LAKEWOOD, NJ (May 10, 2023) - For the fourth consecutive postseason, Georgian Court Softball is back in the NCAA Regional Tournament.
Teams
No. 2 Wilmington Wildcats - 39-13, 21-3 CACC
No. 3 Georgian Court Lions - 37-19, 18-6 CACC
No. 6 Franklin Pierce Ravens - 32-18 - 16-8 NE10
No. 7 Pace Setters - 26-23 - 15-9 NE10
Where
Wilmington University, Asbury Field - New Castle, DE
How to Watch
• All games are available to watch via a free-to-view broadcast on the Georgian portal of the CACC Digital Network powered by HUDL. Live stats are also available at gculions.com.
Ticketing
• Adults - $10
• Students with ID - $5
• Senior Citizens - $5
• Children 2-12 - $4
• Under 2 free with a paying adult
Tournament Schedule
Thursday - May 11
Game 1: #3 Georgian Court vs. #6 Franklin Pierce - 11 a.m.
Game 2: #2 Wilmington vs. #7 Pace - 1:30 p.m.
Friday - May 12
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 - 10 a.m.
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 - 12:30 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3 - 3 p.m.
Saturday - May 13
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 - 12 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary) - 2:30 p.m.
**-Times are subject to change
Previously vs. The Field
• Georgian Court has seen all three of these teams during the regular season.
• The Lions and Wilmington have already met five times with Wilmington holding a 4-1 advantage.
• The Wildcats defeated the Lions twice on Championship Saturday to claim the CACC Tournament Championship.
• Georgian Court and Franklin Pierce met in the Lions fourth game of the season. The Ravens came out on top 9-1 in six innings.
• In last years NCAA regional, the Lions defeated Franklin Pierce by that same score, 9-1 in six innings.
• GCU and Pace played a doubleheader in Pleasantville at the end of March. Georgian Court took game one 1-0 before dropping the second, 11-6 in six innings, due to darkness.
• All three teams in the sub-reigonal made the NCAA postseason last year with Wilmington and Franklin Pierce playing in Lakewood.
Last Time Out
• Georgian Court needed just one win Saturday to hoist the 2023 CACC Tournament Championship. The Lions though dropped both games to Wilmington here in Lakewood.
• GCU finished the CACC Tournament 4-2 and as the tournament runner-up.
• Wilmington trailed 3-0 in game one on Saturday, but a six-run fourth gave them the lead for good.
• The Wildcats then scored three runs in the first inning of game two and went on to win by that 3-0 final.
• Taylor Barraza, Janelle Blaszka, Jayda Jones and Kaitlyn Stufft all made the All-Tournament Team.
Who's Hot?
• Janelle Blaszka appeared in five of the six CACC Tournament games. She totaled 26.2 innings with a 3.68 ERA and nine strikeouts.
• Kaitlyn Stufft hit .467 with a .550 on-base percentage. She drew four walks along with seven hits. After her team-record 27-game hitting streak came to an end, she's started a new one with hits in three straight. She's still reached base in 31 straight games.
• Jayda Jones had a team-high four RBI in the tournament and hit .313.
• Taylor Barraza had five hits in 12 at bats with three walks.
Individual Milestones
• Two more games played will get Taylor Lipkins to 100. She's also eight at bats away from 250. She needs one more run scored to match the GCU single-season record as well.
• Jadalynn Rodriguez needs three at bats to get to 250 in her career. She's also eight hits from 100.
• With six at bats, Kaitlyn Stufft will hit 400. Two hits will get her to 150 as well.
• Three more games played will bring Adriana Mungo to 150.
• Jayda Jones needs three at bats to get to 300. One more double will get her to 20, done just three others times in a single season.
• Taylor Barraza's next game played will give her 150.
Regional History
• Georgian Court has made four straight regional championship appearances dating back to 2019. There was no NCAA postseason in 2020 due to COVID-19.
• GCU also advanced to four straight NCAA regionals from 2007-2010.
• This is the Lions ninth NCAA regional appearance. They have advanced to the Super Regional in 2009 and 2019.
• All-time the Lions are 14-16 in NCAA games. Their most wins was four in 2009.
Lions in the CACC
• Within the conference, Georgian Court has one of the most potent offenses. They rank in the top-five in nearly every offensive category.
• In all of Division II, Georgian Court has the seventh most hits and are in the top-10 for doubles and triples.
• GCU leads the league in home runs with 32 and slugging percentage at .486.
• With 6.57 runs per game, GCU leads the CACC and is 20th in the nation in scoring offense.
• The Lions baserunning has played a big part in their success. They are second in the CACC in stolen bases per game with 2.12. They also rank fourth in the nation in with 27 sacrifice flies.
• Taylor Lipkins 44 stolen bases are the most in the CACC and seventh in D2.
• Jayda Jones' 19 doubles are fourth in the conference and 11th in the country.
• Kaitlyn Stufft leads all of Division II with nine sacrifice flies. She's also 11th nationally and leads the CACC with 63 RBI.
• Adriana Mungo is fourth in the league with 51 runs batted in.
About the Opponents
No. 2 Wilmington Wildcats
• Wilmington enters the NCAA Tournament winners on the heels of a CACC regular season and tournament championship. They won the CACC by two games over Caldwell with a 21-3 league mark.
• Wilmington had the CACC Player of the Year in Lexi Moore and Pitcher of the Year in Kylee Gunkel.
• The Wildcats are hitting .330 on the season.
• Wilmington leads the CACC with a .962 fielding percentage.
• They are second in team ERA at 2.15.
• League MVP Lexi Moore is hitting .471 with 54 runs scored, 20 RBI and 35 stolen bases.
• Sara Miller leads the team with nine home runs and 56 runs batted in.
• Kylee Gunkel is 19-5 this season with a 1.53 ERA and 103 strikeouts. She was named the league's Pitcher of the Year
• Delani Sheehan is 14-6 and pitching to a 2.78 ERA with 5.69 strikeouts per seven innings. She was selected as the CACC Tournament MVP.
No. 6 Franklin Pierce Ravens
• Franklin Pierce was knocked out in round two of the Northeast-10 Tournament but still finished the year 32-18 with a 16-8 mark in league play.
• They've been hot lately as well winning six of eight despite the early tournament exit.
• FPU put five on the All-Conference team including the Player of the Year Ashley Cangiano. She is seventh in Division II slugging .872 on the season with 31 extra-base hits and 54 runs batted in.
• Melissa Konopinski also made the First Team after hitting .382 with 29 stolen bases.
• The Ravens have the sixth most stolen bases in Division II with 147. Six are in double-figures and four have at least 17.
• In the circle, Franklin Pierce has a team-ERA of 3.51. Four pitchers have started at least nine games. Sabrina Gonzalez leads the team with 110 innings pitched and a 2.93 ERA.
No. 7 Pace Setters
• Pace fell in their first Northeast-10 Tournament game as well but held on to a spot in the regional with a 26-23 record. They finished 15-9 in conference.
• This is the second straight season Pace has made the NCAA Regional.
• The Setters had just one on the All-Conference team, pitcher Gisselle Garcia. She's 14-11 with a 1.70 ERA and 201 strikeouts.
• Pace is not the most explosive offense in the field. They have a .257 team batting average and score 3.86 runs per game.
• Helped out by Garcia, they're pitching to a 2.81 team ERA and have 291 strikeouts to 111 walks in 326 innings.
• Gwen Pederson is the only Setter in the lineup with more than 100 at bats and a .300 average. She's hitting .308 with a team-best 40 hits.