CALIFORNIA (May 2) – The California University of Pennsylvania softball team will begin play in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament on Wednesday, May 3, by playing No. 20 West Chester, which is the No. 1 seed from the PSAC East, at Veterans Park in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, at 12 p.m.
 
Tickets: All students from PSAC institutions will be admitted free with a valid student ID. Adult tickets are priced at $15 and $7 for kids and senior citizens by the league with children under 12 years of age are admitted free. All tickets can be purchased at the gate at Veterans Park.
 
Live Coverage: The PSAC is scheduled to provide live statistics for all the games. For additional information about the tournament, please click HERE.
 
PSAC Tournament: The Vulcans enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed in the West with a 21-15 overall record behind a 12-8 mark in league play. West Chester is the No. 1 seed in the East after winning the PSAC East title with a 13-3 conference record. The winner will move on to face the winner of No. 2 seed of the West, Seton Hill, versus the No. 2 seed of the Central, Lock Haven, on Thursday at 3 p.m. The bracket also showcases a match-up between the No. 1 seed in the Central, Bloomsburg, and the No. 2 seed in the East, Kutztown, while the No. 3 seed in the East, Shippensburg, faces the No. 3 seed in the Central, IUP. The winner of this game will move on to face the No. 1 seed in the West, Gannon.
 
Regional Rankings: West Chester remained No.1 in the latest Atlantic regional rankings with West Virginia Wesleyan, Kutztown, Charleston (W.Va.) and Concord rounding out the top five. Shepherd was ranked sixth, while UVa-Wise and Bloomsburg completed the top eight in the rankings. The Vulcans have played one regionally-ranked team this season, Concord, while in Florida.
 
Scouting the Vulcans: Cal U enters the league tournament after playing four doubleheaders last week. The Vulcans rank third in the PSAC with a .307 team batting average. Junior shortstop Emily Price leads the league in batting average at a .448 clip. Price also leads the league with a .540 on-base percentage and ranks among the leaders with 14 doubles, 30 runs scored and a .647 slugging percentage. Senior catcher Megan Jahoda ranks second on the team with a .364 batting average, nine doubles, and a .534 slugging percentage. Junior center fielder Jacquelyn Fowler ranks second on the team with 23 runs scored and is tied for the team lead with three homers Senior pitcher Portia McBride leads the team with eight wins, a 2.01 ERA and 74 strikeouts.
 
Vulcans in the Playoffs: Last year, the Vulcans won their opening three tournament games before ultimately losing two-straight against Bloomsburg to finish as runner-up in the PSAC Tournament. Cal U has won eight conference titles, which is second-most in the conference.
 
Scouting West Chester: The Golden Rams enter the tournament as the No.1 seed in the East after finishing the regular season with a 40-10 overall record, including a 13-3 conference mark which helped them win the division for the fourth-consecutive season. West Chester ranks second in the PSAC with a .315 batting average and first with 268 runs scored. The Golden Rams also rank third in the league with a 1.82 ERA while limiting opponents to a .221 batting average. Junior pitcher Amanda Houck leads the league with a 1.14 ERA and is tied for third in the country with 27 wins, while ranking among the league leaders with 159 strikeouts in 202.2 innings.
 
Scouting Seton Hill: The Griffins head into the league tournament as the No. 2 seed in the West with a 13-7 mark in conference play after winning six of its last eight games. The Seton Hill offense is tied for ninth in the conference with a .284 batting average and junior Ashley Perillo leads the team with a .351 batting average. The pitching staff holds a 3.28 ERA with junior Amanda Huff pacing the team with 13 wins and a 2.45 ERA.
 
Scouting Lock Haven: The Bald Eagles enter the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Central after completing the regular season with a 25-19 overall record behind a 13-7 mark in conference play. Lock Haven is led by senior McKenna Garlock who ranks among the league leaders with a .383 batting average with seven home runs and a .648 slugging percentage. The pitching staff owns a 3.17 ERA with sophomore Bekah Slattery leading the team with 13 wins and 125 strikeouts, while senior Rachel Mouillesseaux holds a team-low 2.98 ERA.
 
Scouting Bloomsburg: After winning a consecutive PSAC Central title behind a 13-4 conference record, Bloomsburg earned the No. 1 seed out of the Central. The defending-PSAC Tournament Champions boast a .300 team batting average which ranks fourth in the league and are one of three teams in the tournament to score over 200 runs this season. Senior Taylor Parker ranks second in the PSAC with eight home runs and leads the team with 31 RBI, while sophomore Emily Getz paces the team with a .397 batting average. The pitching staff ranks second in the league with a team ERA of 2.19 and has two pitchers with an ERA under 2.00 and double-digit wins.
 
Scouting Kutztown: The Golden Bears wrapped up the regular season with a 30-13 overall record and a 13-3 mark in conference play to earn the No.2 seed out of the East. The offense tallied a .284 batting average and had two players bat over .390 in the regular season. Sophomore Sara Keeny leads the team and ranks seventh in the league with a .419 batting average along with scoring 40 runs and holding a .482 on-base percentage. The Kutztown pitching staff boasts the lowest ERA in the PSAC at 1.81 and features senior Savannah Nierintz, who ranks second in the conference with a 1.23 ERA and 21 wins.
 
Scouting Shippensburg: The Raiders enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed from the East after finishing the regular season with a 26-21 record and an 8-8 record in the division. The offense posted a .284 batting average in the regular season and rank third in the PSAC with 215 total runs scored. Junior Chloe Collins leads the team with a .388 batting average, while ranking second in the conference with 15 doubles. Sophomore Nicole Smith leads the pitching staff with a 1.92 ERA and classmate Taryn Wilson has posted a team-high 11 wins.
 
Scouting IUP: The Crimson Hawks head into the league tournament as the No. 3 seed out of the Central after posting a 24-17 overall record with a 13-7 mark in divisional play. The offense compiled a .271 batting average in the regular season and ranked seventh in the PSAC with 171 runs scored, while senior Hannah Mercer leads the team with a .387 batting average. The pitching staff features a pair of nine-game winners in sophomores Megan Risinger and Lauren Zola and Risinger leads the staff with a 2.04 ERA.
 
Scouting Gannon: The Lady Knights claimed the No. 1 seed out of the West after winning the division with a 27-12 overall record behind a 14-6 record in conference play. Gannon holds a .290 batting average which ranks fifth in the PSAC. Junior Jackie Martinez ranks in the top 10 of the conference with a .397 batting average with nine doubles. The Lady Knight pitching staff holds a 1.88 ERA which is third-best in the conference and senior Olivia Gumbita has tallied a team-leading 15 wins and ranks among the league leaders with a 1.69 ERA.
 
2016 Tournament Recap: Cal U opened the tournament by rallying to earn a 4-3 walk-off victory against IUP on the initial day. The following day, the Vulcans defeated Lock Haven 7-2 and moved onto the third day where they would rally to defeat Bloomsburg 9-8 in eight innings to advance to the championship game. The two teams played the following day for the PSAC Championship with the Huskies needing to beat the Vulcans twice. Bloomsburg rallied in the first game to win 5-4 in extra innings before claiming its 16th PSAC Championship with a 5-1 win in the second game.
 
Looking Ahead: The winner of the PSAC Tournament will receive an automatic qualifier (AQ) into the 2017 NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Tournament. The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) and the Mountain East Conference (MEC) will also receive an AQ. The next top-five ranked teams in the final Atlantic regional rankings will receive at-large bids.
 
2017 PSAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Wednesday, May 3
Game 1: (E3) Shippensburg vs. (C3) IUP, 12 p.m.
Game 2: (E1) West Chester vs. (W3) California, 12 p.m.
Game 3: (W2) Seton Hill vs. (C2) Lock Haven, 3 p.m.
Game 4: (C1) Bloomsburg vs. (E2) Kutztown, 3 p.m.
Game 5: (W1) Gannon vs. Winner of Game 1, 6 p.m.
Game 6: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 6 p.m. (loser eliminated)
 
Thursday, May 4
Game 7: Loser of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 4, 12 p.m.
Game 8: Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 6, 12 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 9: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 2, 3 p.m.
Game 10: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 3 p.m.
Game 11: Loser of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 7, 6 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 12: Loser of Game 10 vs. Winner of Game 8, 6 p.m. (loser eliminated)
 
Friday, May 5
Game 13: Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10, 12 p.m.
Game 14: Winner of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 12, 3 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 15: Loser of Game 13 vs. Winner of Game 14, 6 p.m. (loser eliminated)
 
Saturday, May 6
Game 16: Winner of Game 13 vs. Winner of Game 15, 12 p.m.
IF necessary, Game 17:  Game 16 winner vs. Game 16 loser, 3 p.m.