THE WEEK AHEAD
The No. 18 nationally ranked Southern Connecticut State University softball team will move forward in the month of April with six more games this week. The Owls will travel to Assumption on Wednesday at 3 p.m. They will then return home for their final regular season games. SCSU will play against UMass-Lowell on Saturday at 12 p.m. and against Merrimack on Sunday at 12 p.m. All games will be doubleheaders.

IN THE NATIONAL POLL
The Owls remain No. 18 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association national poll for the second straight week.

SENIOR SENDOFF
SCSU will honor its five seniors prior to Sunday's games against Merrimack. Jayme Larson, Allison Lehner, Shawna Mallory, Alyssa Pagano and Jessica Rosa have already established themselves as the winningest class in school history, with 137 victories and counting coming into the week.

OWLS FACTOR AMONG NCAA STAT LEADERS
The Owls rank among the Division II leaders in numerous statistical categories, both as a team and as individuals.
• SCSU is currently ranked No. 9 as a team in win-loss percentage, No. 14 in double plays/game and No. 22 in triples/game.
• Individually, Brittany Bucko is No. 2 in Division II in runs/game and is 20th in slugging percentage and No. 23 in home runs/game. Kristin Whitley ranks No. 2 in doubles/game. Nicole Buch is third in the nation in walks and No. 23 in runs/game. Alyssa Downs also ranks No. 4 in RBI/game and is 10th in home runs/game.

AMONG THE NORTHEAST-10 CONFERENCE LEADERS
The Owls rank among the league leaders in several categories. Brittany Bucko is first in runs, second in batting average and tied for second in home runs. Alyssa Downs leads the league in both home runs and RBI. Kristin Whitley leads the league in doubles, is tied for second in runs scored, third in batting average and fourth in RBI. Nicole Buch ranks second in runs scored and walks. Jayme Larson has the best ERA among starters in the league and is third in wins, while Kelsey Cockrill is fourth in wins.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS
The Owls continue to move up in the record books this season.
• Nicole Buch has already tied the single-season walks mark with 26 this season.
• Brittany Bucko is now third with 146 career runs scored. Bucko is tied for fourth with 47 runs scored this season.
• Alyssa Downs is second with 29 career home runs. Downs is third in career RBI with 134. Downs is also tied atop number one with 12 home runs this season.
• Kristin Whitley is third with 193 career hits. Whitley is second with 17 doubles this season. Whitley is also fourth with 120 career RBI.

COCKRILL EARNS TWO NE-10 WEEKLY HONORS
Freshman pitcher Kelsey Cockrill was named both the Northeast-10 Conference Pitcher and Rookie of the Week for her efforts in four games against Pace and Adelphi. She allowed just one run in 26 innings and struck out 21 en route to a 4-0 mark. It was the second straight week that an Owl hurler has earned Pitcher of the Week honors. Cockrill was also named ECAC Pitcher of the Week for her efforts. 

THREE OWLS AMONG NE-10 RBI LEADERS
Alyssa Downs leads the Northeast-10 Conference with 49 RBI this season. Behind her are juniors Kate Hoffman with 35 RBI and Kristin Whitley with 30 RBI.

ALL-TIME AGAINST ASSUMPTION
Assumption leads the all-time series against SCSU, 30-12.

ALL-TIME AGAINST UMASS-LOWELL
UMass-Lowell lead the all-time series against SCSU, 32-28.

ALL-TIME AGAINST MERRIMACK
Merrimack leads the all-time series against SCSU , 26-16.

HOT STREAK
The Owls have been victorious in 12 of their last 14 contests.

LAST TIME OUT
The Owls swept a doubleheader against Saint Rose on Monday by scores of 8-3 and 11-0.

THE WEEK THAT WAS
The Owls were 4-2 last week inlcuding a sweep at AIC.

SETTING THE TABLE
Junior Brittany Bucko leads the team with a .450 batting average along with 47 runs scored and 10 steals.

NE-10 WEEKLY HONORS
Junior Brittany Bucko and senior Jayme Larson were named to the Northeast-10 Conference Honor Roll for their performance during the week of April 2. Bucko recorded three home runs, 10 hits and four RBI helping Southern Connecticut to a 4-2 record this past week. Larson went 2-1 allowing 14 hits and five runs with 16 strikeouts in 17.0 innings for the Owls. She improved her overall record to 13-2 on the year.

SLUGGING OVER 1.000
Brittany Bucko, Kristin Whitley and Alyssa Downs all had a slugging percentage of 1.000 or more in the four-game stretch against Franklin Pierce and Saint Michael's. Bucko led the way with a 1.308 slugging percentage and went 7-for-13 at the plate with three home runs. She finished with seven RBI and seven runs scored. Whitley slugged 1.091 and was seven-for-11 at the plate. She added five RBI and six runs scored. Downs led the team with eight RBI and finished third with a 1.000 slugging percentage. She hit two home runs and one triple over that four-game stretch.

BUCKO EARNS NE-10 WEEKLY HONORS
Junior Brittany Bucko was named the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week for her efforts in four games against Franklin Pierce and Saint Michael's. Bucko went 7-13 at the plate with three home runs and one double. She hit in seven runs while scoring seven runs herself. Bucko led the team with a 1.308 slugging percentage.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
SCSU has enjoyed the benefit of balanced pitching in the circle this year. Jayme Larson is 13-2 with a 1.52 ERA, while Kelsey Cockrill is 12-2 with a 2.28 ERA.

LARSON NAMED NE-10 PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Senior Jayme Larson was named NE-10 Pitcher of the Week for her efforts during the week of March 13. Larson posted a 4-0 mark.

MUSCARELLA'S FIRST HOME RUN A BIG ONE
Sophomore Julie Muscarella hit her first collegiate home run against Caldwell on March 18. 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 during the week of March 13. She had six RBI in the doubleheader against Caldwell. She had a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to give the Owls an 8-7 win over Caldwell in the first game of the doubleheader.

FIRST WIN AS AN OWL
Sophomore Christina Boehn pitched the final four innings against Caldwell in game two on March 18, earning her first win as an Owl. She allowed just one run on four hits.

SETTING THE BAR HIGH
The Owls started the season 8-0, good for their best start in school history.

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.

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.

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.

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 next travel to New Haven on April 17 at 2p.m.