Softball News

AGGIES SET FOR FREEDOM CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS
Second Straight Appearance For Veteran Squad

DOYLESTOWN (PA) - The Delaware Valley College softball team will to look to win its first-ever Freedom Conference Championship and the automatic berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs that goes with it as the third-seeded Aggies will battle defending conference champion and second-seeded King's College on Friday, May 2 (1:00 p.m.) in the first game of the double-elimination, Freedom Conference playoffs held at Wilkes University's Ralston Complex.

Joining Delaware Valley (15-17, 7-5) and King's (19-11, 8-4) in the conference playoffs are top-seeded DeSales University (24-12, 10-2) and No. 4 FDU-Florham (26-14, 6-6). Those two teams will kickoff the tournament at 11:00 a.m.

The entire Freedom Conference Softball Championship schedule is as follows:

Friday, May 2nd:
Game 1 - 11:00 a.m. - DeSales (Freedom #1 seed) vs. FDU-Florham (Freedom #4 seed)
Game 2 - 1:00 p.m. - King's (Freedom #2 seed) vs. Delaware Valley (Freedom #3 seed)
Game 3 - 3:00 p.m. - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Saturday, May 3rd:
Game 4 - 9:00 a.m. - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (Loser is eliminated)
Game 5 - 11:00 a.m. - Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 (Loser is eliminated)
Game 6 - 1:00 p.m. (Championship Round) - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7 - 3:00 p.m. (Championship Round) - Same teams as game 6 if necessary

This is the second straight season and fourth time overall (1982, 1987, 2007, 2008) that Delaware Valley has qualified for the conference playoffs. They split twinbills with the three postseason participants, including DeSales. In fact, they are the only squad to do so as both FDU-Florham and King's were swept by the top-seeded Bulldogs.

Delaware Valley enters the postseason on a hot streak as it has won a school-record seven games in a row. The streak began with a second-game, come-from-behind victory at King's on April 19 and continued with doubleheader sweeps of Elizabethtown College (April 22), Drew University (April 24) and conference foe Manhattanville College (April 26). Manhattanville was the only other Freedom team to win a game against DeSales in the regular season.

As a team, the Aggies boast a .271 batting average and average 5.1 runs per game. Leading the way all season long has been Bethany Pavlik (Lewes, DE/Sussex) as the sophomore outfielder and 2007 first-team, all-conference honoree paces the squad in batting (.385), slugging (.681), on-base percentage (.438), hits (35), runs (28), stolen bases (11), home runs (7) and RBIs (30). The home run total ties her for the school's single-season record and is six RBIs shy of tying that mark as well.

Fellow sophomore Brittany Stockert (Hawthorne, NY/West Lake) is second on the team in batting with a .319 average. The shortstop has also notched six doubles, one triple, three home runs and 15 RBIs.

Senior Nicole Dorney (Quakertown, PA/Salisbury) and Kelly Andrews (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) have batting averages of .319 and .316 respectively. Dorney, a three-time, second-team honoree at catcher, leads the way in doubles with eight and also has three home runs and 18 RBIs to her credit. She is the school's all-time leader in both home runs (18) and RBIs (93).

A second-team all-conference third baseman in both 2006 and 2007, Andrews has been a clutch performer in the cleanup spot and on the field. She has notched six doubles and four home runs while knocking in 25 runs. Defensively, Andrews has committed just seven errors in 126 chances for a .944 fielding percentage.

On the mound, Delaware Valley has compiled a 3.19 ERA with the senior tandem of Jennifer Bummer (Allentown, PA/Salisbury) and Kirstyn Ruhling (Southampton, PA/William Tennent) compiling all but 22 innings for the year.

Bummer is 8-8 with a 2.98 ERA on the season and has four of the team's last seven wins (one in relief). She has already broken her own record from last season as she has fanned 73 batters on the year, and has upped her career total to a school best 161.

Ruhling, the school's all-time leader in victories (26), is 5-7 with a 3.64 ERA. She ended the regular season by going 3-0 with two shutouts and was named the Freedom Conference Pitcher of the Week for her efforts.

KING'S COLLEGE PREVIEW
Head coach Lisa Gigliello and the Lady Monarchs have been to the NCAA Division III playoffs eight consecutive years, including seven Freedom Conference titles (2000-05 and last season) during that span. This year's edition is 19-11 overall, including an 8-4 mark in the conference.

Sophomore Lindsay Hoerner leads a Lady Monarch offense that has a .306 team batting average and score 4.9 runs per contest. Hoerner is batting .452 with a .790 slugging percentage, six doubles, five home runs and 21 RBIs.

Junior shortstop Abbey Knoblauch (if the last name sounds familiar, it should as Abbey is the sister of former Delaware Valley All-American quarterback Adam Knoblauch) adds a .398 average, three home runs, 18 runs scored and 12 RBIs. Another player to watch is senior outfielder Leanne Harvey as she is hitting .387 with five doubles, one home run and 16 RBIs.

Hoerner and junior Kelsey Shreaves have pitched all but one-third of an inning for King's. Hoerner is 9-6 with 60 strikeouts and a 1.77 ERA while Shreaves has compiled a 10-5 mark and a 2.60 ERA.

DESALES UNIVERSITY PREVIEW
Picked to finish last in the Freedom Conference preseason coaches' poll, head coach Rachel Turoscy and the Bulldogs have had a quite a season so far. They enter the tournament with a 24-12 record (10-2 Freedom), have won six in a row and are just one victory shy of tying the school's single-season record.

Offensively, DeSales hits .326 as a team and averages 5.42 runs per game. They have three starters with batting average of .365 or better, including Kelly Moran. The junior outfielder is hitting .391 with a .700 slugging percentage, nine doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 28 runs scored and 31 RBIs.

Fellow junior outfielders Amanda Kensecki and Maddie Roxandich are batting .371 and .365 respectively. Kensecki also has four doubles, one home run, 19 runs scored and 18 RBIs to her credit while Roxandich has recorded four doubles, 19 runs scored, 17 stolen bases and 11 RBIs.

On the mound, the Lady Bulldogs have a team ERA of 2.40 with freshman Jen Lococco pacing the staff. Lococco has pitched 104-plus innings and has a 10-5 record, 55 strikeouts and a 1.47 ERA to show for it. Sophomore Kristen Cybularz is 9-5 with a 3.11 ERA while rookie Larissa Tenley has a 5-2 record and a 3.38 ERA.

FDU-FLORHAM PREVIEW
The Devils, under head coach Dante Fedeli, are in the Freedom playoffs for the fourth straight year. They won their last three non-conference games of the regular season to move their record to 26-14 (6-6 Freedom).

FDU-Florham is batting .336 as a team and averaging 6.1 runs per game. Sophomore infielder Christine Heyl is hitting .391 with nine doubles, one triple, two home runs, 24 runs scored and 22 RBIs.

The trio of sophomore Amy Beideman and seniors Julie Hartnett and Kelly Nover have each hit four home runs while combining for 34 doubles, 81 runs scored and 87 RBIs.

The Devil pitching staff has a team ERA of 2.51. Katelyn Smith tops the unit as the senior is 13-7 with 131 strikeouts in 127 innings and a 1.38 ERA. Hartnett is 7-4 with 56 strikeouts and a 3.66 ERA.