FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- With the regular season completed, six teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) will come to Alumni Softball Field with the hopes of winning a conference championship and the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament that goes along with that title. Fairfield University will serve as host of the 2014 MAAC Softball Championship from May 7-10.
Top-seeded Marist College (26-22 overall) captured the MAAC regular-season title with a 16-4 record, just one game better than second-seeded and host Fairfield University (20-20 overall). The rest of the field includes third-seeded Iona College (20-21 overall), fourth-seeded Siena College (28-24 overall), fifth-seeded Monmouth University (21-19 overall), and sixth-seeded Manhattan College (22-27 overall).
The tournament begins on Wednesday, May 7 when Iona takes on Manhattan at noon, followed by Siena College against Monmouth at 2:30 pm. The top two seeds receive a bye into day two (Thursday) of the tournament with Fairfield hosting the Iona/Manhattan winner at 9 am and Marist taking on the winner of Siena/Monmouth at 11:30 am. For complete schedule information, check back on this web site or visit the MAAC softball championship page.
Marist won the regular-season championship after winning its last seven regular-season games. The Red Foxes swept Siena, Canisius, and Saint Peter's during that run. Taylor Kuzma is the team's top hitter with a .336 batting average. She has seven home runs and 36 RBI, both of which are second only to Krysten Van Natta's nine homers and 39 RBI. Paige Lewis has handled the bulk of the pitching duties with an 11-6 record and a 3.01 ERA in 104 innings pitched.
Fairfield split its doubleheader with Manhattan to close out the regular season, giving the Stags a 6-4 record against the five tournament participants. Kristen and Lauren Filicia are the team's top hitters with .384 and .364 batting averages. The duo rank third and fourth respectively in the MAAC statistics, trailing Iona's Eileen McCann (.400) and Marist's Kuzma. Lauren Liseth leads the team with four homers and four RBI. Rae Ball (12-8 overall, 2.99 ERA) and Rebecca Trott (6-10 overall, 2.94 ERA) have split the pitching work during the season.
Iona completed its regular season by winning seven of its last eight games with the lone loss during the run coming against Marist on April 27. McCann has been very productive this season with 11 extra base hits and 24 RBI in her 36 appearances. Kristen Turner has provided the power to the lineup with 11 home runs and 50 RBI to go along with her .344 batting average. Carly Argyle has pitched 130 innings this year, more than the rest of Iona's staff combined. She owns a 12-8 record with a 3.71 ERA.
Siena split its final 10 regular-season contests which included a 2-3 mark against teams in the tournament. The Saints are led by Stephanie Viggiano, who owns a .353 average with a team-high 13 doubles. Alyssa Lancaster is next in line with a .346 hitting percentage and a team-best 29 RBI. Abby Carpenter is also having a good season with a .316 mark, a team-best six homers and 24 RBI. Jessika-Jo Sandrini has earned 19 wins in the pitching circle with a 2.48 ERA in 166 innings of work.
Monmouth closed out the regular season with 10 wins in its last 13 games, including a sweep of Manhattan on its final date on the schedule. Rachel Schotzbarger is the team's top hitter with a .325 mark, followed by Justene Reyes' .311 batting average. Schotzbarger and Jill Freese are tied for the team lead with 24 RBI. Pitcher Sydney Underhill has appeared all 40 Monmouth games this year with 32 of those appearances coming as the starter. She has a 17-13 record in 202 innings pitched.
Manhattan posted seven victories in its final 13 games including a split with Fairfield and a pair of losses to Monmouth in the final weekend. Kate Bowen and Elena Bowman are the team's top hitters with a .324 and a .305 batting average, respectively, in 49 starts. Bowman is also the team's top run producer with 12 homers and 41 RBI. Bowen and Amy Bright have just about split the pitching duties this year with Bowen posting an 11-6 record in 113 innings and Bright registering an 8-15 mark in 119 innings.
2014 MAAC Tournament Softball Schedule
Alumni Softball Field - Fairfield, Conn.
Fairfield University - Host
Wednesday, May 7
Game 1 - #3 Iona vs. #6 Manhattan - 12 pm
Game 2 - #4 Siena vs. #5 Monmouth - 2:30 pm
Thursday, May 8
Game 3 - #2 Fairfield vs. Game 1 winner - 9 am
Game 4 - #1 Marist vs. Game 2 winner - 11:30 am
Game 5 - Game 2 Loser vs. Game 3 Loser - 2 pm
Game 6 - Game 1 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser - 4:30 pm
Friday, May 9
Game 7 - Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner - 11 am
Game 8 - Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner - 1:30 pm
Game 9 - Game 7 Loser vs. Game 8 Winner - 4 pm
Saturday, May 10
Game 10 - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner - 12 pm
Game 11 - Game 10 Winner vs. Game 10 Loser (if necessary) 2:30 pm
