Softball Gameday: Lady Bears at HVIAC Tournament

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- St. Joseph's (13-15) looks to secure its sixth consecutive conference title as it takes part in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) Tournament on Sunday at Sarah Lawrence College. The Lady Bears enter as the top seed and will face No. 4 seed The College of New Rochelle in the semifinals at 11 a.m. With a win against the Blue Angels, St. Joseph's will play for the championship at 3 p.m. against the winner of No. 2 seed Yeshiva and No. 3 seed Sarah Lawrence.

Game Information

2014 Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Softball Tournament
Sunday, May 4th •  Semifinals 11 a.m. & 1 p.m. • Championship 3 p.m.
Mary Levine Field •  Sarah Lawrence College •  Bronxville, N.Y.

Semifinals
11 a.m.: No. 1 St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (13-15, 2-0 HVIAC) vs. No. 4 The College of New Rochelle (0-26, 0-3 HVIAC)
1 p.m.: No. 2 Yeshiva University (5-6, 2-0 HVIAC) vs. Sarah Lawrence College (2-22, 1-2 HVIAC)

Championship
3 p.m.: St. Joseph's/New Rochelle winner vs. Yeshiva/Sarah Lawrence Winner

Live Stats
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Storylines

• St. Joseph's looks to increase their win streak to a season-high six games and improve to .500 for the first time this season with their sixth consecutive conference title and eighth overall.
• The Lady Bears try to improve to 2-4 in neutral-site games with a pair of wins and open up the month of May on a high note.
• St. Joseph's looks to continue its strong play in the month of May after going 13-9 in April.
• Yeshiva, New Rochelle and Sarah Lawrence all look for their first conference title in school history.
• The Lady Bears enter Sunday's tournament a combined 53-0 all-time against Yeshiva, New Rochelle and Sarah Lawrence.
• With a pair of wins St. Joseph's would continue its dominance against conference opponents, having won 39 straight regular season and tournament contests since 2008.

Series History

vs. Yeshiva: The Lady Bears maintain a 1-0 edge in the all-time series. The two teams squared off last year in the HVWAC Invitational semifinals with St. Joseph's defeating Yeshiva 12-0 in five innings.

vs. Sarah Lawrence: St. Joseph's holds a perfect 23-0 mark against the Gryphons, including taking both meetings on Senior Day last week.

vs. New Rochelle: The Lady Bears are 29-0 all-time against New Rochelle in a series that dates back to 2003. St. Joseph's won all three meetings between the two teams this season.

The Lady Bear Facts

Last Time Out: Powered by a pair of one-hit shutouts by Jackie Perillo and Jamilynn McGowan, St. Joseph's swept Sarah Lawrence College, 9-0 and 12-0, in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Padavan-Preller Field.

After a slow start to the season, the Lady Bears have picked up their play and are a pair of wins away from being .500 for the first time this season after being eight games under at one point. St. Joseph's has won six of their last eight games, using an offense that is hitting a blistering .505 (103-for-204) and scoring 9.1 runs per game during that stretch.

One-time HVIAC Player of the Week Cassandra Molinari is having a stellar junior season for St. Joseph's, leading the team in hitting all season and now has a sparkling .457 average. The catcher/second baseman also has 19 RBI and is three hits shy of 100 for her career. Molinari has stepped up her play in key moments for the Lady Bears, batting .541 (20-for-37) with runners in scoring position, driving in a team-high 12 RBI in such situations.

Two-time HVIAC Rookie of the Week Kristin Ferrigno continues to be strong contributor for St. Joseph's in her rookie campaign, batting .392 with a team-high-tying 21 RBI. Fellow freshman and this week's HVIAC Rookie of the Week Samantha Rossi is another new addition that has turned out well for the Lady Bears as the outfielder is hitting .378 with a team-high-tying 21 RBI and a team-high nine doubles.

This week's HVIAC Player of the Week Samantha Simon has been a key figure in the Lady Bears recent success, batting .647 (11-for-17) with eight RBI and nine runs scored in the last eight games. The freshman currently leads the team with 25 runs scored and has eight games with multiple hits. Another freshman Geena Campisi has added production as well, reaching base safely in ten consecutive games and is hitting .431 on the year with 14 runs scored and 12 RBI.

Anchoring the St. Joseph's pitching staff is this week's HVIAC Pitcher of the Week freshman Jamilynn McGowan who leads the team with a 5.27 ERA and is 6-8 with ten complete games. The rookie has tossed a team-high 75.2 innings and is coming off a one-hitter against Sarah Lawrence on Sunday. Junior Jackie Perillo also pitches for the Lady Bears, compiling a 7-7 record and a 7.28 ERA with 12 complete games in 75.0 innings.

The Mac Attack

Last Time Out: Yeshiva split a doubleheader with Globe Institute of Technology on Sunday, falling 7-5 in the opener before salvaging the split with a 13-9 win in the nightcap.

Yeshiva is in their first varsity season after going 2-2 as a club team a year ago. The Maccabees have had a solid inaugural campaign, sweeping fellow HVIAC schools Sarah Lawrence and New Rochelle, while hanging tough with Lehman and York in a couple of games. Offense has been the strength of the team, averaging 8.6 runs per game. However, the pitching staff is still adjusting and has compiled a 9.49 ERA.

On the offensive side of things the Maccabees are led by one-time HVIAC Players of the Week Erin Potasnick and Kayla Applebaum. Applebaum leads the team with a .440 average and has 12 RBI on the year. Potasnick hits .407 with a team-high 17 RBI, two homers, five doubles and has scored ten runs.

Leading the pitching staff is one-time HVIAC Pitcher of the Week Rena Genauer who has a 2-3 record in five starts and has accumulated a 7.27 ERA in a team-high 26.0 innings.

Welcome to Gryphondor

Last Time Out: Sarah Lawrence swept New Rochelle on April 29th to pick up their first wins of the season, earning a 14-5 win in the first game before taking the nightcap 22-13.

Sarah Lawrence enters today's contest on a two-game winning streak after suffering through a 23-game losing streak that dated back to last year. The Gryphons will play No. 2 seed Yeshiva in the first semifinal after the Maccabees earned 16-4 and 11-6 wins during the regular season. Sarah Lawrence looks to get back to the championship game where they have made an appearance in two of the last three years.

The Gryphons have trouble offensively as they hit only .221 on the year and have only scored 80 runs in 24 games. However, the offense broke out in their regular season finale at HVIAC foe New Rochelle, scoring a combined 36 runs in their sweep of the Blue Angels. The pitching staff hasn't been much better, coming in with a 12.82 ERA and allowing opponents to hit .460 against them.

Pacing Sarah Lawrence offensively in most statistical categories is one-time HVIAC Rookie of the Week Mackenzie Gassett who leads the team in batting average (.431), hits (22), runs (18) and triples (4). Erin Chafatelli adds a team-high 11 RBI and two homers on the season, while Lauren Gray has ten RBI and is batting .263 on the year. Rebecca Kuntz is a dual-threat for the Gryphons, batting .269 on the year and has pitched a team-high 60.0 innings with a team-best 11.67 ERA.

Angel Dustings

Last Time Out: New Rochelle suffered a sweep at the hands of Sarah Lawrence on April 29th, dropping a 14-5 decision in the opener and lost 22-13 in the nightcap.

The Blue Angels have struggled in all facets of the game this season and come in on a 26-game losing streak, losing all but one game by the run-rule. Offense has been a struggle this season as the team carries a combined .167 batting average and has only scored 47 runs on the year. However, the offense had its best showing of the season versus Sarah Lawrence, scoring a combined 18 runs including a season-high 13 runs in the nightcap.

New Rochelle also hasn't gotten any help from its pitchers, who carry a 25.44 ERA and allow their opponents to hit .558 against them.

Tanika Charles leads the Blue Angels with a .302 average in 53 at bats and has a team-high ten runs scored, while driving home five runs on the year. Coming on strong for New Rochelle is junior Jah-Leah Ellis who is batting .450 since joining the team midway through the season and has a team-high nine RBI and two homers in 20 at bats.

Charles and Amber Milan team up to do most of the pitching for the Blue Angels, with Charles compiling an 0-9 record and a 30.67 ERA in a team-high 41 2/3 innings pitched. Milan brings in an 0-5 record with a 20.86 ERA in 22.0 innings.

Team Comparison

Lady Bears	Nickname	Maccabees	Gryphons	Blue Angels
13-15 (2-0)	Record	5-6 (2-0)	2-22 (1-2)	0-26 (0-3)
HVIAC	Conference	HVIAC	HVIAC	HVIAC
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Cassandra Molinari (.457)	Top Avg.	Kayla Applebaum (.440)	Mackenzie Gassett (.431)	Tanika Charles (.302)
Kristin Ferrigno & Samantha Rossi (21)	Top RBI	Erin Potasnick (17)	Erin Chafatelli (11)	Jah-Leah Ellis (9)
Jackie Perillo (40)	Top K	Rena Genauer (14)	Rebecca Kuntz (45)	Colleen Baudendistel (12)
.351	Bat. Avg.	.273	.221	.167
.438	Slugging	.417	.289	.211
.417	OBP	.424	.305	.280
171	Runs	95	80	47
245	Hits	72	108	76
144	RBI	74	60	37
21	SB	24	22	46
6.47	ERA	9.49	12.82	25.44
.322	Opp. Avg.	.333	.460	.558
83/125	K/BB	26/80	67/105	30/188
.941	Field %	.883	.838	.823