University of Rochester “Yellowjackets” Liberty League Champions NCAA Regional Champions
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Rochester captured its second trophy in eight days when the Yellowjackets won the regional at Penn State Behrend College in Erie, PA. That followed a May 15 win over Ithaca for the Liberty League title. University of Rochester “Yellowjackets” Liberty League Champions NCAA Regional Champions 2021 NCAA Division III Post-Season Guide Championship Round at Salem, VA May 27-28 The 2021 University of Rochester “Yellowjackets” HC Margaret Yerdon-Grange AC Mary Karen Wheat AC Brittany Grage MGR Alyssa Graegin #2 Alizah Ayon #13 Allison Beckwith #11 Erin Bevec #7 Abbie Biggs #25 Jen Carson #4 Loren Castilloux #10 Hunter Gilbreath #19 Toni Anne Hahn #22 Hannah Keiper #5 Alexis Klee #12 Hannah Leahy #8 Alexis Pope #24 Sammi Re #23 Adryiana Rodriguez #1 Marissa Russo #16 Emily Sharlach #6 Madi Turner 2021 University of Rochester Softball Roster # Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown / High School (Pronunciation) 1 Marissa Russo OF 5-4 SR Sparta, NJ / Pope John XXIII (Marissa REW-so) 2 Alizah Ayon C/IF 5-7 JR Santa Fe Springs, CA / Santa Fe (ah-LIE-zah Ah-yonn) 4 Loren Castilloux C/IF 5-3 FY Orchard Park, NY / Orchard Park (CASTA-loo) 5 Alexis Klee OF 5-4 SO Newbury Park, CA / Chaminade College Prep. (ah-LEXIS klee) 6 Madi Turner IF 5-8 SO Newark, DE / Newark Charter (MADDY Turner) 7 Abbie Biggs P 5-3 SO Lakeway, TX / Lake Travis (ABBY biggs) 8 Alexis Pope IF 5-7 SR Ewing, NJ / Ewing (ah-LEXIS pope) 10 Hunter Gilbreath C 5-5 FY Aurora, CO / Cherokee Trail (HUN-turr GILL-breath) 11 Erin Bevec IF 5-5 SO Malvern, PA / Great Valley (erin BEH-veck) 12 Hannah Leahy P 5-9 SR Swampscott, MA / Swampscott (Hannah LAY-hee) 13 Allison Beckwith IF 5-7 SO Oxford, NY / Oxford Academy (Allison BECK-with) 16 Emily Sharlach P 5-5 SO West Windsor, NJ / Notre Dame (Emily SHARR-lock) 19 Toni Anne Hahn IF 5-5 SR Nazareth, PA / Nazareth Area (Toni Anne HANN) 22 Hannah Keiper IF 5-6 SO Chester Springs, PA / Bishop Shanahan (Hannah KY-purr) 23 Adryiana Rodriguez IF 5-7 FY Washington, NJ / Westwood Regional (A-DREE-ah-nah) 24 Sammi Re IF/OF 5-1 SR Bernardsville, NJ / Bernards (Sammy RAY) 25 Jen Carson UTIL 5-5 SR Milford, NH / Milford (Jen CAR-sunn) Head Coach: Margaret Yerdon-Grange (12th Year), 277-180 (Margaret YER-dunn GRANGE) Assistant Coaches: Mary Karen Wheat, Brittany Grage (Mary Karen Wheat Brittany Grage) Student Manager: Alyssa Graegin (Alyssa GRAY-ginn) Tournament Notes THE GAME: Rochester returns to the NCAA Division III Softball Championship Round for the first time since 2014 when the SO,tournament WHO’S HERE? was staged in Tyler, Texas. This time, the event is being held in Moyer Park in Salem, VA. The winners of eight regional championships are convening in Salem this week to determine the NCAA Champion. These are the eight champions and the regionals in which they played: Erie, PA – University of Rochester (ranked #14) defeated #16 St. John Fisher College. Decatur, IL – DePauw University (ranked #1) defeated Mount St. Joseph. Marshall, TX – Birmingham Southern (ranked #5) defeated #7 (and host) East Texas Baptist. Bangor. ME – Tufts defeated host Husson College. Sequin, TA – Defending nationall champion Texas Lutheran (ranked #2) defeated Emory & Henry (#15) Eau Claire, WI – Wisconsin-Oshkosh defeated Piedmont College Virginia Beach, VA – Virginia Wesleyan (ranked #3) defeated #10 The College of New Jersey HOWWaverly, DID IA WE – St. GET Thomas HERE: (#20) defeated #24 St. Olaf Rochester clinched the automatic bid by winning the Liberty League championship, 6-1, over Ithaca College on May THURSDAY’S15 at Rochester. SCHEDULE: (numbers are seeds) 11 a.m. - #1 DePauw vs. #8 Wisconsin-Oshkosh 1:30 p.m. - #4 Texas Lutheran vs. #5 Tufts 4 p.m. - #2 Virginia Wesleyan vs. #7 St. Thomas (MN) 6:30 p.m. - #3 Birmingham-Southern vs. #6 Rochester Rochester’s second game will occur on Friday. If the Yellowjackets lose to Birmingham Southern, they will play at 1:30 p.m. Friday against the loser of Virginia Wesleyan and St. Thomas. If Rochester wins, the team will play at 7 AGAINSTp.m. against THE the CHAMPIONSHIP Virginia Wesleyan-St. FIELD: Thomas winner. Birmingham Southern - Have not played previously DePauw University - Have not played in softball St. Thomas (MN) - 0-1 (lost, 9-1, in elimination round of 2014 Finals, 5/23/14) Texas Lutheran - Have not played in softball Tufts University - Have not played in softball Virginia Wesleyan - 0-1 (lost, 14-6, in preseason NFCA tourney in Tucson, AZ , 3-4-2018) HOWEVER,Wisconsin-Oshkosh THERE -ARE Have SOME not played TIES TO in softballTHIS FIELD: DePauw - Rochester defeated DePauw, 50-47, on 3/17/90 at Wittenberg University to win the NCAA title. Texas Lutheran - The women’s basketball team played in UR’s season-opening tournament on 11/22/03 71-48 UR) Tufts University - Tufts deeated Rochester, 3-1, in the men’s soccer national semifinal in 2018. ROCHESTERVirginia Wesleyan IN THE - UR’s NCAA women’s SOFTBALL basketball PLAYOFFS: team played in the Final Four at VWU in 2004. • • • This is Rochester’s eighth trip to the NCAA playoffs, its first since 2016 UR has two stretches of three years in a row (2007-2009, 2014-2016) UR advanced to the Finals in 2014. The Yellowjackets defeated Marywood, Alfred, and Messiah College in a regional played at home. UR swept Rowan University, 5-0 and 3-0, in the Super Regionals to advance to Tyler, Texas. Rochester lost twice in Texas, 8-7 to Wisconsin-Whitewater and 9-1 to St. Thomas (MN) Tournament Notes COVID DICTATED A DIFFERENT CONFERENCE SCHEDULE THIS YEAR: Eight Liberty League teams sponsor softball. In past seasons, teams would host back-to-back doubleheaders on three weekends and a single DH on a fourth weekend. Hypothetically, Skidmore and RPI would travel to Rochester to face UR and RIT. On Saturday, Skidmore plays at UR and RPI plays at RIT. On Sunday, they reverse the pairings – RPI at UR, Skidmore at RIT. The top four finishers would advance to the playoff scenario above. This year, teams played back-to-back DHs against the same opponent reversing the site on the second day. Roches- ter played at St. Lawrence on March 25 and hosted the Saints on March 27 (weather issues in the North Country on March 26 bumped up the date to March 25). Schedules were unbalanced. Rochester was able to play 25 of its scheduled 28 games. The final game of the back- to-back DHs vs. RIT was postponed when one of the umpires became injured. The teams were unable to schedule a ROCHESTERmakeup date. ATUR THEswept PLATE: a DH at RPI on May 1. The return DH for May 2 was cancelled due to weather concerns. The Yellowjackets have established numerous team single-season highs for offense this year, including batting av- erage (.328), slugging percentage (.534), on-base pct. (.414), runs scored (314), doubles (90), home runs (46), and RBIs (269). Five players have started all 43 games: LF Jen Carson - .333 (44-132), 31 runs, 13 doubles, 7 HRs, 39 RBIs, .591 slugging, .393 OBA 3B Alexis Pope - .344 (44-128), 37 runs, 12 doubles, 1 triple, 4 HRs, 41 RBIs, .547 slug, .412 OBA SS Toni Anne Hahn - .300 (36-120) 42 runs, 14 doubles, 7 HRs, 37 RBIs, .592 slug, .393 OBA RF Marissa Russo, .310 (39-126), 37 runs, 11 doubles, 1 HR, 12 RBIs, .421 slug., .413 OBA 2B Madi Turner, .310 (36-116), 17 runs, 9 doubles, 2 HRs, 18 RBIs, .44 slug., .398 OBA Two others have started at least 41 games. 1B Hannah Keiper 41 GP/41 GS, .407 (50-123), 32 runs, 8 doubles, 12HRs, 40 RBI, .764 slug, .510 OBA THEC Hunter DESIGNATED Gilbreath 42PLAYERS: GP/42 GS .242 (24-99), 20 runs, 7 doubles, 3 HRs, 18 RBIs, .404 slug, .359 OBA Allison Beckwith and Alizah Ayon have been the two most prevalent players in the DP role. Beckwith has played in 34 games (22 starts). She is hitting .324 (22-68), with 18 runs scored, five doubles, seven HRs, and 22 RBIs. (Slug- ging pct. is .706). Her on-base pct. is .405. Ayon has appeared in 31games (17 starts), hitting .323 (20-62), with eight runs scored, four doubles, one triple, 3 HASTILY:HRs, and 11 RBIs. Her slugging percentage is .565 and the on-base pct. is .391. Rochester has stolen 98 bases in 109 attempts. Every player in the top 11 in terms of games played has at least one successful steal. The leaders are Marissa Russo (25 of 30) and Sammi Re (16 of 19). Hunter Gilbreath is 9-9, Jen DEFENDINGCarson 9-9, Alexis THE KleeSTEAL: 9-11. Opponents have 15 steals in 23 attempts. First-year catcher Hunter Gilbreath has thrown out eight base stealers – THEfive when PITCHERS: Hannah Leahy pitches, two with Emily Sharlach in the circle, and one with Abbie Biggs pitching. Hannah Leahy – 23 app., 22 starts… 16-4 record, 2.12 ERA… 118.2 IP, 87 hits, 40 runs, 36 ER, 38 BB, 79 K… al- lowed 13 runs (nine earned) in last 13 appearances (60 IP)… threw seventh no-hitter in school history on April 24 at Skidmore (13-0 win)… Four hitter vs. Skidmore on April 25 (12-0 win)… Came within one out of a second no-hit- ter vs. #12 St. John Fisher on April 28 (won, 9-1, in five innings)… Two-hit Shutout at RPI on May 1 (4-0).., Got the Tournament Notes top-seed-clinching win at Clarkson on May 9, 6 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, one earned.