Westfield State Softball Regional Preview

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State softball travels to Moravian University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for the NCAA Division III double elimination regional tournament, facing SUNY Cortland on Thursday at 11:00 A.M. from Blue and Grey Softball Field.

The Owls are the number one seed in the four-team pod, meeting the Red Dragons who are the fourth overall seed. In the other game, the host and second-seeded Moravian meets third-seeded Bowdoin. The winners of both games advance to Friday's semifinal at 11:00 A.M, while the losers meet in an elimination game at 1:00 P.M. on Friday. The championship game(s) will be held on Saturday with game one at 11:00 A.M. subject to change.

VIDEO | LIVE STATS | TICKET INFORMATION | DIGITAL PROGRAM

#1 Westfield State Owls (38-1): The Owls enter the NCAA Tournament ranked tenth in the NCAA Division III softball NPI rankings and 21^st in the NFCA/GoRout Division III Coaches' Poll. Westfield earned the automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Tournament after a 1-0 extra innings, walk-off win in the title game against Worcester State. The Owls are making their third trip to the NCAA Tournament and first time since 1983.

The top five hitters in the Owls lineup were all named to the MASCAC All-Conference First Team led by conference Player of the Year, Sarah Hough (Southwick, Mass.), who's batting .398 with 11 home runs and 53 runs batted in. Senior Hannah Wodekci (Southampton, Mass.) and Kassidy LaTour (Lebanon, Conn.) are both hitting over .400 on the season with Wodecki leading the team with 55 hits to go along with a .420 batting average and five home runs. LaTour leads the team with a .443 batting average with five home runs and 41 RBI.

In the circle, MASCAC Pitcher of the Year Angelina Vartuli (Middletown, Conn.) will pitch in her first NCAA Tournament game after posting 15 shutout innings during the conference tournament. The MASCAC Tournament MVP owns a 14-0 record with a miniscule 0.85 earned run average, striking out 80 over 90.1 innings. Joss Mettey (Easthampton, Mass.) has thrown 71.1 innings, recording a 12-1 record with a 3.34 ERA.

#2 Moravian Greyhounds (32-10): The Greyhounds received the Landmark Conference's automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Tournament after a 4-2 victory over The Catholic University of America in game two of the conference championship for their fourth straight league title. Moravian is 28^th in the Division III NPI rankings and is in the tournament field for the 22^nd time in program history.

Similar to Westfield State, the Greyhounds have the conference's player and pitcher of the year in Kyra Holtje and Sarah DeStefano. Holtje leads the team with a .410 batting average, launching six home runs with 57 hits and 34 RBI. She has also thrown 92 innings for a 1.98 ERA, a significant two-way threat for the Greyhounds. DeStefano has tossed 141.1 innings in the circle with a record of 15-6, registering a 1.29 earned run average with a 99/27 strikeouts to walk ratio.

#3 Bowdoin Polar Bears (27-9): The Polar Bears are the lone at-large bid in the region after falling in the NESCAC quarterfinals to Williams College, 2-1. Bowdoin is ranked 39^th in the NPI and are heading to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.

The Polar Bears are led on offense by senior outfielder Anika Ewert who owns a .625 batting average with a 1.450 on-base plus slugging. She has swiped 44 stolen bases with two homers and 19 RBI. As a team, Bowdoin has stolen 112 bases and have been caught just eight times. Maddie Paschke is second on the team with a .379 average and 34 RBI.

In the pitching department, Bowdoin has split starts from junior Kathleen Hester and senior Maddie Current. Current has started 17 games, compiling a 10-5 record with a 3.70 earned run average, striking out 63 over 89 innings. Hester has a 2.43 earned run average in 19 appearances (seven starts), earning four saves and an 8-1 record in 69 innings.

#4 SUNY Cortland Red Dragons (25-15): Entering the NCAA Tournament as the SUNYAC automatic qualifier are the Red Dragons which won their second consecutive conference championship after sweeping through the tournament and defeating Buffalo State 6-1 in the title game. Cortland ranks 112^th in the current NPI rankings.

Shelby LaMont is the Red Dragons top hitter with a slash line of .426/.473/.635 with three home runs and 42 runs batted in. Maggie Cummings is a .356 hitter with 16 RBI and 13 stolen bases. Cortland has three players with double digit stolen bases.

In the circle, Gianna Endieveri has made 22 appearances (20 starts) and is 11-7 with a 3.12 earned run average in 92 innings. The sophomore hurler has 85 strikeouts compared to 27 walks. First-year pitcher Olivia DiSalvo has a 1.81 ERA over 73.1 innings, fanning 50 while walking 17.

ON YOUR TV:  The NCAA reports that fans can also stream all games for free by downloading the NCAA Championships Pass app on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV devices.

Next Week: The winner of the double elimination bracket advances into next week's super regionals in a best of three series against the victor of the following four-team pod: #1 Linfield, #2 Pacific Lutheran, #3 Transylvania, or #4 Marymount (VA) on Thursday, May 21 and Friday, May 22 at a site to be determined.