Softball Championship Starts Wednesday at JMU

5/9/2017 12:00:00 PM

Tim McDonnell

Championship Bracket | Championship Central

RICHMOND, Va. – The 2017 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Softball Championship gets underway on Wednesday and runs through Friday, May 12 from Veterans Memorial Park on the campus of James Madison University.

This marks the second straight season that the tournament features five teams, with the winner of the double-elimination format automatically earning a trip to the NCAA Softball Championship. All contests will be broadcast live and free online via CAA.tv, with Friday’s title game also airing on the American Sports Network (ASN) at Noon. Fans can also download the CAA.tv Roku channel for continued #CAAChamps coverage.

Fifth-seeded Delaware and fourth-seeded UNCW headline Day 1 with the first of four games. The tournament-opener is only fitting since both squads ended the regular season last weekend with a three-game series versus each other in Newark, Del. The Blue Hens earned a hard-fought sweep, defeating the Seahawks in each contest by one run, and securing a spot into the postseason field for the second straight season as the No. 5 seed.

James Madison serves as the host of the championship for the fourth consecutive year and has gone 9-2 during that same stretch in postseason play. The defending CAA champions, who also seek their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in as many seasons, went 18-2 during the regular season in conference action, having won 16 straight games overall since their last defeat on April 4. JMU’s team batting average (.354) ranks second in Division I, while its top four batters are all currently hitting .378 or better. Along with a stout season in the circle, junior Megan Good has enjoyed a career-year at the plate, ranking second in the CAA with .394 average while also leading the league with 51 RBI. Good’s 34 victories in the circle are a new single-season program record. Her 0.47 ERA ranks second in Division I. Seniors Niki Prince and Taylor Newton both have driven in 46 runs apiece and have accounted for 20 homers between the two.

Madison (47-6 overall) plays at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon against the victor from the Seahawks and Blue Hens’ matchup.

Hofstra heads back to the championship field after missing the tournament for the first time one year ago. The Pride’s 11 CAA titles all-time are the most in the league history and they have an impressive 36-10 overall record in the postseason. HU went 11-8 in conference play during the regular season en route to grabbing the No. 2 seed for the second time in the last three years. Freshman shortstop Kristin Hallam is the team leader in hits (57), average (.375), runs (34), and stolen bases (10). The rookie enters the week riding a 14-game hitting streak. Freshman hurlers Sarah Cornell and Alyssa Irons have been busy in the circle for most of the spring, combining for 23 of the team’s 25 overall victories.

College of Charleston went 12-9 in league play and obtained the No. 3 seed for the second straight season. The Cougars make their third overall appearance in the championship since joining the league in 2014, owning a 2-4 record in postseason play during that stretch. This year, CofC was the only conference team outside of Hofstra to defeat the Dukes, grabbing a 6-1 win on April 1 to snap a seven-game losing skid versus JMU. Junior third basemen Taylor DuPree is the CAA-leader in hits (69) and runs scored (44), and is batting .383 (tied for third in the league). A pair of right-handers, freshman Izzy Berouty and senior Sydney Shipley, share the work in the circle as both are credited with 100-plus innings and at least 29 appearances this spring.

Hofstra (25-21) and CofC (32-21) meet in Game 2 of the tournament on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., with the winners advancing to Thursday’s opener at Noon. The Cougs swept the Pride just two weeks ago in Charleston.

UNCW makes its first CAA Championship appearance since 2007, and its third overall since joining the conference in 2004. The Seahawks won the most conference games (10) for the program during the regular season since 2006. All-time, the Hawks own a 1-4 mark in postseason CAA play, with the lone win coming against the Blue Hens in 2006. Senior right-hander Peyton Jordan does it all in the circle, entering the championship with the second-best ERA in the conference (1.66) to go along with a career-best 15 wins versus eight losses. Rachel Willis, Kelsey Bryan, and Lauren Moore all are batting over .300 this spring and each has scored at least 25 runs.

Thanks in part to a critical series sweep to end the regular season (the team’s first in league play this year), Delaware clinched its fifth tournament appearance in the past seven seasons. Despite the Blue Hens’ 10-11 league record, coach John Seneca’s squad enters the week winners of four straight – all by one-run outcomes. Six of UD’s 10 CAA wins this season came via one-run alone. Junior Mariah Kondravy and sophomore Anna Steinmetz, the 2016 CAA Rookie of the Year, supply plenty of offense, accounting for 25 doubles and 83 RBI together over 51 games started this year. Junior shortstop Leanna Gearhart recently tied the all-time CAA career record for triples with 20 and currently leads the league with 33 stolen bases. Her 88 career stolen bases are second all-time in conference history.

On Wednesday night at 6:30, an elimination contest awaits the Hofstra-CofC loser versus the loser of the game between UNCW (31-16-1) and Delaware (24-27).

2017 CAA Softball Championship
(Veterans Memorial Park – Harrisonburg, Va.)

Wednesday, May 10

11:00 AM - Game 1: No. 4 UNCW vs. No. 5 Delaware

1:30 PM - Game 2: No. 2 Hofstra vs. No. 3 College of Charleston

4:00 PM - Game 3: No. 1 James Madison vs. Winner Game 1

6:30 PM - Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

Thursday, May 11

12:00 PM - Game 5: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3

2:30 PM - Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3

5:00 PM - Game 7: Loser Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6

Friday, May 12

12:00 PM - Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7 | Broadcast on ASN

Game 9 (If necessary)