WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University softball team opens its 23^rd NCAA Division III tournament when it faces first-time opponent Waynesburg University Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the opening round of the four-team Union, NJ Regional at Cougar Field at Kean Alumni Stadium.

In the second game of the day Friday, top-seeded and Little East Conference tournament champion Eastern (37-4) faces Presidents' Athletics Conference (PAC) champion Waynesburg (27-9), which turned around a 2021 season of 12 wins to capture, as the No. 2 tournament seed, its first conference tournament championship since 1993. In Friday's first game of the double-elimination tournament, second-seeded and host Kean University (30-8) meets third-seeded Alfred University (25-14) at 2 p.m.

Friday's winners meet Saturday at noon in Game 3, with Friday's losers competing in an elimination Game 4 Saturday at 2:30 p.m.  The Game 3 winner advances to the championship round Sunday at noon, and is given two chances to win one game and will be opposed by the winner of Game 5, which is set for Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

As a team, Eastern ranks in a tie for first nationally in earned run average (1.17), is eighth in fielding average (.973) and 14^th in batting (.354). The Warriors are also ranked among the national Top 10 in shutouts (18), slugging percentage (.544) and home runs (36), the latter category five shy of the program record set a year ago during a 32-4 season which ended with two one-run losses in the regional tournament at Bangor, ME (Eastern's last four NCAA losses have come by one run, dating back to the 2019 national tournament).

Graduate student centerfielder and All-America Cassie Woods (Mystic), senior third baseman Julia SanGiovanni (East Haven) and senior first baseman and All-America Brooke Matyasovsky (Orange) are all batting over .400, with junior second baseman Alyssa Vilchez (Brampton, ON), sophomore second baseman Sarah Remillard (Grafton, MA) and senior rightfielder Alexis Tyrrell (Torrington) all well above .300.

Senior All-America pitcher Morgan Bolduc (Vernon) leads Division III with a 0.47 ERA and is 11-1 with 75 strikeouts in 75 innings. Sophomore Alexis Michon (Montville) is 19-1 with 16 straight wins, a 1.05 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 113 innings. Vilchez is 3-0 with four saves and a 1.10 ERA in 38 1/3 innings and senior Carley Stoker (Sandy Creek, NY) 4-2 with a 2.97 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings.

Matyasovsky, the MVP of the Little East tournament this past weekend, enters the NCAA tournament with 39 career home runs – one behind the all-time leader. She ranks third in Division III this year in total bases (115), in a tie for fourth with 14 home runs and shares fifth place with 54 RBI.  SanGiovanni is second in hit-by-pitch (17) and tied for tenth in doubles (18), and Woods is tenth in on-base percentage (.571).

Waynesburg withstood two days of rain in its conference tournament to defeat top-seeded host Westminster College in the PAC title game. Freshman lefty Sydney Wilson was named tournament MVP after twice defeating a Westminster team featuring a .382 team batting average. Wilson led the PAC in wins this year and brings an 18-4 record, 1.06 ERA and 148 strikeouts in 145 1/3 innings into the NCAAs. Two Yellow Jackets are batting .400 or better: sophomore Ella Brookman (.416) and junior Brin Hunter (.400).

In the 62-team field, Alfred was the automatic qualifier from the Empire 8 Conference while Kean earned one of 19 at-large bids after splitting two games in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) tournament that was abbreviated by rain.

A winner of 21 straight, Eastern is ranked No. 4 nationally. Kean received votes in the most recent NFCA national poll. Eastern is ranked first in Region II, Kean third in Region IV. Waynesburg and Alfred were not ranked regionally in the most recent NCAA Regional rankings.

The tournament winner advances to the best-of-three Super Regional May 20-21 against the winner of  the Ashland, VA Regional hosted by Randolph-Macon University and which includes Farmingdale State College, Susquehanna University and MIT.

NCAA DIVISION III
UNION, NJ  SOFTBALL REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
Hosted by Kean U. at Kean Alumni Stadium
 

1. EASTERN CONN. (37-4); 2. Kean U. (30-8); 3. Alfred U. (25-14); 4. Waynesburg U. (27-9).

 
Friday, May 13
 
Game 1: Kean U. vs. Alfred U., 2 p.m.
Game 2: EASTERN CONN. vs. Waynesburg U., 4:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, May 14

Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, noon
Game 4:  Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2:30 p.m.
Game 5:  Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, 4:30 p.m.
 
Sunday, May 15
 
Game 6: noon
Game 7 (if necessary), 2:30 p.m.