CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE

BLOOMSBURG—The Bloomsburg University softball will begin defense of its PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) championship on Thursday when it hosts the opening round of the 2011 softball championships at Jan Hutchinson Field.

The Huskies, who won the Central Division title, will play host to Kutztown, the second place team from the PSAC East, and Gannon, the number three team from the PSAC West. Kutztown and Gannon will play at Gannon at 11 a.m. on Thursday with the Huskies facing the loser of game one at 1 p.m. In the third and final game of the day the Huskies will take on the winner of game one at 3 p.m.

On Friday games times are noon and 2 p.m. If all three teams remain after Day 1, lots will be drawn to determine which teams play in Game 4 and which is byed to Game 5. If two teams remain after Day 1, the two teams will play 1 or 2 games to determine the champion, depending on need of double-elimination format.

The first round is comprised of three pools of three teams each. The other first round hosts are Shippensburg (with IUP and Mercyhurst), and California (PA) with West Chester and Lock Haven).

The winners of each pool then advance onto the final round the following weekend, April 29-30. All rounds are in a double elimination format. Tickets for the first round of the tournament are $7 for adults, $2 for students each day of the tournament. PSAC students with I.D. will be admitted free with valid I.D. Only PSAC passes will be honored.

Bloomsburg comes into the tournament with a record of 28-5. The Huskies posted a record of 11-2 in the PSAC Central Division and won four straight and five of their final six games. Bloomsburg is the defending champion of the PSAC and is aiming for its 16th title in school history.

Offensively the Huskies hit .336 during the regular season with 40 homers. Individually Sam Pientack (Archbald/Valley View) leads the team in batting at .427 with eight homers and 27 RBI. She also has a team-high 31 runs scored and nine doubles. Close behind Pientack in average is catcher Lacy Mauro (Jersey Shore/Jersey Shore) who is batting .424 with nine homers and 32 RBI. Mauro recently tied a school record with five hits in a game in a win over Mansfield.

Also having a big season with the bat is first baseman Mandy Leach (Milford/Delaware Valley) who is hitting .393 with four homers and 15 RBI, while Jenna Hampton (Catawissa/Southern Columbia) is fourth in batting with a mark of .339 with a home run and 11 RBI.

In the circle Shavaun Fisher (Coplay/Allentown Central Catholic) has a record of 14-4 on the season with a 1.10 ERA. Fisher leads the Huskies with 153 strikeouts, while walking just 17. Fisher threw a no-hitter against Mansfield last week to help her earn her third PSAC Central Division Pitcher of the Week award. Joining Fisher as a hurler for the Huskies is Cait Paine (Lebanon/Lebanon). The sophomore is 14-1 with a 1.90 ERA and has 120 strikeouts and just 21 walks issued on the season.

Kutztown comes into the tournament with a record of 36-11 and finished second to Shippensburg in the PSAC East with a record of 10-6.

The Golden Bears are led offensively by Jackie Hertzler who is batting .375 with two homers and 22 RBI. Hertzler is second on the team with nine stolen bases. The power punch for Kutztown comes from Nicole Henniger who has hit 14 homers and driven in 44 runs this season, while batting .367. As a team Kutztown is hitting .306 and has hit 33 home runs this season.

In the circle Samantha Derr is 18-7 with a team-best 1.72 ERA. She has 133 strikeouts and 35 walks in 183.1 innings of work. Monica Glomb is the team's number two starter and is 17-4 with a 2.04 ERA.

Gannon, the third place team from the PSAC West is 20-18 on the season, while posting a 7-9 record in conference play.

Leading the Lady Knights offensively is Katie Killian who is hitting .337 with two homers and 13 RBI, while Jaleesa Sledge is second at .308 with a team-high five homers with 17 RBI. Ashley Petrone leads the team in RBI with 23 and has three homers while batting .255.

In the circle Megan Dragon has handled most of the pitching duties and is 14-10 on the season. She has fanned 169 batters in 160 innings of work and has walked 27. Behind Dragon is Erica Bartholow who is 6-8 with a 5.88 ERA.