NCAA TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

The Bryant Bulldogs have reached their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs travel to Brookville, NY where #2 seed C.W. Post will be hosting the Northeast-10 Region. The Bulldogs will face #3 seed Dowling in the first round Thursday morning. Stay tuned to this site for all your tournament information.

BRYANT SOFTBALL RETURNS TO NCAA
TOURNAMENT FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT SEASON
Bulldogs Ranked No. 6 in Northeast Region

NCAA Notes (pdf)

BRYANT IN THE NORTHEAST-10 TOURNAMENMT
Game 1: #5 UMass-Lowell 8, #4 Bryant 4: The Bulldogs lost the opener of the Northeast-10 Conference tournament 8-4 after rallying to tie the game late. Nikki Ingalls (Westford, Mass.) took the loss. Down 4-0, the Bulldogs rallied in a wild four-run inning capped by a Stephanie Mirando(North Haven, CT) RBI single to tie the game. The Rivwerhawks, though, rallied in the 7th to take the victory 8-4.

Game 5: #4 Bryant 6, #2 Southern New Hampshire 1: The Bulldogs got back on the winning track thanks to a sixth inning rally led by Amanda Wilbur (Lakeville, Mass) and Ashley Coon (Fairless Hills, PA). The Bulldogs were trailing 1-0 in the sixth when Wilbur tied the game with a single, and then was driven in with Jessica Valentini (Cliffside Park, NJ) with the go-ahead runs. Janine Enos (Wareham, Mass.) got the win.

Game 7: #1 Le Moyne 2, #4 Bryant 0: The Bulldogs were eliminated in a tough game after the Dolphins pulled ahead on a pair of sacrifice flies in the sixth inning. Janine Enos (Wareham, Mass.) went the distance for the Bulldogs, her second start of the day. Kate Thomas (Bedford, Mass) and Lindsay Connor (West Haven, CT) had two hits apiece in the loss.

QUICK GLANCE AT  DOWLING
Bryant's first opponent will be the Dowling College Golden Lions. Dowling is 36-16 on the year and 18-3 in the East Coast Conference. Dowling is coming off two victories over Regional host and #2 seed C.W. Post Saturday to claim the ECC Tournament championship. Dowling is led by Taras Wallace, who hit .457 on the year with 5 HR and 35 RBI. Jackie Hannan has 6 HR and 41 RBI. Ace pitcher Jackie Rogers is 14-5 with a 0.78 ERA.

THE BULLDOGS VS. GOLDEN LIONS
The Bulldogs faced Dowling in the opening round of the 2005 Regionals in Syracuse, NY. The Lions handily defeated the Bulldogs 9-0 in that game. Five current Bulldogs started in that game: Lindsay Connor (West Haven, CT), Amanda Gagne (Wilbraham, Mass), Amanda Wilbur (Lakeville, Mass.), Briana Durborow (Ringoes, NJ), and Janine Enos (Wareham, Mass.). In the game, the Lions touched starting pitcher Enos up for 6 runs in 2.1 innings. Wilbur and Connor collected hits in the game.

BRYANT VS. THE REST OF THE FIELD
The Bulldogs have played 5 of the other 7 teams in the region this year. Their combined record against them is 5-7.

#1 Le Moyne: 0-3
#2 C.W. Post: 1-1
#4 Adelphi: 1-1
#7 Southern Conn: 1-1
#8 UMass-Lowell: 2-1

BULLDOGS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Bulldogs are returning to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth year in a row (and fourth time in school history). The team's overall record in the NCAA Tournament is 1-6. Current pitchers Janine Enos (Wareham, Mass.) and Nikki Ingalls (Westford, Mass.) are 0-2 and 0-1 respectively. Last year, the Bulldogs hosted the regionals, but were eliminated with losses to Queens and Adelphi.

NOTABLES / RECORDS CHECK
*   Amanda Wilbur (Lakeville, Mass.) has moved to the top of the career lead in most offensive categories. She is Bryant's all-time leaders in runs (129), hits (204), home runs (22), RBI (117), and total bases (329)

*   Wilbur is also one home run away from setting the single season record, which she set last year with 8 homers.

*   Another Bulldog senior has also worked herself to the top of the Bulldog record books. Lindsay Connor (West Haven, CT) is the program's all-time leader in at-bats (576) and stolen bases (55). She is only six hits behind Wilbur on the all-time list, and 2 away from her 200th career hit.

*  With a 3-0 win over Merrimack on April 23, Coach Lisa-Ann Wallace became the winningest coach in the program's 30-year history. She is a career 160-152-1 at Bryant.

*  Alison Chouinard (Swansea, Mass.) broke the single-season freshman home run record with 5. It had been held by Kate Thomas (Bedford, NH) with 4 in 2006.

WILBUR NAMED PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Amanda Wilbur (Lakeville, Mass.) was named 2007 Northeast-10 Player of the Year, as voted on by the league's coaches. Wilbur scorched NE-10 pitching with a .449 average, 7 home runs and 28 RBI. She also slugged an astounding .831 in league play.

THREE STRAIGHT NE-10 PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Wilbur is the third straight Bulldog to win the NE-10 POY award. 3B Deidre Kittredge won the award in 2005 and C Jordan Dargon won it in 2007. During that span, the team has also placed 19 players on the All-Confernce teams.

THREE  BULLDOGS NAMED TO ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
Three Bulldogs were selected to the Northeast-10 All-Conference teams. 2007 Player of the Year Amanda Wilbur (Lakeville, Mass.) was named to the first team, while Amanda Gagne (Wilbraham, Mass.) and Janine Enos (Wareham, Mass.).

Gagne is hitting .325 with 2 HR and 19 RBI this season while filling in defensively all over the diamond. Gagne has played shortstop, second base, first base, and the outfield this year. She is third on the team with 6 doubles and fourth in slugging percentage (.442)

Staff ace Enos is 10-7 on the season with a 1.61 ERA. She leads the staff in innings pitched (118.1), strikeouts (79) and shutouts (6).

Junior Janine Enos	Senior Amanda Gagne

OTHER STRONG YEARS FROM THE BULLDOGS
Several other Bulldogs had excellent years, but were shut out of the awards banquet. Junior third baseman Jessica Valentini (Cliffside Park, NJ) has started every game at third base and is second on the team with a .336 batting average. Freshman catcher Ashley Coon (Fairless Hills, PA) hit .326 and provided excellent defense behind the plate. Fellow freshman Alison Chouinard (Swansea, Mass.) was excellent at shortstop. Chouinard hit .281 with 5 home runs and 25 RBI (second on the team in both categories). She also played superb defense at second base, committing only 3 errors in 146 chances.

FRESHMAN STEPS UP IN NE-10 TOURNAMENT
Replacing 2006 NE-10 Player of the Year (and current assistant coach) Jordan Dargon cannot be easy, but freshman Ashley Coon (Fairless Hills, PA) has done an admirable job. After hitting .327 in the regular season, Coon was the catalyst of the Bulldog offense at the NE-10 Tournament. Coon hit .500 in the three games, with 3 RBI. Her RBI double Saturday, broke a deadlock with Southern New Hampshire and proved to be the winning runs in the Bulldogs' 6-1 victory.

SUPER SENIORS LOOK TO GO OUT ON TOP
The 2007 senior class of Nikki Ingalls(Westford, Mass.), Lindsay Connor (West Haven, CT), Lauren McNiff (Westford, Mass.), Briana Durborow (Ringoes, NJ), Amanda Gagne (Wilbraham, Mass.),  and Amanda Wilbur (Lakeville, Mass.).  is the winningest in program history. Since arriving at Bryant, the Bulldogs are 108-68 with 2 NE-10 championships and the school's first four trips to the NCAA Tournament. 

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Dowling's Official Site