Bloomsburg Softball Set for PSAC Championship Run

BLOOMSBURG- The Bloomsburg University softball team will begin their quest for their 15th Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship and first since 2002 when they take on California (PA) on Thursday at 10 a.m. In the other first round match up, Edinboro will take on East Stroudsburg at 12 p.m. Kutztown and Lock Haven, the top seeds out of the East and West respectively, will receive first round byes. All games will be played at Kutztown University, the host of this year's championships.

Bloomsburg, the number two seed from the East, comes into the tournament with a mark of 32-11, 18-6 in the PSAC East. Bloomsburg is making its 24th appearance in the last 25 years in the PSAC playoffs. Head coach Jan Hutchinson, NCAA Division II all-time leader in career softball wins, needs just two victories to reach 1,600 for her career between softball and field hockey. The Huskies, winners off 11 of their last 12 games, will look to continue their hot play into the playoffs.

Offensively, Bloomsburg is led by freshman Nikki Shiko who is batting .404 with four homers and 12 RBI. Sophomore shortstop/pitcher Tara Reed is second at .383 with a team-high 13 doubles to go with three homers and 18 RBI. Leading the Huskies in homers is Missy Bachert with six to go along with 19 runs batted in. Ashley Lynn leads the pitchers with a mark of 18-3 and a 1.33 ERA. Lynn has fanned 169 in 131 innings and opponents are hitting just .186 off the junior. Coming into the tournament, Lynn has thrown 36 consecutive innings over the course of six games. In addition, she has been named PSAC Pitcher of the Week on three occasions and has thrown two no-hitters this season. Junior Sheelin Fisher has also been solid on the mound, going 10-3 this season with a 2.12 ERA.

Kutztown, the top seed from the PSAC East, enters the tournament with an overall record of 40-14, 22-2 in the PSAC East. The Golden Bears won its second regular-season PSAC East title under 20th-year head coach Judy Lawes. Kutztown features a potent offensive attack, leading the PSAC in almost every offensive category. The high-powered offense is led by sophomore first basemen Steph Denlinger, who is hitting .500 (62-124) with 61 runs scored, 67 RBI and a PSAC record 23 home runs. Center fielder Adriane Willmer is hitting .419 (65-203) with 60 runs scored and 21 RBI. She is Kutztown's all-time leader in hits and runs scored. Utility player Ashley Fitzgerald is hitting .404 (67-166) with a school record 19 doubles, 10 home runs and 57 RBI. At third base, Krista Cameron is hitting .364 (60-165) with 40 runs, 18 doubles, 14 homers and 54 RBI. Freshman pitcher Kaitlin Arbogast is 25-7, having won her last 19 decisions. She has struck out a school record 252 batters in 213.2 innings and has a 1.87 earned-run average.

East Stroudsburg, the number three seed in the East, enters the tournament with a 23-24 record, 14-10 in the PSAC East. The Warriors are coached by first year head coach Jill Fuduric. The Warriors are led by a pair of seniors in the middle infield in shortstop Jen Veronisi and second baseman Shannon Dietrich. Veronisi holds nearly every school record, including runs scored (122), RBI (89), home runs (17), triples (14) and stolen bases (68). She is hitting .315 this season, leads the Warriors with 27 RBI and 27 runs, and ranks in the top 10 in the country with 38 stolen bases. Dietrich has team-highs with a .325 batting average and a .432 on-base percentage in 2007. In the circle, senior Crissy Wontroba and junior Kristen Halvorsen have started all but two games for the Warriors. Wontroba is 13-8 with a 3.22 ERA and 105 strikeouts, while Halvorsen has posted a 3.09 ERA and 117 strikeouts.

Lock Haven enters as the number one seed from the West. In her eighth season, head coach Kelly Green has led the Lady Eagles to a number-two national ranking and a 41-2 overall record, 19-1 in the division. Last season was a banner year for Lock Haven. The team captured the PSAC West regular season title, the PSAC championship, they won the NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic region and the NCAA Division II National Championship. With the help of ace pitcher Kristen Erb, they are directing Lock Haven to the best record in the PSAC for the second consecutive year. Erb boasts an ERA of 0.26 on the year and is 28-1 this season when on the mound. Sophomore third baseman Sarah Norris leads the Lady Eagles with ten home runs, reaching double digits in that category for the second year in a row. Second baseman Devin Glezen leads the offense in batting average (.391) while hitting five home runs and 24 RBIs. Ilia Lopez is the team leader in runs (35), RBIs (42), total bases (82), and on base percentage (.445).

Edinboro claimed its first PSAC playoff berth since 1990 with a strong finish to its regular season. The Scots have won their last four games, including a sweep of Indiana (PA) on Monday to clinch the playoff berth, then a rain shortened 3-1 victory over California (PA) on Tuesday to earn the number two seed. The Fighting Scots' 19 wins on the season are the most since the 2000 team won 21 games, and the 12 conference wins are also the most since a 14-6 finish in 2000. Leading the way for Edinboro is pitcher Vanessa Rose. Rose has a 13-12 record with a 1.96 ERA. In 160.2 innings, she has allowed 133 hits and 18 walks while striking out 183. The lefthander shut out every team in the PSAC West at least once, including a 1-0 shutout of top-ranked Lock Haven, while matching her career high with 13 strikeouts. She holds Edinboro's single-season innings pitched record and needs seven strikeouts for that single-season mark. Second baseman Dana Webb leads the Scots with a .382 average, with three home runs and a team-high 24 RBIs. Shortstop Katelyn Gurgiolo is next at .330 and has a team-high 14 stolen bases. At third base, Danielle Arno has set the school single-season record for home runs with seven, and has 23 RBIs.

California, the third seed out West, clinched its 19th-straight PSAC Tournament bid earlier this week. The Vulcans rebounded from a 3-10 start with 11 wins in its last 15 games to even its record at 14-14. Head Coach Rick Bertagnolli, in his 14th season at Cal, recently posted his 500th victory on the Vulcan sidelines. Bertagnolli, who guided the Vulcans to five PSAC Championships (1996-2000) and two NCAA Championships (1997-98), has more wins than any coach in California University athletics history. The Vulcans rely on the leadership of senior shortstop Megan Timpf, a 2006 PSAC West second-team all-star who has already been selected to compete for Team Canada in the 2007 Pan Am Games and the 2007 World University Games. Timpf is third on the team with a .345 average and leads the Vulcans with seven extra base hits. Three other returnees who have put a charge in the Cal offense include centerfielder Deanna Valentino (.373), first basemen Amanda Collins (.320) and sophomore third basemen Heather Bihler (.326). The pitching staff is led by sophomore Meghan Johnson (7-4, 2.03 ERA), who had seven strikeouts during a perfect game against Clarion on April 13.

Kutztown will provide live webcasts of games one, two and four. Lock Haven is expected to webcast game three. The schedule for Webcasts of the Friday-Saturday games is to be determined. Those games that are available via Webcasts will be accesible at the tournament homepage. In addition, results and box scores for all games will also be available at the tournament homepage at: http://www.kutztown.edu/divisions/studentservices/departments/athletics/women/softball/2007/PSAC2007.asp