Complete Game Notes as a PDF
OWLS LOOK TO CONTINUE WINNING WAYS
The No. 22 Southern Connecticut State University softball team will continue its season when it takes on Le Moyne on March 20 at 3 p.m. at SCSU. The Owls will then travel to Georgian Court on March 21 at 2:30 p.m. before coming home for a doubleheader against Pace on March 24 at noon. The Owls will close the week on the road again on March 25 to take on Adelphi. All games will be doubleheaders.
OWLS RANKED NO. 22 IN NATIONAL POLL
The Owls jumped into the National Fastpich Coaches Association national poll at No. 22 last week after a 6-0 start.
LARSON NAMED NE-10 PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Senior
Jayme Larson was named NE-10 Pitcher of the Week for her efforts last week. Larson posted a 4-0 mark.
MUSCARELLA'S FIRST HOMERUN A BIG ONE
Sophomore
Julie Muscarella hit her first collegiate homerun against Caldwell on Sunday. She hit a three-run blast in the bottom of the fifth. The Owls were tied 5-5 before Muscarella's hit, providing the margin of victory, an 8-5 win over Caldwell.
HOFFMAN ON A HOT STREAK
Junior
Kate Hoffman batted .500 last week. She had six RBI in the doubleheader against Caldwell. She had a walk-off two-run homerun in the bottom of the seventh to give the Owls an 8-7 win over Caldwell in the first game of the doubleheader.
HOT HITTER
Junior
Brittany Bucko is off to a hot start, contributing to the Owls' wins this season. She is second on the team with a batting average of .400 and leads the team with 15 runs and five steals.
FIRST WIN AS AN OWL
Sophomore
Christina Boehn pitched the final four innings against Caldwell in game two last Sunday, earning her first win as an Owl. She allowed just one run on four hits.
MAKING A QUICK CONTRIBUTION
Freshman pitcher
Kelsey Cockrill has posted a 4-1 mark on the year.
SETTING THE BAR HIGH
The Owls started the season 8-0, for their best start in school history.
PROVIDING SOME POP
The Owls had 13 hits during an 11-2 win against Dowling.
LEADING THE WAY
Senior starting pitcher
Jayme Larson is 6-0 on the season following a win over Caldwell on Sunday.
OUT OF THE GATE
Freshman starting pitcher
Kelsey Cockrill earned her first two collegiate wins of the season in consecutive starts with a complete game against Wayne State and a two-hit complete game against Dowling.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB
The Owls welcome in 10 newcomers, eight of which are freshmen.
Kate Hoffman is a junior transfer from Central Connecticut while
Christina Boehn is a sophomore transfer from Saint Anselm.
Nicole Buch,
Nora Crann,
Kelly Mitchell,
Sarah Koerner,
Nicole Colamaria,
Kelsey Cockrill,
Caelese Brown and Kristie Vituli will all look to make big contributions for the Owls as freshmen this season.
THE CAPTAINS
Jayme Larson,
Kristin Whitley,
Brittany Bucko and
Alyssa Downs will lead the Owls as captains this season.
IN THE NORTHEAST-10 POLL
The Owls have been selected first in the league's preseason coaches' poll.
ALL-TIME AGAINST LE MOYNE
Le Moyne leads the all-time against SCSU by a 18-15 margin.
ALL-TIME AGAINST GEORGIAN COURT
Georgian Court leads the all-time against SCSU by a 2-0 margin.
ALL-TIME AGAINST PACE
The Owls are 30-17-2 all-time against Pace.
ALL-TIME AGAINST ADELPHI
Adelphi leads the all-time against SCSU by a 22-13 margin.
ANOTHER STELLAR SEASON FOR THE OWLS
The Southern Connecticut State University softball team reached the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year and fourth time in five years in 2011. SCSU closed the season with a 35-21 final record and received votes in the final NFCA poll of the year.
FIRST NCAA REGIONAL FINAL APPEARANCE
One more win would have sent the Owls to the College World Series for the first time in school history, but SCSU was edged by Merrimack, 2-1, in a NCAA Regional final elimination game.
EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN
First baseman
Kristin Whitley capped a phenomenal season with Honorable Mention All-America honors. She batted .442, which led the Owls, with 11 homeruns and 54 RBI's. Along with leading the team in batting average, she also led the team in slugging percentage (.737), on base percentage (.471), hits (84), RBI (54) and triples (6). Whitley's 84 hits and .737 slugging percentage were new single-season records, while her 11 home runs were tied for second all-time in that department.
WHAT A FINISH
Trailing in the bottom of the seventh and needing a win to force a winner-take-all regional final against Merrimack,
Alyssa Downs connected for a walk-off grand slam to propel the Owls to victory.
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.
THREE NAMED ALL-ECAC
The Owls had a trio of players earn All-ECAC honors following the conclusion of the season -
Brittany Bucko,
Jessica Rosa and
Kristin Whitley.
PAIR COLLECTS ALL-REGION LAURELS
Jessica Rosa and
Kristin Whitley both earned All-Region honors for their play in 2011.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
First baseman
Kristin Whitley was selected as the Northeast-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 as she led the team in RBI with seven and home runs with three and posted a .938 slugging percentage.
DOWNS BUT NOT OUT
Third baseman
Alyssa Downs batted .526 with a .947 slugging percentage and 10 hits during the NE-10 Tournament.
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 – were 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.
EVERYBODY HITS
Six of the Owls nine everyday starters finished the 2011 season with at least a .300 batting average.
BARBARO COLLECTS CAREER WIN NO. 200
Owls' coach
Lisa Barbaro won her 200th career game on April 26 with a victory over New Haven.
ON DECK
The Owls will have a home doubleheader against Saint Rose on March 28.