United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Softball - Heading to NCAA Tournament; Bears are #3 Seed in N.E. Regional

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.

The Bears became the first team to go unbeaten in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season, posting a 15-0-1 record to win its NEWMAC first regular season title.

Coast Guard, which is 36-5-1, won a school-record 28 straight games this season and has five All-conference players on the team.

Freshman pitcher Hayley Feindel leads Division III with 31 wins. Feindel was named the NEWMAC Pitcher and Rookie of the Year as she led the conference and set single-season school records for wins (31), strikeouts (348) and ERA (0.83). She was 15-0 with a 0.71 ERA during in league games this season.

Feindel, junior third baseman Courtney Wolf and sophomore catcher Amanda Frederick were named first team All-conference while senior outfielders Annette Boston, who plays centerfield and Jeannie Crump, the Bears leftfielder, were named to the second team.

Courtney Wolf has a school record 13 homers to go with her team-high 43 RBI's this season.

Wolf, who leads the team with a .386 batting average, set a single-season school record with 13 homers to go with her 43 RBI’s and team-high .756 slugging percentage. Frederick is hitting .381 and she leads the team in doubles (11) and triples (3) to go with her 38 RBI’s. Boston leads the NEWMAC with 29 stolen bases and 37 runs scored while Crump is hitting .338 with eight doubles, three homers, 18 RBI’s and 19 stolen bases.

Seven teams will compete at five first-round sites and eight teams will compete at three first-round sites for a total of eight first-round sites. All sites will use a double-elimination format.

The seven-team first rounds will be held May 7-10 on the campuses of competing institutions. The eight-team first rounds will be held May 7-11 on the campuses of competing institutions. The finals, hosted by Montclair State University, will be held May 15-19 at the Montclair State University Softball Stadium in Montclair, New Jersey.

Thirty-seven conferences received automatic qualification and five independents were selected for the 2009 championship. The 17 remaining teams were selected on an at-large basis from automatic qualifying conferences and the remaining independent institutions.

The Endicott Softball Stadium, completed in 2006, is considered one of the finest playing fields in New England. The stadium features two (2) 10'x 65' bullpens down each line and a 40-foot vertical granite façade in centerfield. The infield consists of a "Fenway Mix" while the outfield turf is Kentucky bluegrass sod. The outfield dimensions are 193' to both left and right field and 203' to center. The stadium also features a Daktronics scoreboard in left field, two custom-made dugouts, and a press box with internet access located above the bleachers behind home plate. The stadium capacity is 550; however bleachers have been placed around the stadium to accommodate for increased attendance.

2009 NCAA Division III Softball New England Regional
@ Endicott College, Beverly, Mass.

Thursday, May 7th

Game 1--#1 Tufts vs. #8 Husson, 10:00

Game 2--#4 Endicott vs. #5 Emerson, noon

Game 3--#3 Coast Guard vs. #6 Bridgewater State, 2:00

Game 4--#2 Rhode Island College vs. #7 Springfield, 4:00

Friday, May 8th

Game 5--Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 , 10:00

Game 6--Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, noon

Game 7--Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 2:00

Game 8--Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 4:00

Saturday, May 9th

Game 9--Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 10:00

Game 10-Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, noon

Game 11--Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 2:00

Game 12--Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 4:00

Sunday, May 10th

Game 13--Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 11, noon

Game 14--Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 2:00

Game 15 (if necessary)-- rematch of Game 14, 4:00