Senior Samantha Krantz has led the Skyhawks pitching staff this season with a 1.80 ERA and 11 complete games.

Skyhawks set program record for conference wins in sweep of Owls on Sunday

EASTON, Mass. (April 23, 2012) – Eighth-seeded Stonehill College, playing in its first Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) Tournament game since 2010, will travel to first-seeded Southern Connecticut State University, ranked no.16 nationally, on Tuesday, April 24 in a first round single elimination game scheduled for 2 p.m. at Pelz Field.

Admission for Tuesday's game is $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for senior citizens and children and $1.00 for students with a valid student ID.

Stonehill (24-14, 17-13 NE-10) earned its way into the NE-10 Tournament by taking game one of a twinbill versus Southern Connecticut on Sunday, 3-2, and capped senior day with a game two victory defeating the Owls 4-1 in five innings as the contest was called due to rain.

The Skyhawks sweep of Southern Connecticut pushed their conference record to 17-13 overall breaking the previous school record of 16 wins (16-11-1) set in 2001. Stonehill is also one win shy of tying the program mark for overall wins in a season at 25-8 (1985).

Senior Samantha Krantz (Hampton Bays, N.Y./Hampton Bays) has led the Skyhawks in the circle all season long posting a 1.80 earned run average and a 12-6 record overall in 112.2 innings. Krantz, who has made 23 appearances total, also has two saves to go along with 121 strikeouts (sixth overall in the NE-10) to 25 walks on the season and has held opponents to a .228 batting average. Krantz currently holds the all-time record in strikeouts at the College and also broke the single-season mark this year.

Fellow senior Kellie Reardon (Burlington, Mass./Arlington Catholic) is 4-3 overall with a 2.48 earned run average in 42.1 innings pitched (14 appearances, seven starts). Reardon has closed out two games for the Skyhawks, held opponents to a .244 batting average and has fanned 20 batters total in 176 at-bats against. This past week, Reardon compiled a 0.50 ERA in four appearances (two starts) in 14 innings pitched, yielding five hits, two runs (one earned), two walks and seven strikeouts. The senior went 2-0 overall and held opponents to a .102 batting average.

Offensively, junior first baseman/designated player Nicole Eisenmann (East Bridgewater, Mass./East Bridgewater) leads the squad with a .405/.474/.587 slash line, 19 runs scored, nine doubles, two triples, three homers and 27 runs batted in. Eisenmann ranks sixth overall in the NE-10 in batting average and third in on-base percentage (.474).

Junior Nicole Eisenmann leads the club with a .405 batting average.

Senior shortstop Chelsea Stryker (Baldwin, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial), the program record holder in at-bats, runs, hits and stolen bases, is batting .390 (53-for-136) with a team-leading 32 runs, one triple and 14 runs batted in. Stryker ranks ninth in the conference in batting average, is 6-for-9 in stolen base attempts this season and currently checks in with the fourth best batting average in program history at a .350 clip. Stryker has started in every game in her four-year career at Stonehill totaling 164 contests.

Sophomore Lindsay McKillop (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) paces the offense with team-highs in home runs (four) and runs batted in (32). McKillop is batting .368 (39-for-106) on the season with a .398 on-base percentage and .547 slugging percentage. Junior catcher Kelsey Wilcox (Canterbury, Conn./Griswold) is hitting .316/.386/.521 on the season, has nine doubles, three triples, three homers and 26 runs batted in.

Southern Connecticut (36-8, 24-6 NE-10), the NE-10 regular season champions, enter the tournament as the two-time defending champion after ousting American International College for its first ever title in 2010 and Merrimack College in 2011. The Skyhawks are 0-4 in the NE-10 Tournament.

Prior to dropping a pair of games to Stonehill to end the regular season, the Owls were winners of 11 out of their last 12 games and have compiled four-straight 30-win seasons.

Southern Connecticut is led by junior outfielder Brittany Bucko (Wallington, N.J./Paramus Catholic) who leads the NE-10 in batting average (.430) home runs (16), runs (60), total bases (127), slugging percentage (.841) and ranks second in on-base percentage (.494).

In the circle, senior Jayme Larson (Aurora, Colo./Smokyhill) is 19-2 overall with a 1.48 ERA in 128 innings pitched for the Owls. Larson leads the NE-10 in ERA, is second in wins, sixth in shutouts (four) and fifth in completes games (16). Larson has held opponents to a .209 batting average, struck out 103 batters while walking 37.

2012 Northeast-10 Softball Championship Schedule

First Round Single Elimination

Tuesday, April 24
Game 1: #8 Stonehill at #1 Southern Connecticut – 2:00 p.m.
Game 2: #7 New Haven at #2 Adelphi – 2:00 p.m.
Game 3: #6 Southern New Hampshire at #3 Assumption – 2:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 25
Game 4: #5 UMass Lowell at #4 Le Moyne – 2:00 p.m.

At Highest Remaining Seed - 

Friday, April 27
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 4 winner – 1:00 p.m.
Game 6: Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 winner – 4:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 28
Game 7: Game 5 loser vs. Game 6 loser – 10:00 a.m.
Game 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner – 12:30 p.m.
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 loser – 3:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 29
Game 10: Game 9 winner vs. Game 8 winner – 11:00 a.m.
Game 11: If Necessary – 30 minutes after conclusion of Game 10