Softball | 5/9/2018 11:20:00 AM

PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College softball team is back in the NCAA Div. III Championships for the third straight season and will vie for its second regional championship in the last three years at the Ithaca, New York Regional, which runs Friday through Sunday at Ithaca College's Doris Kostrinsky Field.
 
Manhattanville will kick off the double-elimination tournament on Friday at noon when the third-seeded Valiants take on second-seeded Ramapo College of New Jersey in the first game of the regional. Top-seeded and NFCA #21 Ithaca will face fourth-seeded Bay Path College in the second opening-day contest at 2:30 p.m. A full tournament schedule is listed at the bottom of the page.
 
Four teams will compete at 14 regional sites and three teams will compete at two regional sites on May 11-13, with the team advancing from each regional moving on to the super regional round on May 18-19. The finals will be held May 24-29 at USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
 
HOW MANHATTANVILLE GOT HERE: Manhattanville (24-14, 10-4 MAC Freedom) was one of 42 conference champions to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, winning three of its four games last weekend to earn the program's fourth MAC Freedom Tournament championship and seventh conference tournament title in 12 years under head Dale Martin.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Valiants will be making their eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in program history. Manhattanville is 10-15 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, having made the tourney previously in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2016 and 2017. The squad is one of only three Valiant programs (women's hockey, men's hockey) to win a game in the NCAA Tournament and accounts for 10 of Manhattanville's 16 NCAA Tournament victories.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Manhattanville enters the NCAA Tournament fourth in Division III by averaging 1.29 home runs per game, while the team also ranks 13th in slugging percentage (.533) and 21st in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.70). The team's 6.03 runs per game rank 66th in the country as well. Individually, graduate student Dolores Diemicke (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) and senior Alexis Ventarola (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) are 38th and 62nd in D-III, respectively, in home runs with nine and eight. Senior Alycia Feeney (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) ranks 38th in Division III in shutouts (five) as well as 67th in wins.
 
STRONG SCHEDULING: Manhattanville has put together a strong schedule this season, as the team's .585 strength-of-schedule ranking is second in the East Region. The Valiants have played 11 games against fellow 2018 NCAA Tournament teams this season, including doubleheader splits on the road at Salisbury University and Mount St. Mary College.
 
SENIOR SUCCESS: As Manhattanville's lone graduating player, Diemicke is the winningest player in program history, as the Valiants boast a 126-44 (.741) record in her four years playing for the team. She is the first player in Manhattanville softball history and just the 18th ever at Manhattanville (in all sports) to play on four conference tournament championship teams.
 
SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS: Ramapo (25-13, 12-6 NJAC) earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament after finishing third in the highly competitive New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) during the regular season. The Pioneers went 2-2 in the NJAC Tournament last weekend, beating Kean University (5-4) on Tuesday and Stockton University (3-1) on Friday before falling to The College of New Jersey (2-0) and eventual champion Rowan University (3-0) on Saturday.
 
Ramapo enters the NCAA Tournament hitting .297 as a team, led by All-NJAC first-team selection Jackie Howarth, who hits .441 (56 for 127) with four homers, 24 runs batted in, and a team-best 35 runs scored, .661 slugging percentage and .523 on-base percentage. Fellow first-team pick Christina Brizek is hitting .311 with a team-leading five homers and 27 RBIs. The Roadrunners rank 44th in D-III with a 2.32 ERA as a staff, led by All-NJAC second-team honoree Katrina Buczkowski, who is 11-3 with a 1.79 ERA and a .176 opponents' batting average in 97.2 innings. Her 4.37 hits allowed per seven innings rank 13th in the country, while her five shutouts are 38th.
 
The Valiants and Roadrunners have two common opponents this year. The Valiants split two games with New York University (5-2 L, 14-6 W) while Ramapo lost 5-4 to the Violets. Both teams also played Mount Saint Mary twice, with the Valiants splitting against the Knights (4-0 W, 8-7 L) and the Roadrunners sweeping 3-2 and 11-3.
 
ALL-TIME VS. RAMAPO: Manhattanville and Ramapo have only played twice, both coming in postseason competition. The most recent game was a 3-1 Ramapo win in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, while the Roadrunners also beat the Valiants 5-4 in the 1989 ECAC Metro Tournament.
 
SCOUTING THE BOMBERS: Ithaca (28-9, 11-3 Liberty League) is ranked 21st in the latest NFCA Div. III Top 25 Poll after capturing the Liberty League Tournament title as the top seed. After beating the University of Rochester (6-1) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (5-3) to reach the title round, Ithaca rebounded from a 5-1 loss to RPI with a 1-0 win in the if-necessary game.
 
Ithaca ranks 54th in D-III by hitting .334 as a team and its 6.3 runs per contest average this season is 50th in the country. The team's top hitter is Liberty League Player of the Year Vanessa Brown, who is hitting .419 (52 for 124) with four homers, 16 stolen bases, and a team-best 40 RBIs (49th in D-III) and 35 runs scored. Alex Wright has added a .371 batting average (43 for 116) and 29 RBIs, while Hannah Anderson is hitting .372 (42 for 113) with four homers, 25 runs scored and 27 RBIs. The Bombers boast a team ERA of 2.72 this season led by Haley Congdon, who is 10-2 with a 1.88 ERA, and Beth Fleming, who ranks 27th in D-III in strikeouts per seven innings with 94 punchouts in 77.1 innings.
 
Ithaca and Manhattanville have one common opponent this season, having both played NYU. The Valiants split two games with the Violets (5-2 L, 14-6 W) while Ithaca defeated the Violets, 8-5.
 
ALL-TIME VS. ITHACA: Manhattanville has dropped all five meetings all-time with Ithaca, including a pair of one-run losses (5-4, 1-0) last season in Purchase and three games on Spring Break in 2009, 2012 and 2014. The teams were slated to play two games this year, but the games were postponed twice due to weather.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Bay Path (25-15, 11-5 NECC) captured the New England Collegiate Conference Tournament title as the third seed despite losing its first game, beating Lesley University (12-4) and Newbury College (8-4) on Saturday and then sweeping second-seeded Becker College, 2-1 and 3-2, on Sunday.
 
Lauren Vallee leads a Bay Path team that hit .319 on the season, as the All-NECC first-team selection is hitting .504 (71 for 141) with 18 doubles, seven triples, five homers, 38 RBIs and 50 runs scored in 40 games. She ranks second in D-III in hits, seventh in total bases, 11th in batting average, 17th in doubles, 22nd in runs per game and 27th in on-base percentage (.547). Katrina Peck also was an All-NECC selection after hitting .389 (44 for 113) with 27 RBIs, 23 walks and 26 runs scored on the season. NECC Pitcher of the Year Felicia Gaillardetz is the anchor of the Wildcat pitching staff that has a 2.93 team ERA this year, going 16-6 with a 2.39 ERA and 142 strikeouts (38th in D-III) in 152.1 innings.
 
ALL-TIME VS. BAY PATH: This will be the first-ever meeting on the softball field between Manhattanville and Bay Path.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT – ITHACA, NEW YORK REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, May 11, 2018
Game One – 12:00 pm: #2 Ramapo vs. #3 Manhattanville 
Game Two – 2:30 pm: #1 Ithaca vs. #4 Bay Path
 
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Game Three – 11:00 am: Game #1 Winner vs. Game #2 Winner
Game Four – 1:30 pm: Game #1 Loser vs. Game #2 Loser (loser is eliminated)
Game Five – 4:00 pm: Game #3 Loser vs. Game #4 Winner (loser is eliminated)
 
Sunday, May 13, 2018 – Championship Round
Game Six – 12:00 pm: Game #3 Winner vs. Game #5 Winner
Game Seven – 2:30 pm: Game #3 Winner vs. Game #5 Winner (if necessary)
 
For those who plan on being attendance this weekend, single-session tickets are $10.00 for adults, $7.00 for senior citizens and veterans, and $5.00 for children under 12 years old. If you can't make it to Ithaca for the games, Ithaca will have live stats and live video for all games, which can be accessed at www.govaliants.com/live, while fans can also follow along with in-game updates and photos via the Manhattanville Athletics Twitter and Instagram accounts.