Game Notes As PDF

WIN OR GO HOME
Coming off a dramatic triumph which featured four victories in one day to capture the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament title for the second year in a row, the Southern Connecticut State University softball team has learned of its site and opening round opponent for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Owls will take on Dominican in the first round at Dowling College on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. The two clubs split a doubleheader in the season opening tilts for the Owls back in March. The Owls will play either Downling or Merrimack as their next opponent on Saturday, May 14 at either 11 a.m. or 1:30 p.m.

UN-FOUR-GETTABLE
On the brink of elimination after losing their first game in the Northeast-10 Tournament to the No. 3 seed Merrimack on Friday, the Owls needed to rally. Battling weather issues, health conerns and a must-win situation, they beat out UMass-Lowell, 7-2, to continue their tournament goal of repeating on Saturday. The Owls rallied early Sunday off a home run by Alyssa Downs in the eighth inning to secure a win 4-2 against Adelphi. Southern Connecticut then won against the second game on Sunday with a fifth inning home run by Jillian Thibault to put the Owls up 4-3 against New Haven. At this point, the Owls fstill ned to win two more games on the final day of play against Merrimack. Combined with unhittable pitching and hot bats, the Owls were able to win the last two games in the finals against Merrimack, 5-3 and 9-2, to cap a truly historic run through the tournament.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
First baseman Kristin Whitley was selected as the Nrotheast-10 Tournament Most Valuable Player carrying a .400 batting average and a slugging percentage of .600. Joining her on the All-Tournament Team was Jayme Larson who went 3-1 throughout the tournament with a 2.67 ERA with a save. Jessica Rosa was selected for her hitting leading the team in RBI's with seven and home runs with three and posting a .938 slugging percentage.

DOWNS BUT NOT OUT
Third baseman Alyssa Downs broke out of her slump through the final few games of the season to lead the Owls in many offensive categories through the Northeast-10 Tournament. She batted .526 with a .947 slugging percentage with 10 hits through six games on the weekend.

FOUR COLLECT ALL CONFERENCE HONORS
Four members of the Southern Connecticut State University softball team – juniors Jayme Larson and Jessica Rosa and sophomores Brittany Bucko and Kristin Whitley – have been awarded year-end honors by the Northeast-10 Conference. Whitley was tabbed for the First-Team, while Larson, Rosa and Bucko were Second-Team honorees.

WHITLEY CONTINUES TO SWING A HOT BAT
Sophomore Kristin Whitley ended the regular season with a .455 batting average, 11 points higher than last year, when she was the Northeast-10 batting title runner-up. She currently leads the team in every offensive category including RBI's, batting average, slugging percentage and home runs. Whitley is tops in the NE-10 in batting average, RBI and slugging percentage and is second in home runs.

EVERYBODY HITS
Seven of the Owls nine everyday starters finished the season with at least a .301 batting average.

OWLS REMAIN NO. 4 IN NCAA RANKINGS
Southern Connecticut remained No. 4 in the NCAA Regional rankings that were announced last week. These rankings are used to determine NCAA Tournament selection.

NO-NO FOR LARSON
Jayme Larson decided that a one-hitter was not good enough. After tossing a one-hitter against Stonehill, she came back the next day to toss a no-hitter with 14 strikeouts against Bentley. Larson finished the regular season with a 16-7 mark with two saves to go along with a 2.67 earned average run.

KING OF THE HILL
Brittany Hill has been constantly improving throughout the season and closed the regular season with seven wins for the Owls.

LARSON, WHITLEY HAVE FINE FINAL WEEK
Kristin Whitley batted .486 in the final week of the regular season with six home runs and 15 RBI. Jayme Larson followed suit in the circle with a 5-1 mark to go with a 1.40 ERA.

POWER FROM PRIEST
Senior Robin Priest has been a long-ball threat this year, as she is fourth on the team with six home runs.

POULIOT FINDS HER SWING
Stacy Pouliot recorded a hit in all six games two weeks ago totaling an 11-for-17 performance with seven RBI and four runs to help the Owls to a 3-3 week at home. For her efforts, she was named Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week.

WHITLEY REMAINS CONSISTENT
After finishing second in the Northeast-10 Conference in batting average last year, sophomore Kristin Whitley is currently first through the Northeast-10 Tournament.

THIBAULT DOES NOT NEED THE TEE
Jillian Thibault made an immediate impact in her first season with the Owls. She batted .368 during the regular season with three home runs and 15 RBI.

BUCKO TURNS IT UP LATE
Brittany Bucko batted .311 over the final 20 games of the regular season to boost her overall batting average to .301 on the year.

PROVIDING SOME DRAMA
Stacy Pouliot had a grand slam against Merrimack in the top of the seventh to put the Owls up 8-7 on April 9. Jessica Rosa hit a grand slam the next day to help the Owls score eight runs in the top of the fourth inning in the first game against UMass-Lowell on April 10.

ROAD WARRIORS
The Owls are currently 12-5 on the road this year.

ROSA DOES IT WITH HER ARM, BAT
Jessica Rosa has been a steady contributor both offensively and in the circle this year. She has posted a 4-2 pitching record with also batted .315 with 10 home runs and 47 RBI for the Owls.

SEVEN INNINGS IS NEVER ENOUGH
The Owls have played eight extra inning games with a record of 4-4 in those extra inning games.

DOWNS PICKS UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF
Sophomore Alyssa Downs closed the regular season with a .322 batting average to go along with eight home runs and 37 RBI. She ranked second on the team in home runs and third in RBI.

WALK-OFF IN STYLE
The Owls showed great poise under pressure, winning three of their five games in walk-off or in extra inning fashion in Florida. Brittany Bucko registered a two run single to put the Owls up 4-3 against Philadelphia University in in the eighth, while the very next game Jessica Rosa knocked in Alyssa Downs with a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh against Caldwell College. The next day offered just as many late inning heroics for Kristin Whitley who doubled in the bottom half of the eighth to score Brittany Bucko and win by a final of 3-2.

MERCY RULE
The Owls used the softball mercy rule to make short work of the team from Bridgeport with a score of 9-1 in the fifth inning.

SEVEN IS THEIR LUCKY NUMBER?
The Owls are 14-3 when scoring seven or more runs against their opponent.

FIRST AND FOREMOST
The Owls were ranked No. 1 in the 2011 Northeast-10 Conference Preseason Poll.

42... AND THEN SOME
The 2010 campaign marked the best season in the history of the Southern Connecticut State University softball program. The Owls qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the past four years and collected a school record 42 victories.

IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
Southern Connecticut was among the programs receiving votes in the NFCA Division II national preseason poll of 2011. The Owls have since been in the others receiving votes category in each of the first five weeks of 2011.

A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
The Owls won their first Northeast-10 Conference Tournament title by sweeping through the 2010 event. In addition, Southern Connecticut also went on to record its first two NCAA Tournament victories in program history and reached the East Regional final.

EXCELLENCE IN THE CLASSROOM
Senior Khristle Lee and sophomore Brittany Hill were recognized for their performance in the classroom during the 2010 softball season. Both student-athletes were named as Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award winners. In addition, Lee was named to the Northeast-10 Conference Softball All-Academic Team for the second year in a row, and also collected Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America.