Bulldogs Headed to Syracuse to Defend Conference Tournament Title

May 3, 2007

 The Bulldogs will begin defense of their 2005 and 2006 NE-10 Conference tournament championships this Friday with a 12noon game against UMass-Lowell.

Junior Janine Enos

The Bulldogs will be the the #4 seed in the tournament, and would play #1 seed Le Moyne immediately after their first game Friday if they defeat UMass-Lowell. If the team were to lose, they woudld return to action at noon Saturday.

The Bulldogs took two games from the Riverhawks in Lowell on April 19. Click here for the game summary.

In the two games, the Bulldogs were led offensively by freshman catcher Ashley Coon (Fairless Hills, PA) and Amanda Gagne (Wilbraham, Mass.). Coon was 2 for 3 with 3 walks, while Gagne was 4 for 7 with an RBI.

Junior pitcher Janine Enos (Wareham, Mass.) tossed a 3-hit shutout for the Bulldogs in Lowell, while Nikki Ingalls (Westford, Mass.) also captured a win.

  The Competition

The Bulldogs were 19-9 in the Northeast-10 conference this year. Here is how they faired against the other teams in the tournament:

#1 Le Moyne: 0-2

#2 Southern Connecticut: 1-1

#3 Southern New Hampshire: 1-1

#5 UMass-Lowell: 2-0

#6 Merrimack: 2-0

 Four Bulldogs are batting over .300 against the teams in the field, including Amanda Wilbur (Lakeville, Mass.), Amanda Gagne, Lindsay Connor (West Haven, CT), and Ashley Coon.

Wilbur is scorching the other tournament teams with a .400 average in the ten games, scoring five runs and driving in 4. Connor has scored a team high 8 runs over the same span and Gagne has driven in 7 runs.

Amanda Wilbur is up for Player of the Year Honors

Freshman Alison Chouinard (Swansea, Mass.) has made the tournament teams pay in a big way. She is hitting .276 but has slugged two homers and a team high 8 RBI and 16 total bases.

Wilbur up for Top Honor

  Wilbur is also a finalist for the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year award that will be presented at the Conference's banquet Friday night.

Wilbur has a .400 average on the season, with 8 HR and 33 RBI. She has also anchored the team's defense in centerfield, slugged .725, and stolen 8 bases.

Wilbur was awarded the team's Bulldog award at the Bryant University Athletics Banquet Wednesday night. Coach Lisa-Ann Wallace has called Wilbur "the best athlete to ever come through our program."

Bulldogs Sixth in Northeast Regional Poll

The Bulldogs are ranked #6 in in the Northeast in this week's NCAA/Division II Regional Rankings. NE-10 regular season champion and conference tournament host Le Moyne in #1 in the region.

The top eight teams in each region will receive bids to the NCAA tournament that will begin next week.

NE-10 Tournament Schedule of Events

Friday, May 4

Game 1: #4 Bryant at #5 UMass-Lowell - Noon at Site A

Game 2: #3 Southern New Hampshire  at #6 Merrimack- Noon at Site B

Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. #1 Le Moyne- 3:30pm at Site A

Game 4: Game 2 Winner vs. #2 Southern Connecticut- 3:30pm at Site B

Saturday, May 5

Game 5: Game 2 Loser vs. Game 3 Loser - Noon at Site A

Game 6: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser - Noon at Site B

Game 7: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner- 3:30pm at Site A

Game 8: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner - 3:30pm at Site B

Sunday May 6

Game 9: Game 7 Loser vs. Game 8 Winner - 10:00am at Site A

Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner - Noon at Site A

 *Double Elimination

Last Year's Tournament

The Bulldogs have captured the last two touranments, at Le Moyne in 2005 and at Bryant in 2006.  Click here for the 2006 Recap

The Bulldogs captured last year's NE-10 Tournament at the Bryant Softball Complex in Smithfield, RI