United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics

NEW LONDON, CONN.--(5/4/09)--The Coast Guard Academy softball team, which has won a school-record 36 games this season, has been selected to compete in the 2009 NCAA Division III Tournament, the program’s first NCAA tournament berth.

NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL WEBSITE

Coast Guard received an at-large bid and is the 3rd seed in the New England Regional and will take on sixth-seeded Bridgewater State (28-9), the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) tournament champions, on Thursday at 2 p.m. in the opening round of the double elimination regional which will be held at Endicott College in Beverly, Mass. Bridgewater State, which is riding an 11-game winning streak into the tournament, is making its 20th NCAA Tournament appearance and 10th in the last 12 years.

Tufts (37-1), the NESCAC regular season and tournament champion is the top-seed, Rhode Island College (40-5), the Little East champion is the second seed. Endicott (4th), Emerson (5th), Springfield (7th) and Husson (8th) round out the eight-team regional.

Hayley Feindel won her 31st game of the season on Thursday.

Coast Guard Academy freshman pheonom Hayley Feindel, who has posted a 31-4 record and was named the NEWMAC Rookie and Pitcher of the Year, was featured on ESPN.COM today. CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY

Feindel and the Bears, who became the first team to ever go unbeaten in the NEWMAC this season, won their first ever NEWMAC regular season title with a record of 15-0-1. Coast Guard must now wait until Monday when the Division III NCAA Tournament field is announced. The Bears are hoping for an at-large bid to the 59-team tournament. It would be the first ever berth in program history.

Softball - Bears Split; Retain Superintendent's Trophy

Jamie Kim had a pair of big RBI hits as the Bears split with Merchant Marine.

KINGS POINT, N.Y.—(4/30/09)—Freshman Hayley Feindel struck out a career-high 16 batters while scattering five singles as Coast Guard shutout Merchant Marine 3-0 in game two of a doubleheader after the Mariners beat the Bears 3-2 in the opener of a non-conference twin bill between the two rivals.

With the split, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine each finish with 6.5 points in the annual battle for the Superintendent’s Trophy which awards a point for each sport in which the two teams compete. The Bears, who have never lost the trophy will retain it with the tie.

Coast Guard (36-5-1) got the only run in would need in game two on an RBI double by Colleen Denny in the first inning scoring classmate Jeannie Crump, who was hit by a pitch and stole second.