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2024 NCAA Softball Super Regionals Preview

5/22/2024 2:00:00 PM

The Rundown

Two wins away from a return trip to East Texas, the fifth-ranked Salisbury University softball team will stay at Margie Knight Sea Gull Softball Stadium and host the 17th-ranked Tufts Jumbos at the Salisbury Super Regional in the 2024 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament. The best-of-three series will begin with Game 1 on Thursday, May 23 at 2 p.m., followed by Game 2 on Friday, May 24 at 1 p.m. and Game 3 (if necessary) at 3:30 p.m.

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— NCAA Division III (@NCAADIII) May 13, 2024

Tournament Schedule

Thursday, May 23

Game 1 - Tufts vs. Salisbury - 2 p.m.

Friday, May 24

Game 2 - Salisbury vs. Tufts - 1 p.m.

Game 3 - If Necessary - 3:30 p.m.

Live Video

Live Stats

Regionals Information

NCAA Tournament Information

How We Got Here

With another strong regular season in tow, the Sea Gulls swept through three regional games with wins over Manhattanville and 11th-ranked Randolph-Macon. The Sea Gulls opened play with a 9-0 five-inning no-hitter over M'ville last Thursday before dispatching RMC 7-1 and 4-3 on Friday and Saturday for their third straight regional crown.

The 2024 Sea Gulls

#10 Lindsey Windsor | 2023 NFCA National Player of the Year

#18 Abby Mace | 4x All-Region First Team

#3 Emily Challender | All-Region First Team

#19 Nicole Ortega | All-Region First Team

#20 Emily Stockman | 2x All-Region

#5 Natalie Paoli | 3x All-Region

#4 Meghan Reed | All-Region First Team

#6 Lauren Meyers | Salisbury Regional Most Outstanding Player

Salisbury jumped on the board early against M'ville with five runs in the first inning, with Lauren Meyers' two-run double providing the capstone. The Sea Gulls then added four more in the fourth thanks to an error to go up 9-0. That was more than enough run support for Lindsey Windsor, who spun four no-hit innings before handing the ball to Sydney Adolfson for a perfect fifth to secure the 55th no-hitter in SU history.
In Friday's tilt with Randolph-Macon, the Sea Gulls scratched their first run across in the second as Natalie Paoli scored on a deep flyball-plus-error. Things stayed tight with SU leading 4-1 in the seventh before Emily Stockman broke it open with a three-run homer to make it 7-1. Nicole Ortega tossed 5.2 strong innings for the win before Adolfson nailed it shut.
The Yellow Jackets got their first run across in the third inning on Saturday before the Sea Gulls answered in the home third on an Abby Mace RBI double. In the fourth, Meyers' two-run wall-banging double sparked a three-run surge to put SU on top 4-1. RMC plated one each in the sixth and seventh and had the tying run on second base in the seventh inning, but Ortega came in from the bullpen and induced two lineouts to left to clinch the regional title.
Meyers (4-7, 3 2B, 5 RBI) was named Most Outstanding Player of the Regional, joining Windsor, Ortega, and Carrie Jacoby on the All-Tournament Team.
The Sea Gulls extended their NCAA Tournament home winning streak to 23 games dating back to the 2014 season. Salisbury swept through regional and super regional play at home in 2014, 2015, 2022, and 2023 and has not lost a national tournament home game since 2011.
Salisbury landed six players on the NFCA All-Region teams.
Pitcher Nicole Ortega, outfielder Abby Mace, and infielders Meghan Reed, Emily Challender, and Natalie Paoli each made the All-Region First Team, while catcher Emily Stockman was pegged as Third-Team All-Region.
The Sea Gulls have now placed multiple players on 23 straight All-Region teams dating back to 2001.
Salisbury sports the C2C's best offense in several major categories, batting a league-best .357 as a team with 312 runs (7.1 per game), 39 home runs, and 271 RBIs, while ranking second in stolen bases (111).
Abby Mace leads the C2C with 19 home runs - nobody else has more than five - and 52 RBIs while boasting a league-leading .481 batting average and ranking second in steals (34).
Emily Challender (.411) ranks third in the league in average, while Natalie Paoli (.385) slots fifth.
Paoli ranks second in the conference in home runs (5), and Carrie Jacoby and Emily Stockman (4) are tied for third.
Paoli's 36 RBIs slot second behind Mace, while Jacoby (33) and Meghan Reed (30) rank third and fifth, respectively.
Challender has stolen 19 bags, fifth-most in the C2C.
Nicole Ortega leads the C2C with 17 wins and ranks second in ERA (1.27), as well as fourth in strikeouts (70).
Isabella Purdy has won 10 games as a pitcher, good for fifth in the league.
Sydney Adolfson's 1.70 ERA slots third among qualifying pitchers, and Purdy (2.30) ranks fifth.
Nicole Ortega leads the C2C with three saves, while Adolfson, Madison Taylor, and Lindsey Windsor have each saved two games.
Salisbury boasts national rankings inside the top 10 in home runs (39), homers per game (0.89), slugging percentage (.544), and fielding percentage (.975). SU also slots top-20 in Division III in batting average (.357), on-base percentage (.431), total hits (420), runs per game (7.09), and total runs scored (312).
Abby Mace sits atop the national leaderboard in home runs (19) while also leading Division III in slugging (1.098), and total bases (146). She also carries top-30 marks in average (.481), doubles (18), on-base percentage (.590), RBIs (52), and walks per game (0.82).
Emily Challender has been hit by a pitch 15 times, good for ninth nationally. She also ranks 78th in on-base percentage (.507) and 194th in average (.411).
Natalie Paoli carries top-200 marks in hits (52), homers (5), RBIs (36), sac bunts per game (0.23), and total bases (79).
Nicole Ortega's 17 wins place her 30th in the nation. Ortega (1.27), Sydney Adolfson (1.70), and Isabella Purdy (2.30) all slot top-200 in ERA.
Adolfson also boasts the nation's best strikeout-to-walk ratio (21.00) and walks per seven innings (0.31), plus its 18th-best WHIP (0.84).

Scouting Report

#17 Tufts Jumbos

Tufts brings a 36-8 record into supers after hosting and winning their regional. After opening the weekend with an 8-4 win over Western New England, the Jumbos dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 18 Rochester before taking down St. John Fisher 8-0 (6 inn.) in an elimination game. Needing to beat Rochester twice to win the regional crown, Tufts rolled 15-1 (5 inn.) in the first game before eking out a 3-2 triumph in the winner-take-all game.

The Jumbos set a program record with eight NFCA All-Region honorees, good for the most in Region I. First-Teamers include pitchers Sophia DiCocco and Sky Johnson, third baseman Rachel Moore, and outfielders Kaitlyn Perucci and Lauryn Horita. Shortstop Josie Steinberg and outfielder Michelle Adelman made the Second Team, while catcher Keriann Slayton was picked for the Third Team.

Perucci is batting a team-high .443 with 20 extra-base hits, 26 runs, and 44 RBIs and is one of three Jumbos with a thousand-plus OPS (1.138). Horita has belted 10 home runs in just 97 at-bats, good for a 1.183 OPS, while Steinberg's .429 average and 15 doubles contribute to a 1.009 OPS. Steinberg was also named New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Defensive Player of the Year for the third straight season.

Co-aces DiCocco and Johnson have started 37 of the Jumbos' 44 games on the year. Dicosso has gone 16-4 with an 0.97 ERA, 12 complete games, and four saves over 29 appearances. Keeping pace is Johnson, who over 21 appearances is 14-3 with a 1.27 ERA and 12 complete games.

The Salisbury-Tufts fixture is a rematch of the 2014 national championship series. That year the Sea Gulls opened with a 2-1 Game 1 victory before the Jumbos won 6-0 in a 14-inning Game 2 and again 6-0 in Game 3 for the title. The teams also met in group play at the 2015 College World Series with Tufts winning 3-0.

What's At Stake

The winner of the Salisbury Super Regional will join seven other teams in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship, hosted by East Texas Baptist University. The College World Series will be held on May 30-June 5 at Bell Park at Taylor Field in Marshall, Texas.

Salisbury is seeking to make its third consecutive College World Series and 12th overall.