Softball to Open NCAA DII World Series against Chico State Thursday

David Dermer

Softball | May 23, 2018

SAINT LEO, Fla. – No. 25 Saint Leo softball will open up its first NCAA Division II Softball World Series appearance with No. 3 seed Chico State Thursday, May 24 at 6:30 pm at the James I. Moyer Softball Complex. The softball championships will be play May 24-28 in a double elimination format.

Saint Leo, who is playing as the sixth seed and the South Region representative, will open up play Thursday, May 24 at 6:30 pm against No. 2 Chico State, the three seed in Salem. The Lions are the first Sunshine State Conference institution to advance to the NCAA Division II Softball Championships since Barry in 2009. The Buccaneers went 0-2 in their appearance at the World Series.

Tournament Page
Tournament Bracket

First Game Opponent: Chico State
Game Date/Time: May 24, 6:30 pm
Address: 1000 Union St, Salem, VA 24153
Tickets:
All-Session Adult pass: $35
All-Session Student pass: $20
Single session/ Day passes will be sold at the Moyer Sports Complex box office on the day of the event ONLY.

2018 NCAA Division II Softball Championships Participants:
The eight teams participating in Virginia for the 2018 National Championship are (Seed / NFCA Rank): North Georgia (No. 1 / No. 1), Saint Anselm (No. 2 / RV), Chico State (No. 3 / No. 2), Angelo State (No. 4 / No. 6), West Chester (No. 5 / RV), Saint Leo (No. 6 / No. 25), Southern Arkansas (No. 7 / No. 8), Southern Indiana (No. 8 / --).

Who They Are and How They Got Here …
North Georgia (No. 1 seed)

Won the Southeast Super Regional; Owns a 61-2 record
The Nighthawks, from Dahlonega, Georgia, have spent nearly half the season ranked No. 1 in the nation, and for good reason—North Georgia has won 19 straight and has not lost a game since bowing to Young Harris on April 8
The Nighthawks are batting .319 as a team, and have 62 home runs among their 177 extra-base hits
As potent as its offense is, North Georgia's pitching staff owns a Division II-best 1.13 team ERA, led by the Nighthawks' two starting pitchers Kylee Smith (35-1, 0.83 ERA, 320 strikeouts) and Amber Johns (18-0, 0.98 ERA)
This marks the first time since its 2015 national title season that North Georgia has reached the NCAA Championship Finals

Saint Anselm (No. 2 seed)

Won the East Super Regional; Owns a 41-10-1 record
The Hawks, from Manchester, New Hampshire, have won five straight postseason games, sweeping their way through the East Regional, then needing just two games to dispatch of LIU Post in the East Super Regional
Saint Anselm sports a .316 team batting average, while the Hawks' pitching staff owns a 1.94 team ERA
Amanda Bickford (.410 batting average) paces the Saint Anselm offense, while Morgan Perry is the Hawks' top starting pitcher with a record of 23-4, 169 strikeouts and a 1.67 ERA

Chico State (No. 3 seed)

Won the West Super Regional; Owns a 55-4 record
The Wildcats, from Chico, California, have posted a 5-1 record in the 2018 postseason, sweeping their way through the West Regional before playing three for the Super Regional.
Chico State supports a .323 batting average while the Wildcats pitching staff owns a 1.77 ERA
Kristin Worley leads the team in average at .385 while Karli Skowrup and Bailey Akins are tied for homeruns with 14 apiece
Haley Gilham holds a 1.19 ERA with a 31-3 record with 185 strikeouts. She is followed by Naomi Monahan at 2.83 ERA with a 15-1 record and Sam Mulock at 1.62 ERA at 7-0 in the circle.

Angelo State (No. 4 seed)

Won the South Central Super Regional; Owns a 52-7 record
The Rambelles, from San Angelo, Texas, have won their last nine contests and are a perfect 7-0 in postseason play—Angelo State won the Lone State Conference Tournament and the NCAA South Central Regional before taking the South Central Super Regional with two straight wins over Texas A&M Commerce
Angelo State is batting .332 as a team (20th in the nation), has 75 home runs and stolen 121 bases on the year
The Rambelles pitching staff—featuring a pair of 20-game winners, Morgan Hill (26-4, 1.62 ERA) and Brandy Marlett (24-3, 1.62 ERA)—has a 1.95 team ERA
Angelo State was the runner-up at last season's NCAA Championship Finals, bowing to Minnesota State-Mankato in the tournament title game
The Rambelles, along with North Georgia, are the only teams in this year's final eight to have won a national championship (Angelo State winning in 2004)

West Chester (No. 5 seed)

Won the Atlantic Super Regional; Owns a 45-13 record
The Golden Rams, from West Chester, Pennsylvania, have won all five of their postseason games to reach the NCAA Championship Finals
West Chester owns a .333 team batting average (19th in the nation), while the Golden Rams' pitching staff has a combined 2.15 ERA
Bri Garber is the anchor of the West Chester offense, batting .447 on the year with 59 runs scored and a .527 on-base percentage
The Golden Rams' starter lefthander Amanda Houck is 31-5 with a 1.06 ERA and 10 shutouts
This marks the second time in the last five seasons West Chester has reached the NCAA Championship Final

Southern Arkansas (No. 7 seed)

Won the Central Super Regional; Owns a 57-9 record
The Muleriders, from Magnolia, Arkansas, won all five of their postseason games to reach the NCAA Championship Finals, taking care of the University of Minnesota-Duluth to capture the Central Super Regional crown
Southern Arkansas is batting a collective .330 and has launched an NCAA Division II-leading 110 home runs on the year
Brooke Goad leads six Muleriders in double-digit home runs this season, topping all Division II hitters with 32 round-trippers. She's also batting .404 with a 1.043 slugging percentage
The Muleriders pitching staff sports a 1.68 team ERA, with Victoria Taylor as the team's unquestioned ace with a 31-0, 1.19 ERA, 224 strikeouts stat line.

Southern Indiana (No. 8 seed)

Won the Midwest Super Regional; Owns a 36-23 record
The Screaming Eagles, from Evansville, Indiana, are 9-1 in postseason play—after winning the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Tournament, Southern Indiana went 3-1 in Midwest Region play before needing just two games to eliminate the University of Illinois Springfield in the Midwest Super Regional
The Screaming Eagles are hitting .281 as a team, with the pitching staff notching a 2.74 team ERA
Allison Schubert (.341 BA, 11 HR, 48 RBI) is Southern Indiana's top offensive weapon, while Jennifer Leonhardt (21-12, 237 strikeouts, 2.81 ERA) is the Screaming Eagles' top pitcher
This marks the second straight year Southern Indiana has reached the NCAA Championship Final

Head-to-Head All-Time ...

North Georgia – Leads the series 4-1; Last matchup: 2017, North Georgia 3-1
Saint Anselm – First Meeting
Chico State – First Meeting
Angelo State – Leads the series 1-0; Last matchup: 2009, Angelo State 9-5
West Chester – Saint Leo leads the series 2-0; Last matchup: 2012, Saint Leo 8-3
Southern Arkansas – First Meeting
Southern Indiana – First Meeting

Saint Leo in 2018 ...

Making its first NCAA Division II Softball Championships appearance, Saint Leo holds a 5-1 record heading into the double-elimination bracket.
The 2018 Softball season was off to a hot start after the Green and Gold opened up with a 9-1 record through their first 10 games. The Lions were able to take down then-no. 3 West Florida 5-4 in eight innings, as well as Gulf South powerhouses North Alabama, 6-2, and Alabama-Huntsville, 9-1 in 6 innings.
Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Erin Kinberger, the Clearwater, Fla. native, has put together another 30-win team, with a 2018 record of 37-16 heading into the World Series.
The Lions have felt right at home in neutral site games supporting a 10-1 record on the year. In conference play, the Lions posted an above .500 record for the fourth consecutive year. Saint Leo was able to sweep three conference opponents in Florida Tech, Florida Southern, and Barry.
Saint Leo posted a nice 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup with Kacie Kelly and Ashley Morris posting batting averages of .388 and .365 on the year. Kelly and Morris were the only two players in the lineup to play and start in every game this season. The Lions named four players to All-SSC teams, with Kacie Kelly repeating as a first team selection while Ashley Morris, Brittany Creamer, and Shyanne DuBois all landed on the second team.
Kacie Kelly and Sarah Pauscher were named to the NFCA All-South Region Second Team where they will go on to the All-America ballot. Kelly was also named to the D2CCA All-South Region Second Team as well.
The Lions pitching staff went three deep most series, with senior Alison Mitts and junior Auria Mounts carrying the majority of the load. The third member of the staff, Sara Neuman, hasn't logged as many innings as Mitts or Mounts, but the sophomore has an impressive 6-1 record on the season. Mounts came in as a transfer and made an instant impact in the circle. The junior in her first season in the green and gold put up a team-best 16-7 record over a team high 151 innings pitched with a 2.09 ERA. Mitts lead the Lions in ERA (1.58) and strikeouts (118). Alison Mitts also added a rare feather to her cap by throwing a Perfect Game against Lynn back on March 23.

For more information on the Saint Leo softball program, visit SaintLeoLions.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

About the Tournament …
The NCAA Division II Softball Championships will be held at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Va., May 24-28. It is a double-elimination bracket where the two advancing to the National Championships will play a best-of-three series Sunday, May 27 and Monday, May 28.

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