Live Stats I Digital Program I Tournament Homepage

CALIFORNIA (May 8) – The California University of Pennsylvania softball team will host a four-team, double-elimination NCAA Atlantic Region #1 Tournament at Lilley Filed from May 9-11. The advancing team this weekend will play in the NCAA Super Regionals next weekend at the highest remaining seed.

Tickets: Ticket prices for the NCAA Tournament are $10 for adults and $5 for students.

Live Coverage: The Cal U Sports Information Office will provide live statistics for the tournament at the link above. The Cal U and Shippensburg sports information offices will also provide live updates from both Atlantic Region sites on the Twitter account @AtlanticD2SB.

NCAA Tournament: Cal U is the No. 1 seed in the regional tournament. The Vulcans secured the automatic qualifier (AQ) from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) after going 5-1 en route to winning the league tournament. Winston-Salem State earned the AQ from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) after winning the conference's tournament on April 19 in walk-off fashion. The Rams out-scored opponents 26-8 in the tournament and won four-straight games to claim their seventh league title. In the other first-round matchup at Lilley Field, No. 4 seed West Chester (36-19) will meet PSAC East-rival and No. 5 seed Bloomsburg (27-17) in a meeting of at-large teams.

Shippensburg (34-15), the No. 3 seed, will host the other Atlantic Regional Tournament this weekend. The Raiders will meet No. 6 seed IUP (32-15) in an opening-round game. West Virginia Wesleyan (41-12) won the Mountain East Conference (MEC) regular-season title and earned the No. 2 seed will played No. 7 seed Mansfield (23-17) in the other first-round game at Shippensburg.  

National Rankings: Cal U and Shippensburg are the only teams from the PSAC and Atlantic Region featured in the last poll of the regular season. The Vulcans maintained their position from last week at No. 12 and the Raiders reentered the poll at No. 22 after advancing to the finals of the PSAC Championship, losing twice to the Vulcans on the last day of the tournament after snapping Cal U's 28-game winning streak the previous day. West Virginia Wesleyan of the MEC dropped out of the NFCA poll after losing in the league's inaugural tournament after sitting at No. 21 in last week's rankings.
 
Regional Rankings: The Vulcans moved up from second to the top spot in the latest NCAA Division II Atlantic regional rankings. West Virginia Wesleyan slid to second in the rankings, while Shippensburg, West Chester and Bloomsburg stayed put to round out the top-five. IUP and Mansfield were slotted sixth and seventh to earn the final at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament. MEC-members Charleston (W.Va.), Fairmont State, Concord, and MEC Tournament Champion Virginia-Wise were left out of the tournament field. The MEC was not eligible for an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament during its first year of existence.   
 
Scouting the Vulcans: Cal U enters the NCAA Tournament after winning the PSAC Tournament and the PSAC West regular-season title behind a 23-0 record against league opponents. The Vulcans had a 28-game winning streak, which that spanned nearly 50 days, snapped by Shippensburg in the second day of the PSAC Tournament, but rallied for three-consecutive wins, including back-to-back, late-inning victories over the Raiders, on the tournament's final day to earn the conference crown.

As a team, the Vulcans rank first in the PSAC with a .341 batting average, 48 home runs and a .543 slugging percentage. Cal U also ranks in the top-three of the conference with 268 runs scored, 245 RBI, 576 total bases and struck out only 129 times this season.

The Vulcans are led by a slew of post-season award winners. Senior catcher Natalie Wideman (Mississuga, Ontario/Streetsville Secondary) was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Year and is leading the conference with a .458 batting average and 45 runs scored. Wideman ranks second in the PSAC with a .484 on-base percentage and also leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference with a .703 slugging percentage and 21 stolen bases, while playing all 254.1 innings this season behind the plate.

Seven members of the Vulcans earned All-PSAC First-Team status, including Wideman. Senior second baseman Shelby Lia (Whitby, Ontario/Donald A. Wilson) ranks eighth in the league with eight homers and 35 RBI while also posting a .323 average (40-for-124) and 31 runs scored. Junior shortstop Breanna Morris (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central) sits third in the conference with a .426 average and ranks ninth in the league with 33 runs scored, .656 slugging percentage and 10 stolen bases. She has also totaled 12 doubles, four homers and 29 RBI while starting all 40 games. Sophomore first baseman Lindsay Reicoff (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) ranks fourth in the PSAC with both 10 homers and 38 RBI, while sitting among the top 10 with 36 runs scored and .667 slugging percentage. Reicoff delivered a two-run, walk-off home run to force a decisive championship game against Shippensburg for the PSAC Championship. Senior designated player Stephani Ellis (Vancouver, British Columbia/Prince of Wales Secondary) and freshman utility player Megan Jahoda (Buchanan, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) were both also named to the All-PSAC West First-Team for the Vulcans, while sophomore third baseman Natalya Smarra (McKees Rocks, Pa./Sto-Rox) was tabbed a second-team selection.

Sophomore pitcher Alex Sagl (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Trafalgar) repeated as the PSAC West Pitcher of the Year and earned All-PSAC West First-Team accolades. She is currently tied for first in the conference with 23 victories and ranks second in the league with 169 strikeouts. Sagl also ranks third in the PSAC with a 1.40 ERA and a .194 opponents batting average (97-for-500). She tallied double-digit strikeout totals in four games this season, including two in run-rule victories. Freshman pitcher Kaity Davis (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson), an All-PSAC West Second-Team selection, ranks eighth in the league with 12 victories and has tallied a 2.32 ERA while tossing 99.2 innings behind nine complete games.

Vulcans in the NCAA Tournament: The Vulcans are making their seventh-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and earned the AQ from the PSAC. Cal U has a 4-6 record in its last three tournament appearances and has not advanced to a NCAA Super Regionasl since 2010 when it lost back-to-back games against Bloomsburg in the best-of-three series. The Vulcans are the last team, and fourth overall, to repeat as the NCAA Division II National Champion with titles in 1997 and 1998.
 
Scouting Winston-Salem State: The Rams are making their third-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament after earned the AQ from the CIAA. Winston-Salem State enters the weekend on a seven-game winning streak and wins in 20 of its last 22 games. Junior third baseman Katrina Bartlett leads the CIAA with 10 home runs and the team with 32 RBI and eight steals this season. She is batting .406 to rank second on the team. Junior utility player Monet Daly leads the team with a .406 batting average and 37 runs scored. Freshman pitcher Mercedes Hargett is the Rams' ace, posting a 2.45 ERA in 125.0 innings en route to a 14-6 record this season. She also leads the team with 117 strikeouts and has tossed three complete-game shutouts.

Scouting Bloomsburg: The Huskies rank third in the PSAC with a .313 batting average and rank fourth with 220 runs scored this season. While collecting a conference-best 11 triples, the Huskies have stolen a league-low seven bases. Senior outfielder Chrissy Belko, an All-PSAC East First-Team selection, leads the team with nine home runs, 27 RBI, a .374 batting average and a .679 slugging percentage. The Bloomsburg pitching staff ranks second in the league with a 2.12 ERA and has allowed only 14 home runs all season. PSAC East Freshman of the Year Taylor Parker leads the team with a 1.71 ERA in 139.0 innings pitched and ranks in the top-five in the conference with 14 wins, 109 strikeouts, 20 complete games and five shutouts.

Scouting West Chester: The Golden Rams have a team batting average of .277 and tallied conference-bests of 293 runs on 411 hits this season, while earning the outright PSAC Eastern Division title. West Chester also ranks second in the league with 66 stolen bases. Senior outfielder Megan Kelly, an All-PSAC East Second-Team selection, leads the team and is tied for second in the conference with 24 stolen bases. Sophomore third baseman Laura Altenburger, an All-PSAC East First-Team honoree, is hitting .269 with eight doubles, a pair of home runs and 21 RBI. The Golden Rams have tallied a league-best 11 shutout wins this season. Senior utility player Kim Muri was part of seven of those shutouts, including three complete-game shutouts. She ranks third in the PSAC with 18 wins, holds a 2.19 ERA and has been the pitcher of record in each of West Chester's last 10 games. Muri, an All-PSAC East First-Team selection at designated player, also leads the team at the plate in several categories, including a.347 batting average, six home runs and 39 RBI.
  
2013 NCAA Tournament Rewind: Cal U opened the NCAA Tournament with a 13-0 win over CIAA-Champion Chowan, but fell to West Chester 4-3 in their second-round game. After staving off elimination with a 9-1 win over Lock Haven, the Golden Rams ended the Vulcans season with a 6-3 win at Lilley Field. After falling behind 3-0 in the fourth inning, West Chester scored six-unanswered runs in the game's final three innings to advance to the Atlantic Super Regional.

Looking Ahead: The advancing teams from both opening-round sites of the Atlantic Region will advance to the NCAA Super Regional and play a best of three-series at the site of the highest remaining seed from May 16-17.