in the poll would be a marquee final match-up. Millikin was ranked for most of the season, Trine briefly. WPI, IMHO is the on-paper underdog here, but if that squad shows the same spunk next week that it did against Tufts, things will be even more interesting.

[WLCALUM83]

Finals Match-ups:

CNU/WPI (Possible all-Martin pitching match-up --CNU's Jamie vs. WPI's Katie )
TLU/Berry (On paper, this is THE pitching match-up, Bulldogs' Ouellette and Strother vs. Berry's Gore and Hall.)
Salisbury/Millikin (Pitching here not too far below TLU/Berry; Gulls' Windsor and Sheats vs. Millikin's Armstrong and Sargent.)
ECSU/Trine: Warriors' Michon has been on a good pitching roll of late. Queston here is whether Trine will be able to continue to generate runs in small bits and pieces, like the Thunder did vs. Case.

[justafan12]

Things that make you scratch your head:

*Berry #4 seed in their regional but #5 seed in finals
*CNU and Salisbury both make the finals.  Yes 2 good teams but 2 teams from the same conference.  NCAA has a strange method for regional selections and no one will every figure it out.  I am totally fine with 2 of the better teams making it to the finals but why not do it for everyone (see Marshall regional).
*Trine and Milliken both seeded #1 in their regional but seeded #6 and 7 in the finals.  Must have been some weak regionals.

[TUAngola]

Good luck to the Trine Thunder in the DIII Softball World Series.  This is a team that started the season 0-7 with 3 of those losses coming against CNU, TLU and ECSU who are all in the final 8.  The Thunder currently stand at 32-11 and are on a 17 game win streak.  Every one of the losses have come against ranked teams who made the NCAA tournament, other than the 2 MIAA regular season losses to Calvin and Kalamazoo.  It took a while for Trine to figure out their pitching rotation and lineup.  So. Adrienne Rosey was number 2 pitcher to start the season but claimed the number 1 spot halfway thru the season and has been lights out recently.  Jr Anna Koeppl started the season number 1 pitcher and has had a nice season too, not the flame thrower that Rosey is but is very crafty.  The big question is can we score enough runs to win.  Every team in the finals has tremendous pitching and good pitching will typically shut down good offenses.  The emergence of 2 freshman starters, Ainsley Phillips at catcher and Emma Beyer at second base has been one the reasons Trine has excelled down the stretch.  Defense has been terrific too.  We've been here before, but the finals is stacked so would be a surprise if we advance out of the pod of ECSU, Salisbury, and Milliken. 

[WLCALUM83]

CNU's Alger is starting today vs. WPI.

[CNU85]

CNU's Alger is starting today vs. WPI.

It's nice to feel comfortable enough to not start your All-American.

WPI made a run at the end to make it close. I love the effort to never give up...and they have a limited roster as well.

[WLCALUM83]

Berry 5, TLU 1 (Gore another complete-game wiin.)

This result puts the '21 runner-up Bulldogs in an elimination gave vs. WPI.

[justafan12]

CNU's Alger is starting today vs. WPI.

It's nice to feel comfortable enough to not start your All-American.

TLU tried that and lost. 

[WLCALUM83]

Millikin and Salisbury going into extra innings tied at 4!

Big Blue's Grace Biondo made a spectacular catch in the 7th inning.

Off to another band rehearsal--

[ECSUalum]

Good luck to the Trine Thunder in the DIII Softball World Series.  This is a team that started the season 0-7 with 3 of those losses coming against CNU, TLU and ECSU who are all in the final 8.  The Thunder currently stand at 32-11 and are on a 17 game win streak.  Every one of the losses have come against ranked teams who made the NCAA tournament, other than the 2 MIAA regular season losses to Calvin and Kalamazoo.  It took a while for Trine to figure out their pitching rotation and lineup.  So. Adrienne Rosey was number 2 pitcher to start the season but claimed the number 1 spot halfway thru the season and has been lights out recently.  Jr Anna Koeppl started the season number 1 pitcher and has had a nice season too, not the flame thrower that Rosey is but is very crafty.  The big question is can we score enough runs to win.  Every team in the finals has tremendous pitching and good pitching will typically shut down good offenses.  The emergence of 2 freshman starters, Ainsley Phillips at catcher and Emma Beyer at second base has been one the reasons Trine has excelled down the stretch.  Defense has been terrific too.  We've been here before, but the finals is stacked so would be a surprise if we advance out of the pod of ECSU, Salisbury, and Milliken.

From what I saw last night in the ECSU vs Trine game before it was suspended was a very confident, competent Trine team who could very well make some noise in Salem Va

[CNU85]

CNU's Alger is starting today vs. WPI.

It's nice to feel comfortable enough to not start your All-American.

TLU tried that and lost.

Had Alger not been dealing with an injury, I believe she would have been under All-American consideration. Stats as of yesterday:  14-0 with a 0.80 ERA and Opp BA .155.   105 SO and only 13 BB

I'm glad she was able to get back on the mound. 2 very tough FR pitchers.

[WLCALUM83]

Final:  TLU 6, WPI 0. WPI eliminated.

WPI has nothing to be ashamed of. WPI was picked to finish 4th in the NEWMAC, but to have advanced farther than Babson, for one, and to have shocked Tufts in the Super Regional just to get to this point--nothing to be ashamed of.