May 2, 2011

Live Stats | Northeast-10 Tournament Central

 

UMass Lowell received the No. 5 seed and will host No. 8 Southern New Hampshire University Tuesday at 3:00 in the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference Softball Tournament at River View Field.

UMass Lowell (33-18 overall, 19-10 in the NE-10), which brings a 12-game winning streak into the NE-10 Tournament, received the No. 5 seed by virtue of its fifth-place finish during the regular season.

Assumption College (27-16, 21-9 NE-10) earned the top seed and will host the double elimination round Friday through Sunday. Southern Connecticut (27-18, 20-10 NE-10) received the No. 2 seed and was followed by No. 3 Merrimack (25-18, 20-10 NE-10) and No. 4 New Haven (32-15, 20-10 NE-10), each of which received byes into the elimination round.

In the other first round game Tuesday (3:00), No. 6 Adelphi (27-23, 19-11 NE-10) will host No. 7 Le Moyne (18-20-1, 16-10-1 NE-10).

Following losses to Southern Connecticut (Apr. 10) and Saint Michael's (Apr. 12), and fighting for its postseason life with an 18-15 record (4-7 NE-10), UMass Lowell has gone 15-3, including the aforementioned 12 straight wins.

"We're doing all the little things we need to," said UML Head Coach Sean Cotter, in his second year. "When we were 7-10 in the Conference, I asked the kids to just totally buy into the system, and they've done that.

"I think the sky is the limit at the moment," Cotter added. "We're certainly playing our best ball right now and this is when you want to be playing your best ball."

UMass Lowell and Southern New Hampshire met on Apr. 6 in Manchester, N.H., resulting in a split as both games were decided in the final inning. Southern New Hampshire won the first game, 7-6, behind an RBI single in the seventh inning by freshman 3B Morgan Farmer.

The River Hawks prevailed in the nightcap, 5-3, when, trailing 3-2 in the seventh, junior P Elyssa Boris (Gardner, Mass.) belted a three-run shot. Senior P Rachel Schafler (Floral Park, N.Y.) retired three of four batters in the bottom half of the inning to seal the win.

"We've had a couple slugfests with them the last two years," Cotter noted. "We know they hit, they pick the ball up and do a lot of little things right. They came from a 5-1 deficit and won on a walk-off base hit (in the opener). In the second game, Elyssa hit a three-run home run in the seventh for us to win it. So I think on paper we are evenly matched."

With a victory over Southern New Hampshire, UMass Lowell will match the school record for victories in a single season. The River Hawks went 34-20 in 2006. "We need to do the things we've been doing, and that is paying attention to the little details," Cotter noted.

2011 Tournament Schedule

Tuesday, May 3
Play in Game 1: No. 8 So. New Hampshire at No. 5 UMass Lowell
Play in Game 2: No. 7 Le Moyne at No. 6 Adelphi

Double-Elimination Tournament - Friday, May 6
Game 1: No. 4 New Haven vs. Play in Game 1 winner
Game 2: No. 3 Merrimack vs. Play in Game 2 winner
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. No. 1 Assumption
Game 4: Game 2 winner vs. No. 2 Southern Connecticut

Saturday, May 7
Game 5: Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser
Game 6: Game 1 loser vs. Game 4 loser
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner
Game 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner

Sunday, May 8
Game 9: Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 winner
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner
Game 11: If Necessary