Softball Earns ECAC Division III New England Tournament Berth

ECAC Division III New England Softball Tournament Bracket

Centerville, MA --- The Worcester State softball team has been slotted as the sixth seed and will play #3 Endicott at 4 PM on Friday in the opening round of the 2012 ECAC Division III New England Softball Tournament.

Should the Lancers advance, they will play the winner of the #2 Salve Regina and seventh-seed Simmons in the double-elimination portion of the semifinals at 12 PM at top-seed Brandeis on Saturday.

On the other side of the Bracket, the Judges will play #5 Rivier. Brandies defeated #8 Daniel Webster, 7-1, and the Raiders upset fourth-seeded Plymouth State, 5-3 on Thursday.

The Blue and Gold make their seventh appearance in the ECAC tournament. In their last appearance in 2010, as a sixth seed, they earned a 7-5 triumph over Western New England in eight innings to advance to the semifinals.

WSU is 8-12 all-time in the tournament and the 1990 squad won the ECAC Division III North crown by coming out of the loser's bracket to win twice against Binghamton State.

Junior Aimee Lamoureux (E. Brookfield, MA) paces Worcester State with a .333 batting average with 40 safeties – nine of which are doubles – 29 runs and 18 RBIs. She is also 13-for-13 on the basepaths, which is just one shy of tying the single-season school record.

Senior Erica Cordio (Leominster, MA) bats .299 with 36 runs, eight two-baggers and 18 walks while sophomore Carolyn Hassett (Charlton, MA) leads the Lancers with a .336 average, 31 singles and 20 runs scored. First-year Kaitlyn Storro (Leominster, MA) has a team-best 23 RBIs.

Co-MASCAC Pitcher of the Year Hannah Everson (Methuen, MA) has posted a 14-7 mark with 137 strikeouts in 136 innings to go with four shutouts and 19 complete games. Her battery mate Ashley Howe (Winchendon, MA) has broken the school-mark for career games played as she has just 10 miscues in 146 games behind the dish.

Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Jen Kapenas, the Lancers captured their first outright MASCAC regular season title since 1987, but lost in two games in the conference tournament in a 3-1 setback to Westfield State and a 7-1 loss to eventual champion Salem State.

Endicott (22-17-1), who has made nine consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, makes their first ECAC appearance since 2002. This season they shared the Commonwealth Coast Conference regular season and made a trip to the conference tournament semifinals before bowing out to Salve Regina, 9-1 in six innings.

Under the direction of head coach Mark Veilleux, who won his 500th career game midway through the season, Endicott also made the field in 2001.

Sophomore Kelly Michel (Ipswich, MA) leads the charge for the Gulls with a team-leading .384 batting average with 33 hits and 22 RBIs while classmate Alex Moise (N. Reading, MA) chips in with 25 runs, 18 RBIs and 11 swipes. Junior Colleen Martin (Cape Elizabeth, ME) has a squad-best five homers with 17 runs driven in and Bryrne Russo (Middletown, CT) adds 42 base-knocks with nine doubles and 31 runs.

Moise, Martin and Katz lead Endicott players with over .300 batting averages as the four were CCC All-Conference selections.

Second-year Nell O'Connor (Harwich, MA) has posted an 8-6 record, a 2.18 earned run average to go with 40 strikeouts in 93 innings. She has only allowed 29 earned runs to help anchor the Gulls.

You can follow the action on livestats or via video stream.