University of Delaware To Compete in CAA Softball Tournament This Week, Will Face Top-Seeded Hofstra Wednesday
May 9, 2011
Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell
• CAA Tournament Bracket
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. –The University of Delaware softball team will compete in the Colonial Athletic Association Championships this week, and will face top seed and tournament host Hofstra in its opening game on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
The fourth-seeded Blue Hens and Pride will open the tournament on Wednesday, and will be followed by second-seeded Georgia State taking on third-seeded Towson at 5 p.m. at the Hofstra Softball Stadium.
The double-elimination tournament continues on Thursday, with Wednesday’s winners meeting at 12 noon followed by Wednesday’s losers facing off in an elimination game at 2:30 p.m. The loser of Game 3 will then take on the winner of Game 4 at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
The winner of Game 3 will then face the winner of Game 5 on Friday at 12 noon, with a seventh game, if necessary, to follow 30 minutes following the first game’s conclusion.
Delaware finished its regular season with a 21-32 overall record and was fourth in the league standings with a 10-11 conference mark. The Blue Hens reached double digits in league wins for the first time since 2006, which was also the last time UD participated in the CAA Tournament.
Hofstra went 38-11 during the campaign and captured the regular season championship with a 19-1 conference record. The Pride also finished 18-0 at home this season, while its 28 game-home winning streak is the longest in Division I. Three of those wins this year came against the Blue Hens, as Hofstra swept a weekend series on April 2-3. The Pride posted a 2-1 victory and 7-1 triumph on the first day before a 1-0 win in the series finale over Delaware.
Georgia State finished its regular season 32-22 overall and 15-5 in the CAA, while Towson was 27-24 overall and 11-8 in league play. The Blue Hens dropped all three games during a weekend series at Georgia State on April 16-17, and split four meetings with Towson including Saturday’s 4-3 victory in the regular season finale.
Delaware is led offensively by freshman second baseman Michelle McKinnon, who is batting .326 on the season with 54 hits and 24 runs scored. Sophomore centerfielder Lara Andrews is hitting .299 on the campaign while sophomore leftfielder Jenny Richards, who like McKinnon and Andrews has started every game this year, is batting .285 with a team-leading 47 hits and 13 doubles. Junior Amanda Stacevicz ranks second on UD with eight doubles and 23 runs batted in, while sophomore catcher Gina Knutson leads the squad with nine homers and 31 RBI.
Stacevicz is also pacing the Blue Hen pitching staff with an 11-8 record and a 3.04 earned run average, while Kathleen Conway has added six victories and Anne Marie Pagano has recorded four wins to go with a pair of saves.
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