Softball Set to Host CSAC Championships Friday and Saturday
Marywood enters the CSAC Championships as the top seed and will play #4 Cabrini first

Softball Set to Host CSAC Championships Friday and Saturday

Softball - 5/1/2014 11:17:00 AM

Scranton, PA - Marywood University's softball team is set to host the 2014 Colonial States Athletic Conference Championships this Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3, on their home field.  Marywood is the top-seeded team after winning a tie-breaker over #2 Neumann and #3 Immaculata.  All three teams finished league play with a 19-3 record.  Cabrini College enters the Championship round as the #4 seed. Both #3 Immaculata and #4 Cabrini advanced to the double-elimination Championship round with wins on Monday.

Marywood University enters the opening game with a 21-11 overall record. Marywood will play #4 Cabrini College at approximately 12:00 pm on Friday to start the tournament.  The Pacers took two games from the Cavaliers on April 12, which eventually helped Marywood earn the top seed.  Both Neumann and Immaculata split with the Cavaliers during the regular season. 

Marywood is led by 12th year Head Coach Bob Fitzsimmons, the 2014 CSAC Coach of the Year.  Brooke Labs and Diana Butash were named to the All-CSAC First Team.  Labs, a freshman, led the Pacers with a .465 batting average and .747 slugging percentage.  The rookie started and played in all 32 games during the regular season, collecting 46 hits and a team-leading 36 RBI.  She had 14 doubles, four triples and two homers to go along with 28 runs scored. 

Butash was another standout for the league leading Pacers this year, batting .429 with four homers and 21 RBI.  Butash collected a team-leading 48 hits and started all 32 games.  Butash was a perfect 17-for-17 in stolen bases and collected 50 putouts in centerfield.  Lindsey Gibbs leads the pitching staff with a 10-4 record and 2.43 ERA.  In 80.2 innings pitched, Gibbs has struck out 103 batters and held opponents to a .273 batting average.  Marywood won their only conference title in 1995 when the CSAC was known as the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference. 

Fourth-seeded Cabrini College is led by Kaitlyn Cooper and Amber Dietrich, who were both named to the All-CSAC First Team.  Cooper ranked second on the team with a .380 batting average, 46 hits and six home runs, while her 25 RBI, 13 doubles and three triples were tied for the team lead.  Cooper was also 10-10 in stolen base attempts. Cooper recorded 14 multi-hit games, including a 4-4 outing at Keystone.  The sophomore also scored at least one run in 23 games and knocked in at least one run in 15 ball games.

Dietrich made an immediate impact this season, leading the team with a .415 batting average, 49 hits, eight home runs, 37 runs and three triples, while her 25 RBI were tied for second.  The rookie led the CSAC in total hits and home runs and ranked eighth in the league in batting average.  Cabrini won five consecutive CSAC titles from 2000-2004.  Cabrini edged #5 Centenary College 7-6 Monday to advance to the Championships.

For #2 Neumann University, the Knights are the defending Conference Champions.  Neumann has won five overall titles, their first coming in 2006.  They also "three-peated" from 2008-2010 before picking up the hardware again last season.  Neumann is led by Becca Reinhart, who was named the CSAC Player of the Year. Four other Knights join Reinhart on the All-Conference team. Reinhart, Danielle Grayson, Lauren Wilkie and Allie White were all named to the first team.

Reinhart played in 30 games for the Knights this season. She leads the team with 46 hits as she reached her 200th career hit during the season. Reinhart has a batting average of .505 with one homerun, four triples, six doubles and 26 RBI.  Grayson has a team-high 47 RBI while hitting .438 in 42 games this season. She has 42 hits, including eight doubles and three homeruns. White is hitting .402 in 42 contests. She has 39 hits, including eight doubles, six triples and an inside-the-park homerun.  Wilkie is 10-3 in the circle. In 15 starts, she has a 2.56 ERA and has struck out 60 in 76.2 innings pitched. She has also helped herself out at the plate, with five doubles, a homerun and 16 RBI. Beaty was 7-3 in the circle in 15 appearances and 10 starts. In 72.0 innings, she had an ERA of 2.24.

Neumann will take on #3 Immaculata in the opening game of the Championship round at 10:00 am on Friday.  The Mighty Macs advanced to the Championships by virtue of a 8-1 win over #6 Gwynedd Mercy University on Monday.  Immaculata's Meagan Fitzgerald and Liz Biddle won two of the Colonial States Athletic Conference's highest end-of-the-year awards. Fitzgerald garnered 2014 CSAC Pitcher of the Year honors, marking the second-consecutive season she has earned the top pitcher honor. Biddle was named the 2014 CSAC Softball Rookie of the Year. The duo has been part of an Immaculata team that has a 24-9 overall and 19-3 CSAC record and the No. 3 seed in the CSAC Tournament.

In addition to being the second CSAC Pitcher of the Year award, it's also Fitzgerald's third-consecutive First Team All-CSAC honor. In 17 appearances and 16 starts, she had 16 complete games, including three shutouts with a 1.83 earned-run average and a record of 13-3. The senior fanned 100 batters while walking 31, and holding her opponents to a .212 batting average.  
 
Biddle made an immediate impact for the Mighty Macs during her rookie campaign as the squad's designated player. She started all 32 games for the Mighty Macs this year, producing 30 hits, 33 RBIs and 29 runs scored. She leads the team in home runs (7) and RBIs (33), while being second in doubles (6).

Again, the double elimination tournament gets underway Friday morning at 10:00 am as #2 Neumann takes on #3 Immaculata.  More information on the double-elimination Championship tournament can be found at the links below.

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL - (schedule, scores, box scores, directions, etc)

LIVE STATS

CHAMPIONSHIP PROGRAM
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