Monmouth Heads to Knoxville for NCAA Softball Championship Regional Play
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KNOXVILLE, TN - The 2018 MAAC Softball Champions, Monmouth University open up the NCAA Softball Championship in Knoxville, Tennessee against the host Volunteers of the University of Tennessee on Friday at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN3. The other two teams at the regional are James Madison and Ohio--both conference champions from the Colonial and Mid-American respectively.
The four teams will play double elimination over Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the winner advancing to the super regionals next weekend.
FOR THE FIRST TIME
Monmouth achieved multiple firsts in 2018 and capped it with its 5-1 win over Fairfield in the MAAC Softball Championship game on Saturday.
- First MAAC Softball Championship
- First Softball Championship in program history
- First NCAA Championship appearance
- First MAAC team to go through 20-game conference slate with one loss
STREAK SNAPPED
The Hawks’ title snapped a three-year streak of making the championship round of the MAAC Softball Championship and coming up short. Fairfield clipped Monmouth twice, and Iona did it once.
MAAC at the NCAAs
The MAAC last won a game in regional play back in 2008 when Canisius topped LIU Brooklyn in Hempstead, New York. Canisius went 1-2 that regional with losses to Arizona and the hosts Hofstra. All-time, the MAAC is 6-46 in the NCAA Championship.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Monmouth won the MAAC Regular Season Title (19-1) and the right to host the MAAC Championship. The Hawks used it to full advantage by winning three games--the minimum--en route to claiming the program’s first NCAA appearance.
The Hawks had to come back in both games against #2 seed Fairfield. Monmouth trailed 1-0 and 2-1 in the winner’s bracket semifinal on May 10 before winning in 14 innings. Then in the championship round, Monmouth scored five in the fifth to flip a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 lead and win.
GOOD RUN OF FORM
Monmouth enters the regional winners of its last 13 and 24 of its last 25 games. The Hawks have lost only once since returning from California on March 19. That loss was to Iona on April 21, 6-3. Monmouth has lost just five times in the eastern time zone this season.
MONMOUTH IN THE MAAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The Hawks went 3-0 in the MAAC Championship and finished 2018 perfect at home (14-0).
Game 1: 3-1 Win over #5 Manhattan
Monmouth topped Manhattan 3-1 in its first game. The Hawks got a pair of home runs from Amber Wozniak and a complete game four-hitter from Amanda Riley.
Game 2: 3-2 Win over #2 Fairfield
Fairfield led 1-0 and 2-1 before Monmouth came back to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Alex Holzman won it for the Hawks with a solo home run in the bottom of the 14th. Riley pitched all 14 innings and shutout Fairfield in extra innings. Riley and Lauryn Rhinehart--Fairfield starter--combined for 432 pitches, 27 strikeouts, while facing 107 batters.
Game 3: 5-1 Win over #2 Fairfield
Fairfield jumped ahead of Monmouth in the championship round on a solo home run from Kate Robinson in the fourth. The Hawks then answered with a five-fun fifth that featured a pair of two-run homers--coming from Alex Holzman and Sam Tomasetti.
MAJOR ACCOLADES
Senior pitcher Amanda Riley was named MAAC Pitcher of the Year, and head coach Shannon Salsburg picked up MAAC Coach of the Year. Riley went 11-0 with a 0.66 ERA against MAAC foes and struck out 99 batters in 74 1/3 innings. Salsburg guided the Hawks to a 19-1 record in MAAC play and the program’s first Regular Season Title as a MAAC member.
FIRST CLASS HAWKS
A cast of Hawks was named First Team All-MAAC...
• Alex Holzman--catcher--was eighth in the MAAC in average at .375 in league play. The senior was second in the MAAC with six round-trippers in league play and hit nine overall.
• Amber Wozniak--infield--was third on the team in hitting at .313 and led in RBI with 36--second in the MAAC.
• Katie Baron--designated player--led the Hawks in average (.349), on-base (.479), slugging (.639), hits (56), and total bases (92). The senior was in the top five of the MAAC in all of those categories.
• Amanda Riley--pitcher--went 21-5 on the season with a 1.98 ERA and struck out 216 batters. Riley led the MAAC in strikeouts; innings pitched (187.2), and opponents batting average against (.191).
IN THE GAP!
The Hawks were seventh in Division I and led the MAAC in triples per game at 0.35 per contest. Katie Harrington led the team with five and three other Hawks had three. Harrington is 24th in Division with those five three-base hits.
TOUCH ‘EM ALL
Monmouth led the MAAC in home runs per game at 0.85. The Hawks were the only team in the MAAC over 0.70 for the season. Monmouth is 57th in Division I and third among the four teams that will be in Knoxville this weekend. James Madison leads the country at 1.52 per game, Ohio U is 25th at 1.02, and Tennessee is 64th with 0.82 homers per game.
LEAGUE LEADERS
Monmouth also led the MAAC in slugging percent (.431) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.13). Nationally, those numbers put Monmouth inside the top 75 of both categories.
TOP 25 NATIONALLY
Siena’s Madysen Cossack led Division I in doubles per game at 0.52. Cossack was also third in total doubles with 23 on the season. Manhattan’s Lauren Pitney drew the fourth-most walks per game in Division I at 0.96 per game. Iona’s Alana Evans was 16th in Division I in strikeouts per seven innings at 9.3. Kara Paradowski from Canisius was 22nd in stolen bases per game at 0.63. Emily Johnston of Niagara was 25th in saves with four on the season.
HAWK CIRCULING THE CIRCLE
Monmouth’s Amanda Riley took home the 2018 MAAC Pitcher of the Year honor. The senior posted an 18-4 overall record and finished MAAC regular season play with an 11-0 record, a 0.66 ERA, and 99 strikeouts. Overall, the California native led the MAAC strikeouts with 186 this season and batting average against (.194). Riley was inside the Top 50 nationally in saves, strikeouts, strikes per seven innings, and wins.
HAWK LEADER
Shannon Salsburg of Monmouth University was named the 2018 BSN MAAC Coach of the Year. In her third year at the helm, Salsburg led the Hawks to a 19-1 MAAC record and the regular season title—the first for the Hawks a member of the MAAC. The Hawks enter the MAAC Championship 21-1 in their last 22 games. Salsburg coached seven players to All-MAAC honors in 2018. It is the first MAAC Coach of the Year honor for Salsburg.
ALL-ACADEMIC
Five student-athletes from the MAAC were selected to the Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-Region team. Courtney Miller of Iona, Brandi Coon from Marist, and Lexi Courtney and Erin Larsen from Quinnipiac were named All-Region in District I. Chloe Howerth of Monmouth was named All-Region in District II. All five student-athletes were members of the 2018 MAAC Softball All-Academic Team.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 37th year of competition during the 2017-18 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter's University, and Siena College.