University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Softball Set To Host Amherst Regional
May 15, 2008 | Softball
May 15, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - The 20th-ranked UMass softball team (39-11) will host Princeton (25-22) in the NCAA tournament on Friday evening at 5:00 p.m. This is the 14th straight and 18th overall NCAA Tournament for the Minutewomen. Stanford (46-12) will face off against Lehigh (38-15-1) in the other regional game Friday at 2:30 p.m. Both games will be at the UMass Softball Complex. Free live video streaming is available online at UMassathletics.com. Free live audio will be available for all UMass games through Sports Juice at UMassathletics.com.
UMass to Host NCAA Regional
Massachusetts, is hosting a NCAA Regional for the third-straight season. The Minutewomen (39-11) are seeded second in the Amherst Region and will face third-seeded Princeton University (25-22) on Friday at 5:00 PM.
• Stanford (46-12) is the top seed in Amherst and No. 12 national seed. The Cardinal square off against fourth-seeded Lehigh (38-15-1) in Friday's first game at 2:30 PM.
• This is the 14th straight and 18th overall NCAA Tournament for the Minutewomen. That is tied for the seventh-most consecutive trips to the annual postseason event while tied for the 9th-most appearances ever.
UMass In The NCAA Tournament • UMass is 28-35 (.444) all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Minutewomen have advanced to the Super Regionals once (2006) and Women's College World Series three times (1992, 1997, 1998).
• This also marks the 11th time that UMass has hosted a regional and third straight season. The Minutewomen are 19-14 (.575) in NCAA Tournament games played in Amherst and 5-2 at the UMass Softball Complex.
• This is the second time Lehigh has come to Amherst for a Regional. The Minutewomen defeated the Mountain Hawks 3-0 in the Regional final game in 2006.
BROADCAST INFO Live video of every game from the Amherst Regional will be available free of charge through the Tournament Central page at www.umassathletics.com. Matt Goldstein and Bob Behler will have the call beginning 15 minutes prior to the scheduled first pitch. Radio will also be available for all games through SportsJuice at UMassathletics.com.
No. 1 Stanford
• Sophomore Alissa Haber leads the team with a .380 batting average. Haber has started all 58 games for the Cardinal this season and also leads the team in hits (71) and doubles (15).
• Sophomore Rosey Neill leads the team with 49 RBI and 18 homeruns on the season. Neill is batting .348 on the season and leads the team with a .732 slugging percentage.
• Junior Missy Penna is the starting pitcher for the Cardinal with a 1.10 ERA (47 ER / 299.2 IP) on the season. Penna has posted a 34-10 record with 372 strikeouts while holding opposing batters to a .160 average.
• Last season, Stanford hosted the NCAA Regionals where they fell to Fresno State, 2-0 in the first game. They went on to beat CS Northridge 3-0 and Fresno State 1-0, but fell to LSU 11-5 to end their season. Stanford finished off their season being ranked No. 20 in the USA Today/NFCA Poll.
• Against UMass, Stanford leads the all-time series 3-1. The lone win against Stanford came back in 2002 when UMass defeated No. 2 Stanford, 3-1 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Georgia.
No. 3 Princeton
• Sophomore Jamie Lettire is hitting .352 on the season having started all 47 games. Lettire leads the club in at bats (145), hits (51), homeruns (14), and RBI (40). Lettire also pitches for the Tigers having posted an 8-3 record with a 3.13 ERA (34 ER / 76.0 IP).
• The Tigers also have Kristen Schaus in the circle with a 4.06 ERA (90 ER / 155.0) and a 10-15 record on the season. Schaus was recently named the Ivy League Pitcher of the Year.
• The Tigers made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament back in 2006 where they fell to Louisiana State 5-0 and N.C. State 1-0 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to end their season.
• The last time UMass played Princeton in the NCAA Softball Tournament was back in 1996 when UMass fell to the Tigers, 4-0 at Amherst. Princeton leads the all-time series against UMass 10-5.
No. 4 Lehigh
• Lisa Sweeney is the leading hitter for Lehigh with a .416 batting average. Sweeney has started all 54 games for the Mountain Hawks and has 64 hits, 10 doubles, 13 homeruns and 46 RBI on the season. In addition, Sweeney leads the team with a .734 slugging percentage. Sweeney also pitches for Lehigh and has posted a 25-4 record on the season with a 1.54 ERA (43 ER / 195.1 IP).
• The last time Lehigh appeared in the NCAA Regionals was back in 2006 when the Mountain Hawks came to UMass. The Minutewomen defeated Lehigh 6-4 (10) and 3-0 to advance to the Super Regionals at Northwestern.
Regional Schedule
Friday May 16th
Game 1: 2:30 PM Stanford vs. Lehigh
Game 2: 5:00 PM UMass vs. Princeton
Saturday May 17th
Game 3: (Winner #1 vs. Winner #2) 12:00 PM
Game 4: (Loser Game #1 vs. Loser Game #2) 2:30PM
Game 5: (Loser Game #3 vs. Winner Game #4) 5:00 PM
Sunday May 18th
Game 6: (Winner Game #3 vs. Winner Game #5) 1:00 PM
Game 7: Same Teams (If Necessary) 3:30 PM
Ticket Information
Tickets for the Amherst Regional will go on sale through the UMass Athletic Ticket Office Monday morning at 9 a.m. EST. All-session general admission tickets are available for $27 for adults and $13 for UMass students and children 18 and under while all-session chair back seats are available for $30. Singe day tickets are available for $10 for adults and $5 for UMass students and children 18 and under while single day chair back seats are available for $12.
