Eastern Connecticut State University

To date, Kristine H. Mach is one of only two female athletes in Eastern athletic history to play a key role in advancing two sports to the final stop of NCAA Division III tournaments. The Southington native was a first baseman on four straight NCAA Division III regional tournament championship teams – three of which advanced to the championship round of the national tournament -- and post player in her two seasons with the basketball team. She was a starter on the 1990 national softball championship team as a junior, and on the first women’s basketball team to advance to the NCAA Division III Final Four as a senior. In softball, the two-sport captain batted .356 with a .984 fielding percentage on teams which won 139 of 173 games (80.3 percent). In 53 career basketball games, Mach averaged 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds and nearly 2.0 steals per game. With all of 18 at-bats to her credit through her first two seasons, Mach stepped into a starting role on the 1990 national softball championship team, batting .348 with a .984 fielding percentage.  In her final at-bat of the season in the national championship game, Mach’s fifth-inning double set up the only run of the game. As a senior, Mach batted a team-high .377 and also led the club in slugging and on-base percentage, runs, hits, doubles and total bases on the way to second-team NFCA All-America recognition. In six games of the national tournament at home that year, Mach batted .389   and fielded 46 chances without an error en route to all-tournament honors.  As a senior, the 5-foot-10 inch Mach was an integral part of perhaps the finest starting five in program history. She started every game and helped the program to its first berth in the NCAA Final Four. In the Northeast Sectional Tournament, Mach totaled 30 points and 23 rebounds, shot 56.5 from the floor, and was named to the all-tournament team.