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OWLS LOOK TO CONTINUE WINNING WAYS
The No. 22 nationally ranked Southern Connecticut State University softball team will head into the month of April with six road games this week. The Owls will take on American International on Wednesday at 3 p.m. They will then play So. New Hampshire on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The Owls will close the week on April 7 at 1 p.m. at Saint Anselm. All games will be doubleheaders.

IN THE NATIONAL POLL
The Owls moved down one spot in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association national poll to No. 22 last week. Southern Connecticut was ranked No. 21 the previous week.

ALL-TIME AGAINST AIC
AIC leads the all-time series against SCSU, 39-18-1. The Owls have won four of the last five meetings between the two teams.

ALL-TIME AGAINST SO. NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Owls lead the all-time series against So. New Hampshire by a 16-8 margin.

ALL-TIME AGAINST SAINT ANSELM
The Owls are 10-9 all-time against Saint Anselm.

HOT STREAK
The Owls have won six straight games and have been victorious in 13 of their last 15 contests.

MERCY RULE
The Owls had three straight games in which they forced the mercy rule on the opponent. They have claimed four mercy rule victories on the season.

PITCHING DOMINANCE
The Owls have allowed just nine runs in the last eight games. Over the four game stretch against Franklin Pierce and Saint Michael's, three pitchers combined for a 1.59 ERA. Christina Boehn allowed just one run in five innings. Jayme Larson pitched nine innings, allowing just two runs while striking out six. Kelsey Cockrill struck out 12 batters in eight innings while letting up just two earned runs.

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.

WHITLEY 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.

AMONG THE NORTHEAST-10 CONFERENCE LEADERS
The Owls rank among the league leaders in several categories. Brittany Bucko is second in batting average (.451), third in home runs (seven), sixth in stolen bases (10) and No. 12 in RBI (17). Kristin Whitley is third in batting average (.449) and second in RBI (28). Kate Hoffman is fifth in batting average (.423) and third in RBI (27). Alyssa Downs leads the league in RBI (39) and home runs (10). Jayme Larson is third in ERA (1.49), eighth in strikeouts (52) and fifth in wins (10). Kelsey Cockrill is ninth in ERA (1.95), fifth in strikeouts (60) and sixth in wins (nine).

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 39 RBI this season. Behind her are juniors Kristin Whitley with 28 RBI and Kate Hoffman with 27 RBI and Kristin Whitley with 28 RBI.

WHITLEY PICKING UP STEAM
Kristin Whitley batted .533 (16-for-30) last week for the Owls to raise her overall average to .418 on the season. She is now batting .449 on the season.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
SCSU has enjoyed the benefit of balanced pitching in the circle this year. Jayme Larson is 10-1 with a 1.49 ERA, while Kelsey Cockrill is 9-1 with a 1.95 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 HOMERUN A BIG ONE
Sophomore Julie Muscarella hit her first collegiate homerun 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 homerun in the bottom of the seventh to give the Owls an 8-7 win over Caldwell in the first game of the doubleheader.

SETTING THE TABLE
Junior Brittany Bucko leads the team with a .451 batting average along with 36 runs scored and 10 steals.

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, 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 head home to face Saint Rose on April 9 at 3 p.m. The contest is a make-up game from the March 28 rain out.