Complete Game Notes as a PDF

NCAA East Regional Tournament Central

OWLS TO HOST NCAA REGIONALS
The No. 18 nationally ranked Southern Connecticut State University softball team has been awarded the No. 1 seed in the East Region and will host the NCAA Regional Tournament this weekend at the Dewitt Family Field at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.  The Owls will open play against No. 8 seeded Assumption on Friday at 12 p.m. SCSU will then play either No. 4 seeded Caldwell or No. 5 seeded UMass-Lowell or on Saturday depending on Friday's result. The weekend's action will follow a double-elimination format.

LOOKING TO TAKE NEXT STEP
The Owls have reached the NCAA Regional Finals in each of the last two years. Last year, the Owls fell to Merrimack in a winner-take-all game.

A LOOK BACK AT THE NE-10 TOURNAMENT
The Owls were eliminated from the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament last Friday with a 2-1 loss to LeMoyne and an 8-5 loss to Assumption.

LEAVING THE YARD
SCSU hit a single-game season high four home runs in Friday's loss to Assumption. Jessica Rosa connected for two home runs, while Kate Hoffman and Kristin Whitley each added one blast.

AGAINST THE REGIONAL FIELD
The Owls are 6-1 against this weekend's regional field this season. SCSU swept Caldwell, UMass-Lowell and Assumption during the regular season. However, the Greyhounds defeated the Owls in last week's NE-10 Tournament.

POULIOT MAKES ALL-TOURNEY TEAM
Junior catcher Stacy Pouliot was named to the Northeast-10 Conference All-Tournament Team. Pouliot batted .364 (4-for-11) in the Owls' three games in the tournament. She also did not commit an error behind the plate and threw out one of two baserunners attempting to steal.

HITTING WELL IN THE POST-SEASON
Senior Jessica Rosa led the team with a batting average of .455 during the NE-10 Tournament. Junior Brittany Bucko ranked second on the team with a .375 average, while junior Stacy Pouliot held an average of .364.

OWLS RAKE IN YEAR END HONORS
Eight members of the team were named to the Northeast-10 All-Conference teams. Senior Jayme Larson, juniors Brittany Bucko, Stacy Pouliot, Alyssa Downs and Kristin Whitley were all selected to the First-Team. Junior Kate Hoffman was a Second-Team honoree. Senior Jessica Rosa and freshman Kelsey Cockrill were each honored on the Third-Team. Cockrill was also tabbed for the league's All-Rookie Team. Head coach Lisa Barbaro was named Coach of the Year. Bucko was also tabbed as the league's Player of the Year.

ALL-TIME AGAINST ASSUMPTION
Assumption leads the all-time series against the Owls, 30-15, heading into their game in the NCAA Regionals.

ALL-TIME AGAINST UMASS-LOWELL
UMass-Lowell leads the all-time against SCSU, 32-30, heading into the NCAA Regionals.

ALL-TIME AGAINST CALDWELL
The Owls are 4-1 all-time against Caldwell heading into the NCAA Regionals.

ALL-TIME IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
This is the sixth NCAA appearance in program history (2002, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012). The Owls are 5-10 all-time in NCAA Tournament action, with all five victories coming over the past two years.

COACH BARBARO GRABS 250th WIN
With the win over Stonehill in the NE-10 quarterfinals, head coach Lisa Barbaro won her 250th career game at the helm of the Owls.

SUCCESS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Several Owls have fared well in NCAA Tournament action in their careers. Alyssa Downs is a career .357 hitter (10-for-28) with two home runs, eight RBI and four runs scored. Kristin Whitley is batting at a .333 clip (10-for-30) with six RBI and four runs scored. Brittany Bucko is hitting .290 (9-for-31) with eight runs scored and five RBI in NCAA play.

IN THE NATIONAL POLL
The Owls dropped two spots to No. 18 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association national poll last week. The Owl's were No. 16 the previous week and No. 18 the two weeks before that.

MERCY RULE
The Owls have claimed 12 mercy rule victories on the season.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
The Owls first place finish in the Northeast-10 Conference marks the first time in school history that they have claimed the conference regular season title.

RECORDS GO BY THE BOARD
Several Owls have broken career and individual records this season:
• Alyssa Downs now has 30 career home runs. She is now first all-time in that category.
• Kristin Whitley's 19 doubles this season is a new season record for the Owls. Whitley's 48 career doubles is also a new all-time record at Southern Connecticut.
• Brittany Bucko has 63 runs scored this season, already breaking the single-season record. Her career 162 runs scored also tops the list of all-time highs.
• Nicole Buch has set a new season record with 34 walks on the year.
• Bucko's 17 home runs and Downs' 13 have already surprassed the previous season record of 12 home runs.

AMONG THE NCAA LEADERS
Several Owls rank among the NCAA leaders heading into the NE-10 tournament.  As a team, the Owls are ranked 12th in the country in triples per game and 18th in slugging percentage. SCSU is also ranked 20th in win-loss percentage and home runs per game.
• On the individual front, Brittany Bucko is second in the country in runs per game, 11th in home runs per game, ninth in total home runs and 14th in slugging percentage. Alyssa Downs is ranked seventh in the country in runs batted in per game. Kristin Whitley is ranked ninth in doubles per game. Nicole Buch is ranked 10th overall in walks/game.

AMONG THE NORTHEAST-10 CONFERENCE LEADERS
The Owls rank among the league leaders in several categories. Brittany Bucko leads the league in batting average (.428), and home runs (17), is sixth in stolen bases (13) and seventh in RBI (35). Kristin Whitley is fifth in batting average (.404) and sixth in RBI (36). Kate Hoffman is No. 17 in batting average (.359) and second in RBI (48). Alyssa Downs leads the league in RBI (56) and is third in home runs (13). Jayme Larson leads the league in ERA (1.68) and is second in wins (20). Kelsey Cockrill is fifth in ERA (1.95), fourth in strikeouts (137) and fifth in wins (15).

LARSON'S GREAT WEEK
Jayme Larson went 2-0 in the week of April 16. She allowed just one run in 10 innings pitched with 11 strikeouts.

POULIOT ON FIRE
Stacy Pouliot played in seven of the eight games during the week of April 9. She went 11-for-21 from the plate for a .524 batting average. She had a team-high nine RBI with the help of a home run, a triple and two doubles.

RBI MACHINES
Stacy Pouliot led the Owls with nine RBI, while Kate Hoffman was second on the team with eight RBI. In addition, Alyssa Downs, Brittany Bucko and Jessica Rosa each had seven RBI in the eight game stretch from April 9 to April 15. Downs hit two home runs and two doubles to go along with those seven RBI. She also had three stolen bases. Bucko had a team-high four home runs over that span. She also added a triple. Rosa contributed one home run of her own. Stacy Pouliot, Kristin Whitley, Kate Hoffman, Alyssa Pagano and Nicole Buch all added one home run during the week of April 9.

NE-10 WEEKLY HONORS
Stacy Pouliot was named the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week of her performance during the week of April 9. Pouliot helped Southern Connecticut to an 8-0 record. She hit .524 from the plate with a team-high nine RBI.

SETTING THE TABLE
Junior Brittany Bucko leads the team with a .428 batting average along with 63 runs scored and 17 home runs.

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 RBIs helping Southern Connecticut to a 4-2 record. 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.

PITCHING DOMINANCE
The Owls allowed just 10 runs in the eight games from March 24 to April 1. 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.

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-for-13 at the plate with three home runs and one double. She drove in seven runs while scoring seven runs herself. Bucko led the team with a 1.308 slugging percentage.

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.

FOUR OWLS AMONG NE-10 RBI LEADERS
Alyssa Downs leads the Northeast-10 Conference with 56 RBI this season. Behind her are juniors Kate Hoffman with 48 RBI, Kristin Whitley with 36 RBI and Brittany Bucko with 35 RBI.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
SCSU has enjoyed the benefit of balanced pitching in the circle this year. Jayme Larson is 20-3 with a 1.68 ERA, while Kelsey Cockrill is 15-5 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 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 welcomed 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 were 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.

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.

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.

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.

ON DECK
The Owls will play at either 11 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 5 depending on their result on Friday.