ATLANTIC REGION TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

BLOOMSBURG—Bloomsburg University's Jan Hutchinson Field will be the site of one of the NCAA Division II Softball Championship Atlantic Regional tournaments Friday through Sunday.

The Huskies will face Shippensburg in the opening round Friday at 11 a.m. with Lock Haven facing West Virginia Wesleyan at 1:30 p.m. in the day's second game.

On Saturday the winners of games one and two will meet at 11 a.m., while at the 1:30 p.m. the losers of games one and two will meet with the loser of that game eliminated. At 4 p.m. on Saturday the loser of game three and the winner of game four will meet with the loser eliminated. On Sunday, the winner of game three and five will meet at noon and 2:30 p.m. (if necessary). The winner of the tournament will advance to the NCAA Super Regional tournament on May 21-22 against the winner of the Atlantic Region tournament being held at Indiana, Pa.

Tickets for the regional championships are priced at $5 for adults and $3 for students and seniors. Children 2-12 are $2 while those under two years of age will be admitted free. No passes will be accepted.

The Huskies, 30-7, are ranked 10th in the country in Division II in this week's national rankings and are making their 29th straight NCAA championship appearance and first under new head coach Susan Kocher.

Bloomsburg will be well rested since dropping two games in the opening round of the PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) playoffs on April 22.

Leading the Huskies offense is the PSAC Central Division Athlete of the Year Lacy Mauro (Jersey Shore/Jersey Shore) who is batting .412 with a team-leading nine homers and 33 RBI. Mauro, a catcher, is also second in runs scored with 30 and in doubles with nine. The Huskies leading hitter by average this year has been third baseman Sam Pientack (Archbald/Valley View). The junior, who was first team All-PSAC Central, is batting .415 with eight homers and 30 RBI and leads the team in runs scored with 33. The other top hitter this season for Bloomsburg has been first baseman Mandy Leach (Milford/Delaware Valley) who is hitting .370 with four homers and 16 RBI.

In the circle for the Huskies is first team All-PSAC Central pitcher Shavaun Fisher (Coplay/Allentown Central Catholic). The senior is 16-5 with a 1.04 ERA and has 178 strikeouts and just 21 walks in 142 innings of work. Cait Paine (Lebanon/Lebanon), a second team All-PSAC selection, is 14-2 with a 1.84 ERA.

Bloomsburg's opponent in round one will be Shippensburg. The Lady Raiders are 28-13 on the season and have also not played since dropping two games in the opening round of the PSAC playoffs back on April 22.

Shippensburg's top offensive threat is second baseman and first team All-PSAC East selection Hope Cornell who is hitting .415 with 11 homers and 41 RBI. Dana Ward is second in hitting at .381 with eight RBI, while Courtney Steele is third at .377 with seven homers and 35 RBI and has a team-high 10 doubles.

In the circle for the Lady Raiders is PSAC East Freshman and Pitcher of the Year Emily Estep who is 15-2 with a 1.67 ERA. Estep has 140 strikeouts and 37 walks in 113 innings of work.

The NCAA post-season matchup between the Huskies and Lady Raiders is the first between the teams since 2006 when the Huskies beat Shippensburg 2-1 in regional action.

West Virginia Wesleyan (WVW) comes into the tournament with the best record of the four teams at 46-7. The Bobcats, ranked 19th in the country, last saw action on April 30 in winning its conference tournament and an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.

The Bobcats have been an offensive juggernaut this season averaging nearly seven runs per game. Leading the team in hitting is Alex Whisner with mark of .363 and 41 RBI. Close behind Whisner is Kashilia Young who is batting .359 with 19 homers and 64 RBI. Young, the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Player of the Year, has also banged out 10 doubles on the season. In all West Virginia Wesleyan has three players with 10 or more home runs and three players with 12 or more stolen bases.

In the circle the Bobcats have a pair of 20-game winners. Kaitlyn Carey is 20-5 with a 2.39 EERA and 132 strikeouts in 162 innings of work, while Hillary Perez-Ashley is 23-1 with a 2.39 ERA and 170 K's in 150 innings of work. Perez-Ashley was named the WVIAC Pitcher of the Year.

West Virginia Wesleyan will face Lock Haven in round one of the tournament. The Lady Eagles are 25-12 on the season and have not played since April 22 in the first round of the PSAC playoffs.

Lock Haven is led on the season in batting by Brittany Pataky who is hitting .371 with a homer and 25 RBI, while Erin Clary is second at .358 with six RBI. Leading the Lady Eagles in home runs is Alicia Cacciotti with five and a team-high 33 RBI. She has also 14 doubles and one triple giving her 20 extra base hits among her 29 hits on the year.

In the circle for Lock Haven are Sarah Morse who is 12-8 with a 2.49 ERA, while Nicole Smith is 13-4 with a 2.63 ERA. Morse has a team-high 76 strikeouts in 135 innings, while Smith has 70 K's in 106 innings.