University of Delaware To Compete in CAA Softball Tournament This Week, Will Face Top-Seeded Hofstra Wednesday
May 7, 2012
• CAA Championships Website
• Live Audio
• Live Stats
photo courtesy of Mark Campbell
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 James Madison taking on third-seeded Georgia State 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.
Live audio and stats for all games at the CAA Championships will be available at GoHofstra.com.
Delaware finished its regular season with a 15-39-1 overall record and was fourth in the league standings with an 8-12 conference mark. The Blue Hens won two of three games over the weekend against Drexel while Towson was swept by James Madison, as UD earned consecutive CAA Tournament berths for the first time since the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
Hofstra went 35-13 during the campaign and captured the league regular season championship with a perfect 19-0 conference record. The Pride swept a weekend series from Delaware on April 7-8, winning the three games by a combined score of 21-2.
James Madison finished its regular season 29-24 overall and 15-5 in the CAA, while Georgia State was 36-16 overall and 13-7 in league play. The Blue Hens dropped two of three games at James Madison on April 14-15, and split a home doubleheader with Georgia State a week later.
Delaware is led offensively by freshman third baseman Jessica Grisler, who is batting .299 on the season with 50 hits, 23 runs scored and nine doubles. Sophomore second baseman Michelle McKinnon is hitting .292 with 49 hits and 20 runs scored, while junior righthander Chenxi Jiao has won eight games while compiling a 3.31 earned run average in the circle for the Blue Hens.
