Sparkill, N.Y. - Riding the momentum of capturing its first East Coast Conference softball title ever, St. Thomas Aquinas College will meet nationally ranked Adelphi University on Thursday (May 11) in the NCAA's East Regionals.
The Spartans, now 31-16, received one of the 23 automatic bids into the 64-team national tournament that will decide the national champion. STAC, seeded eighth, and top-seeded and tourney host Adelphi (43-6) will play Thursday (May 11) at 12 p.m. in the first round of the four-team, double-elimination event. Bentley University (28-14-1) and Caldwell University (35-17) are the other teams in the regional bracket, which will continue Friday and Saturday. The regional winner will advance to the Super Regional next week with the eight Super Regional champs advancing to the national championship tourney in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on May 25-31.
The Spartans watched Monday's NCAA Selection Show when the tournament teams and schedule was unveiled.
"It's very special for our players and our program to compete in the NCAA Tournament," said STAC Head Coach Kristen Sullivan. "This team is playing its best softball of the season right now so we are excited to be participating in the East Regional."
STAC won its first-ever ECC title on May 6 with an 8-3 win over Molloy University. This will be STAC's inaugural regional appearance.
Going into the NCAA D2 postseason tournament, one of the trademarks of Sullivan's teams has been outstanding pitching and this year was more of the same. Carissa Della Vecchia and Abbie Landrum formed the best one-two combination in the region. Della Vecchia, a lefty, registered an impressive 19-3 record with an earned run average of 1.46. Her 214 strikeouts in 153 innings rank her eighth among 600 pitchers in the NCAA Division II circuit in strikeouts per seven innings. Landrum finished 10-9 with an excellent 1.96 earned run average.
Freshmen Adriana Coira (shortstop), Elyse Marcano (second base) and Eliana Raposo (centerfield) provided steady defensive support along with junior Tara Hagan (first base). Senior Emilie Olivier was one of the best defensive catchers in the conference.
A very balanced attack has fueled STAC's offense. Landrum (.321) and Marcano (.313) led the team in batting average while Raposo, Coira and Marcano were the team leaders in hits. Olivier and Raposo both hit five homers to provide extra-base power with freshman DeAnna DeCaro adding three homers and 21 RBIs, which was fourth on the team.
2023 NCAA EAST 1 REGIONAL SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
For More Information, visit the NCAA Softball Championship Central
PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
at Janet L. Ficke Field - Garden City, N.Y.
Thursday, May 11
Game 1: #8 St. Thomas Aquinas vs. #1 Adelphi - 12 p.m.
Game 2: #5 Caldwell vs. #4 Bentley - 2:30 p.m.
Friday, May 12
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner - 10 a.m.
Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser - 12:30 p.m.
Game 5: Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser - 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 13
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner - 12 p.m.
Game 6 (if necessary): Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner - 2:30 p.m.
TICKET PRICING
General admission for all games at Janet L. Ficke Field will cost $5. Reduced prices of $3 are set for students with valid ID and senior citizens, and $2 for children between 3-to-12 years of age. Any children -- ages two and under -- will be admitted free.
BROADCAST/LIVE STATISTICS INFORMATION
A Live Stream of all games will be carried on NE10NOW.tv, and Live Stats can be found at the following link.