Owls earn second seed in ECAC softball tournament

KEENE, N.H. 5/4/09 - For the third time in the past four years, the Keene State College softball team has earned a berth in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) New England Division III tournament.

Keene State (26-14) has been selected as the second seed in the eight-team tournament, and will host seventh seed Salve Regina University (25-19) in an opening round game on Wednesday (5 p.m.).  KSC advanced to the championship round of the Little East tournament before falling to eventual champ Rhode Island College on Saturday. Needing two wins to capture their fourth tournament crown, the Owls knocked off the Anchorwomen 2-1 in game one, but were edged 1-0 in the championship contest.

Making its first ECAC tournament appearance, the Seahawks, who set a program record for wins, advanced to the championship round of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) tournament, where they suffered a 5-0 loss to No. 1 seed and eventual champion Endicott College.

This will be the first meeting between Keene State and Salve Regina on the softball diamond.

Disappointed that the Owls missed out in an NCAA bid, KSC Coach Charlie Beach said his young team is looking forward to playing in the ECAC tournament.

"It's very disappointing not making the NCAAs because we finished so well and so strong.  I understand not being selected.  I don't understand not being selected, given that fact that we finished ahead of Eastern Conn., beat Husson twice, beat Messiah, split with R.I. College and they're all in.  But we'll be fine.  We'll just go to another party."

"This is a great accomplishment for our program," said Salve Regina head coach Kerri Scroope. "Our goal was to win the conference championship, but we're glad to have the opportunity to keep our season going. We have five seniors who were not ready to finish playing, so this is especially meaningful to them. As a team, we're going to have two good days of practice and then begin our quest for an ECAC Championship."

Senior Jenna Patnode (Surry, N.H.) leads the Owls with a .410 average, four home runs and 34 RBIs.  She has set team career records in hits (198), runs (159), and the season mark (42) in stolen bases so far this spring. Freshman Haley Chandler (Wakefield, Mass.) boasts a .385 average with two home runs and 33 RBI. In the circle, freshman Courtney Savoie (Stratham, N.H.) has a team-high 10 wins to go along with a 1.89 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 77.2 IP.

Salve Regina is led by junior Sarah Jakiela (Meriden, Conn.), who earned TCCC Pitcher of the Year honors after leading the league in every major category, including wins (25), earned run average (1.94), and strikeouts (396). Offensively, freshman Kristen Parolise (Hamden, Conn.) leads the Seahawks in average (.352), hits (44), doubles (eight), and home runs (two). She tied for the top spot in RBI (21) with Jakiela.

In other first-round tournament action, No. 1 seed Brandeis (25-15) will host No. 8 seed Curry (27-16), No. 3 seed St. Joseph's (Me.) (29-13) will host No. 6 seed Plymouth St. (22-16), and No. 4 seed and TCCC runner-up Western New England (29-4) will host No. 5 seed Lesley (27-13).

The four remaining teams will move into a double elimination format at the highest remaining seed that is available to host the tournament.            

Keene State will be making its 10th overall trip to the ECACs.  KSC won the 1990 and 1993 softball titles as a Division II member.  In Division III, the Owls have made four appearances.  In 1998 the tournament was not completed due to rain.  In the 2004 double-elimination tournament, they dropped semifinal games to Smith College and Coast Guard. In 2006, KSC defeated Curry College in a first-round game before the tournament was postponed because of rain. Last season, the Owls advanced to the championship round before falling to Brandeis 6-5.