NORTHEAST CONFERENCE SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Thursday, May 9 - Saturday, May 11, 2013 – 11:30 a.m.
No. 3 Monmouth Hawks (30-14, 15-5 NEC) vs. No. 2 Central Connecticut Blue Devils (32-13, 16-4 NEC)
Friday, May 10 – 10:30 a.m. (Winners' bracket)
1:00 p.m. (Losers' Bracket)
3:30 p.m. (Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Winner)
Saturday, May 11 - 12:00 p.m./2:30 p.m. (Championship Series - Game 2 if necessary)
Location: North Athletic Complex - Moon Township, Pa.
Live Video - www.NECFrontRow.com
Live Stats - www.RMUColonials.com
Twitter - www.twitter.com/MonmouthSB
The third-seeded Monmouth University softball team takes part in the 2013 Northeast Conference Tournament this weekend at Robert Morris' North Athletic Complex in Moon Township, Pa. The tournament, which will be hosted by the top-seeded Colonials for the third-straight season, also features No. 2 Central Connecticut and No. 4 LIU Brooklyn. LIU Brooklyn took the 2012 tournament crown for its 13th NEC Tournament Championship. Monmouth has never won the NEC Softball Tournament, but has now qualified 21 times.
TOURNAMENT TIME
Monmouth has never won the Northeast Conference Tournament Title in its softball history, and its lone league regular season championship came back in 1999. The Hawks are 29-42 all-time in the conference tournament dating back to 1987. MU has a combined 9-22 all-time record against this year's tournament field in the postseason. Monmouth is 5-8 against RMU all-time in the NEC Tournament, 4-14 against the Blackbirds and has never faced CCSU in the postseason.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. CENTRAL CONNECTICUT
Monmouth holds a 25-7 lead in the all-time series against CCSU, but the teams have never met in the Northeast Conference Tournament. The Hawks took a doubleheader sweep this season at MU Softball Park, with Monmouth winning Game 1, 1-0, in 10 innings prior to a 5-2 Game 2 victory.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. ROBERT MORRIS
The Hawks are 21-26 all-time against the Colonials, including a 5-8 mark in the NEC Tournament. Monmouth has gone 9-6 in the last 15 games against Robert Morris. The Hawks had won six of seven contests prior to the Colonials taking a win in last year's NEC Tournament and a doubleheader sweep this season.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. LIU BROOKLYN
The Blackbirds have dominated the all-time series against the Hawks to the tune of a 54-30 advantage, including a 14-4 edge in NEC Tournament contests. However, the Hawks have won seven of the last eight regular-season meetings between the two teams, including a split of a doubleheader on April 27.
HAWKS AGAINST THE FIELD
Monmouth went 3-3 against this year's tournament field in the regular season. The Hawks swept Central Connecticut, were swept by Robert Morris and split with LIU Brooklyn. The doubleheaders against CCSU and RMU took place at MU Softball Park, while the LIU Brooklyn doubleheader was played in Brooklyn. Robert Morris and Central Connecticut both went 4-2 against the tournament field, while LIU Brooklyn went 2-4.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Robert Morris and Central Connecticut tied for the 2013 NEC Regular Season Championship, but Monmouth was responsible for the tournament being played in Moon Township. With the Colonials and Blue Devils splitting head-to-head this season, the next tie breaker was record against the third-seeded Hawks. By virtue of the Colonials' sweep of MU and CCSU falling twice at Monmouth, Robert Morris took the right to host the tournament for the third-straight year.
AWAY IS OK
Monmouth has won a league-best 20 games away from home this season, including a 17-9 record in true road games and a 3-1 mark in neutral-site games. Robert Morris is second in the league with 19 wins away from home.
30 WINS
At 30-14, MU has won 30 games for the sixth time in program history. The Hawks also won at least 30 games in 1995, 1999, 2000, 2007 and 2010.
WINS QUEEN
With 58 career wins, Lauren Sulick has moved into first place all-time on the Monmouth career victories list. She eclipsed the 56 wins that Scarlett Reuter posted from 1998-2001. She's also the all-time appearance leader with 116 and ranks third all-time with 399 strikeouts.
600 STRONG
With 30 wins this season, Monmouth moved over the 600 win mark in program history.
OLDER AND WEISER
With 33 career doubles, senior catcher Kayla Weiser now ranks sixth all-time at Monmouth.
POTENT POWER
This year's Monmouth softball team features three of the Hawks' top all-time home run hitters. Kate Kuzma ranks third with 22 career round trippers, while Kaitie Schumacher is tied for sixth with 16 home runs. Christine Scherr rounds out the group with 13 home runs, ranking ninth.
DOUBLE-DIGIT PITCHERS
The Hawks have featured a pair of pitchers with double-digit victory totals in three of Monmouth Head Coach Louie Berndt's four seasons. This season, Lauren Sulick and Jordan Barnett have each totaled 11 wins, while last season, Sulick (13) and Alissa Schoelkopf (10) each reached 10 wins. Prior to a dominant season by Sulick in which she racked up 19 wins in 2011, she and Melissa Mehrer both reached double digits in 2010. Mehrer led the team with 16 wins, while Sulick had 14.
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE
The Hawks have walked 143 times this season, just eight off the program record of 151, set in 2007.
NORFOLK STATE NO-NO
Fifth-year senior Lauren Sulick made history in the Hawks' season opener on Feb. 25 at Norfolk State. Sulick hurled her first-career no hitter, striking out six Spartans in the effort. Prior to the feat, Sulick had spun a one-hitter and six two-hitters, but never a no-no.
SCHUMACHER'S STELLAR 2012 SEASON
Then-sophomore Kaitie Schumacher had a season to remember in 2012. Schumacher showed unbelievable improvement upon her freshman campaign. After hitting .203 with five home runs and 18 RBI's as a freshman (.155/2 HR/11 RBI's in NEC play), she posted a .388 average with nine home runs and 34 RBI's last season, including an NEC-best .421 average with five home runs and 16 RBI's in league play. Her slugging percentage jumped from .347 to .669, while her on-base percentage also saw a dramatic increase from .266 to .464. She finished first in the NEC in slugging percentage, second in batting average, third in on-base percentage and fourth in home runs. Schumacher was rewarded at the end of the season with the NEC Player of the Year, NEC Most Improved Player, Second Team All-Region and All-ECAC honors.
WEEKLY HONORS
Four different Hawks were presented weekly honors by the Northeast Conference this season. Following her season-opening no-hitter, Lauren Sulick was named NEC Pitcher of the Week, and earned the award again on April 15 after hurling 17.2 innings of scoreless, five-hit ball in three wins, two against La Salle and another against then-league-leading Central Connecticut. In the CCSU win, Sulick shut out the Blue Devils for 10 innings. Kate Kuzma earned Player of the Week on Feb. 25 after hitting a pair of home runs, including a grand slam in the Hawks' 3-0 start to the season. Vanessa Cardoza earned Player of the Week on April 29 after piling up 10 hits, including three doubles, two triples and a home run, in the Hawks' final week of the regular season. She totaled eight RBI's and five runs scored in the span. Finally freshman pitcher Cerissa Rivera earned NEC Rookie of the Week on April 15 after picking up consecutive wins against La Salle and Central Connecticut.
