California PSAC Tournament page

EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University will make its fourth straight appearance in the PSAC softball tournament when the Warriors travel to California (Pa.) for first round action this weekend.

ESU, the No. 3 seed in the PSAC East, faces IUP (No. 2 PSAC Central) on Friday at 11 a.m. California, the PSAC West's top seed, faces the loser of the first game at 1 p.m. and the winner at 3 p.m. to determine the remainder of the weekend's schedule.

This marks the second year of the PSAC's three-division, three-site setup that determines the three squads that will advance to the championship round. West Chester and Bloomsburg will also host after winning their respective divisions.

ESU is 4-1 all-time against IUP and 2-2 against California, facing both schools in doubleheaders last season. The Warriors swept IUP, 2-1 and 1-0, at Zimbar Field on April 4 as senior pitcher Jackie Battaglino shut out the Crimson Hawks on six hits in the second game and retired the first 11 batters she faced. ESU split at doubleheader at California (L 8-2, W 7-6) the next weekend.

The Warriors also made the trip to California for the PSAC playoffs last season, falling to Bloomsburg in a pair of one-run games, 1-0 and 2-1 in eight innings. They won their opening round game the previous two years, 9-0 (5 inn.) vs. California in 2008 and 1-0 (8 inn.) vs. Edinboro in 2007.

Battaglino and junior CF Alicea Ashe lead the Warriors into the postseason in 2010 after posting a 19-28 overall record and 6-10 conference mark during the regular season, as head coach Jill Fuduric has led ESU to playoff bids in each of her first four seasons.

Battaglino has completed 20 of her 25 starts and made 33 appearances, tied for the second-most in school history. She has an 11-15 record in the circle with a 3.86 ERA in 165.0 innings, including two shutouts. Battaglino and junior Caitlin Monahan (8-13, 4.68 ERA, 145.0 innings) have combined to throw every inning for the Warriors this season.

Ashe enters the PSAC playoffs tied for the school record with nine home runs and is also tied for third in ESU's record book with 30 RBI and 90 total bases. She is hitting .287 and is the only Warrior to start all 47 games, all in centerfield.

Junior Brittany Racek was on pace for perhaps the finest year in ESU's annals before her year was cut short by injury. Racek hit .381 with 16 extra-base hits, including six home runs, and a .691 slugging percentage in 32 games but made just three starts after March 27.

Several players have stepped up offensively in the last 20 games. Sophomore catcher Samantha Capriotti is hitting .318, Monahan is hitting at a .316 clip and Ashe (.309) is also above .300 during that stretch.

Sophomore SS Pam Sellers, the Warriors' flex player through the first half of the year, is hitting 10-for-36 (.278) since Racek went down. Sellers has started 46 of ESU's 47 games this season.

Sophomore 3B Rachel Gieringer, the 2009 PSAC East Freshman of the Year, brings a .348 batting average into the postseason and had an 11-game hitting streak earlier this season. Gieringer was 3-for-5 in two games against Bloomsburg in last year's PSAC playoffs, including a solo homer for ESU's only run in the second game.

The rest of the Warriors' lineup includes freshman OF Tegan Wendell (.246), Sellers (.237), senior C/OF Kara Darcey (.236), junior 2B Jamie Fisher (.227), junior LF Jamie Mingis (.205) and sophomore 1B Brittany Zanzalari (.195).

Darcey has been a starter on all four PSAC playoff teams since 2007. She has started 185 games in her career at ESU, 141 in the outfield in her first three years and 21 at catcher, 19 in the outfield and four at designated player this season. Darcey holds spots on ESU's career top 10 lists in six categories, including home runs (10, t-6th), runs batted in (74, 6th), walks (51, 4th) and hits (131, 9th).

Mingis is a three-year starter for the Warriors in the outfield while Wendell and Fisher are both in their first years at ESU, Wendell as a freshman and Fisher as a junior who transferred from IUP after two seasons. Fisher has drawn 24 walks, second in school history, and has a .370 on-base percentage.

Battaglino and Monahan have also contributed offensively, both as pitchers and designated players. Battaglino has .219 batting average (16-73) with nine walks for a .318 on-base percentage, while Monahan is hitting .311 (19-61) with two home runs.

ESU has a 6-8 record in its previous five PSAC tournament appearances, making the first two in 1980 and 1981 before qualifying the last three years. The Warriors claimed the first-ever PSAC softball championship during the 1980 season, the only crown in school history.

Seedings and pairings are listed below.

Eastern Division
1. West Chester
2. Kutztown
3. East Stroudsburg

Central Division
1. Bloomsburg
2. IUP
3. Lock Haven

Western Division
1. California
2. Mercyhurst
3. Edinboro

First round pairings - Friday, April 23

(at West Chester)
Game 1 - Lock Haven vs. Mercyhurst, 11:00 a.m.
Game 2 - West Chester vs. Game 1 loser, 1:00 p.m.
Game 3 - West Chester vs. Game 1 winner, 3:00 p.m.

(at Bloomsburg)
Game 1 - Edinboro vs. Kutztown, 11:00 a.m.
Game 2 - Bloomsburg vs. Game 1 loser, 1:00 p.m.
Game 3 - Bloomsburg vs. Game 1 winner, 3:00 p.m.

(at California)
Game 1 - East Stroudsburg vs. IUP, 11:00 a.m.
Game 2 - California vs. Game 1 loser, 1:00 p.m.
Game 3 - California vs. Game 1 winner, 3:00 p.m.