Rutgers Softball Heads to Louisville for BIG EAST Championship
May 11 | Softball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 11, 2010) -Earning its first bid since 1998, the Rutgers Softball team will take on No. 1 seed DePaul at the BIG EAST Championship Thursday at Ulmer Stadium on the campus of the University of Louisville. First pitch will be thrown at 12:30 p.m. and the game will be televised live through BIGEAST.tv.
Sean Moth will be doing play-by-play and fans can watch all four quarterfinal games for $7.95 ($9.95 for a month's subscription).
The Scarlet Knights (24-30, 9-12) dominated Pittsburgh 7-1 Sunday in a must-win game to keep their BIG EAST hopes alive. Sophomore Brittney Lindley (Cicero, N.Y.) was a perfect 3-for-3 on the afternoon with two RBI and two runs scored. Classmate Mikelyn Messina (Prospect, Conn.) came up with the clutch hit, blasting a three-run homer in the first inning - her eighth of the season - to put RU up 4-0.
Rutgers finished its regular season with the most wins overall (24) and best winning percentage (.444) since 2004 (25, .462). The Scarlet Knights' nine conference wins are the most since 2002 (9).
Coming off back-to-back BIG EAST Honor Roll selections, Brittney Lindley paces the Scarlet Knights with a .354 average (ninth in the BIG EAST). Notching her 13thhome run against Pitt, the third baseman became the RU leader in single-season home runs, passing Nikki Childress (2004).
Over the last ten contests, Brittney Lindley has seen the ball incredibly well, hitting at a .560 clip and slugging at a 1.200 mark. Over that frame, the sophomore has four home runs and 10 RBI. In the No. 4 spot, junior Mandy Craig (Manassas, Va.) has also been hot as of late, notching a .344 average, three doubles and 11 RBI.
In the circle, senior ace Nicole Lindley (Cicero, N.Y.) paces RU with a 3.18 ERA, 11 wins and a career-high 126 strikeouts. In her last four appearances, the righty has fanned 24 batters and boasted a 1.30 ERA, holding opponents to a .184 clip.
DePaul earned a share in the BIG EAST regular season title and will be the No. 1 seed at the conference championship. Juniors Sean Plese and Brittney Yniguez lead the squad at the plate. Plese boasts a .356 average, 10 RBI and 10 stolen bases. Yniguez paces the team with 33 RBI and is batting at a .319 clip.
In the circle, senior Becca Heteniak heads up the DPU pitching corps with a 1.80 ERA and 19 wins. Freshman Bree Brown was one out away from a perfect game against Syracuse and boasts 16 wins in 2010 (2.43 ERA).
At the helm of the Blue Demons is Eugene Lenti in his 28th season. Lenti has taken four teams to the Women's College World Series, lastly in 2007.
The winner of Thursday's contest will take on the winner of No. 4 Villanova/No. 5 Syracuse Friday at 2:30 p.m. GAME NOTES
