Cal PSAC championship page
EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University, the No. 3 seed from the East, will face Bloomsburg, the No. 2 seed from the Central, in the first round of the 2009 PSAC Softball Tournament on Friday, April 24 at 11 a.m. at California University of Pennsylvania.
The Warriors (20-19, 6-10) will be making their third straight PSAC tournament appearance for the first time in school history and fifth overall. ESU has gone 1-2 in each of the past two tournaments, while placing third in 1981 and winning the only PSAC softball championship in school history in 1980. The Warriors own a 6-6 all-time conference tournament record.
ESU has featured a mix of youth and experience in its third year under head coach Jill Fuduric as four freshman, three sophomores, three juniors and three seniors received regular playing time during the season.
Senior catcher Amanda Feist, a 2008 All-PSAC East selection and four-year starter behind the plate, played in all 39 games for the Warriors, batting .324 and leading the team with seven home runs. Her 14 career round-trippers are tied for second all-time at ESU while her .613 slugging percentage ranks second in a single season.
Sophomore shortstop Brittany Racek was second on the team with a .339 batting average, while hitting .407 in conference games. She led the Warriors in hits (43), doubles (10) and stolen bases (11) while placing second on the team in slugging (.496).
Racek's walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning gave ESU a 2-1 victory over Shippensburg on April 17. A 2008 second team NFCA Mid-Atlantic Region selection at designated player, Racek hit .333 in last year's PSAC tournament.
Junior outfielder Kara Darcey had a breakout year, starting all 39 games and leading the team in batting average (.345) and on-base percentage (.430) and was second in home runs (three), hits (38) and runs (22). Freshman third baseman Rachel Gieringer hit .288 while starting 34 games and tying for the team lead with 23 RBI.
Senior Jennifer Bensinger and junior Jackie Battaglino combined to start 37 of the Warriors' 39 games in the circle. Battaglino went 10-8 with a 3.10 ERA and struck out 59. Bensinger registered an ERA of 3.31 and went 10-10, striking out 108 in 131 innings. Her 175 career strikeouts rank seventh all-time in ESU history.
Four other players hit at least .250 for the Warriors, including senior first baseman Kerri Jakobsen, who started 38 games and hit .265 on the year. Jakobsen led ESU back from a five-run deficit with a home run and a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning of a 7-6 victory over No. 17-ranked California on April 11.
The new configuration for this year's tournament will feature nine teams participating in groups of three in a double-elimination format with games held at three different sites on Friday and Saturday.
Kutztown (41-8-1, 15-1) is the East's No. 1 seed and will host Edinboro (24-17, 7-7), the West's No. 2 seed, and Mansfield (14-18, 6-10), the Central's No. 3 seed. Lock Haven (38-5, 15-1), the No. 1 seed from the Central, will play host to East No. 2 Shippensburg (23-15, 11-5) and West No. 3 Slippery Rock (19-21, 7-9). California (32-6, 13-1), the West's No. 1 seed, is hosting Bloomsburg (29-7, 13-3) and the Warriors.
The winners of each group will advance to the conference finals, which will be held next Sunday, May 3, at a site yet-to-be-announced in a single-elimination format.
Tournament Schedule
At Kutztown
Friday, April 24
Game 1 - (W2) Edinboro vs. (C3) Mansfield, 11:00 a.m.
Game 2 - (E1) Kutztown vs. Game 1 winner, 1:00 p.m.
Game 3 - Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 3:00 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Saturday, April 25
Game 4 - Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 11:00 a.m.
Game 5 - Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner (if necessary, should game 3 winner win game 4)
At Lock Haven
Friday, April 24
Game 1 - (E2) Shippensburg vs. (W3) Slippery Rock, 11:00 a.m.
Game 2 - (C1) Lock Haven vs. Game 1 winner, 1:00 p.m.
Game 3 - Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 3:00 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Saturday, April 25
Game 4 - Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 1:00 p.m.
Game 5 - Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner (if necessary, should game 3 winner win game 4)
At California (Pa.)
Friday, April 24
Game 1 - (C2) Bloomsburg vs. (E3) East Stroudsburg, 11:00 a.m.
Game 2 - (W1) California (Pa.) vs. Game 1 winner, 1:00 p.m.
Game 3 - Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 3:00 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Saturday, April 25
Game 4 - Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 1:00 p.m.
Game 5 - Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner (if necessary, should game 3 winner win game 4)
