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Nikki Mondo

2024 C2C Softball Championship Preview

5/9/2024 3:00:00 PM

The Rundown

The fourth-ranked and second-seeded Salisbury University softball team will travel south in pursuit of its third Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) championship in four years and 22nd conference title overall. The Sea Gulls will play in the 2024 C2C Tournament at Captains Park in Newport News, Va., on Friday through Sunday, May 10-12.

#C2CSB ?? | C2C Softball Championship Seeding

1? Christopher Newport
2? Salisbury
3? Mary Washington

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— Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference (@C2CAthConf) May 5, 2024

Tournament Schedule

Friday, May 10
G1: 2 PM - #2 Salisbury vs. #3 Mary Washington
G2: 5 PM - #1 Christopher Newport vs. G1 Winner

Saturday, May 11
G3: 11 AM - G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser
G4: 2 PM - G2 Winner vs. G3 Winner

Sunday, May 12
G5: 11 AM - If necessary

Live Video

Live Stats

Tournament Homepage

The 2024 Sea Gulls

#18 Abby Mace | Gr. OF | 3x C2C Player of the Year

#19 Nicole Ortega | Sr. P | All-C2C First Team

#4 Meghan Reed | Sr. INF | C2C Scholar-Athlete of the Year

#5 Natalie Paoli | Gr. INF | 4x All-C2C Teams

#3 Emily Challender | Jr. INF | All-C2C First Team

#23 Carrie Jacoby | Jr. C/INF | 2x All-C2C First Team

Salisbury finished the regular season with a 34-3, going 2-2 in C2C play after winning a pair against UMW and dropping two at CNU.
After spending 10 weeks from the top slot last year, SU was ranked No. 1 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 poll for three weeks from Apr. 16-30.
The Sea Gulls won 29 straight games from Mar. 14 through Apr. 28, good for their third-longest winning streak in the past 16 seasons.
SU went 4-2 against opponents ranked in the most recent NFCA poll, picking up two wins each against Virginia Wesleyan and Rowan while losing twice to Christopher Newport.
Center fielder Abby Mace won her third career C2C Player of the Year award after previously garnering the honor in 2021 and 2022. Second baseman Meghan Reed was named C2C Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and head coach Lacey Lord headed up the C2C Coaching Staff of the Year.
Joining Mace and Reed on the All-C2C First Team were pitcher Nicole Ortega, catcher Emily Stockman, first baseman Lauren Meyers, shortstop Natalie Paoli, third baseman Emily Challender, and designated player Carrie Jacoby.
Pitcher Isabella Purdy and utility player Jillian Dawson were also recognized as All-C2C Honorable Mention.
Salisbury sports the C2C's best offense in several major categories, batting a league-best .368 as a team with 275 runs (7.4 per game), 32 home runs, and 239 RBIs, while ranking second in stolen bases (100).
Abby Mace leads the C2C with 15 home runs - nobody else has more than five - and 44 RBIs while sharing the lead in batting average (.491) and ranking second in steals (32).
Three other Sea Gulls are batting over .400 to round out the league's top five, including Emily Challender (.467), Meghan Reed (.414), and Natalie Paoli (.405).
Paoli ranks second in the conference in home runs (5), while Carrie Jacoby, Emily Stockman, and Karlie Wolfe are tied for fifth with three apiece.
Paoli's 35 RBIs slot second behind Mace, while Jacoby (28) and Reed (27) rank fourth and fifth, respectively.
Challender has stolen 19 bags, tied for fourth-most in the C2C.
Nicole Ortega leads the C2C with 16 wins and ranks second in ERA (1.30), as well as fifth in strikeouts (62).
Isabella Purdy has won 10 games as a pitcher, tied for fourth in the league.
Sydney Adolfson's 1.69 ERA slots third among qualifying pitchers.
Madison Taylor and Lindsey Windsor have each posted two saves, tied for most in the league.
Salisbury boasts national rankings inside the top 10 in home runs (32), homers per game (0.86), on-base percentage (.444), and slugging percentage (.552). SU also slots top-20 in Division III in batting average (.368), fielding percentage (.972), total hits (366), runs per game (7.43), and total runs scored (275).
Abby Mace sits one back of the national home run lead (15) while leading Division III in slugging (1.120) and walks per game (0.92). She also carries top-25 marks in average (.491), doubles (17), homers per game (0.41), OBP (.610), steals (32), and total bases (121).
Emily Challender has been hit by a pitch 14 times, good for 10th nationally. She also ranks 21st in on-base percentage (.565) and 44th in average (.467).
Natalie Paoli carries top-200 marks in homers (5), homers per game (0.14), RBIs (35), sac bunts (3), and total bases (70).
Nicole Ortega's 16 wins place her 21st in the nation. Ortega (1.30), Sydney Adolfson (1.69), and Isabella Purdy (2.22) all slot top-200 in ERA.
Adolfson also boasts the second-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (17.00) in the country and the second-best walks per seven innings (0.38).

Scouting Report

#1 Christopher Newport Captains

#3 Mary Washington Eagles

Third-ranked Christopher Newport went 28-5 in the regular season, including 4-0 in C2C contests after sweeping both SU and UMW.
Jamie Martin took home C2C Pitcher of the Year honors, while outfielder Candace Slaw was pegged as C2C Rookie of the Year.
Four Captains made the All-C2C First Team, while four others were named All-C2C Honorable Mention.
CNU snapped Salisbury's 29-game winning streak on May 4, sweeping the home doubleheader 4-1 and 3-2.

Mary Washington finished the regular season 15-21, going 0-4 in league play after suffering sweeps at the hands of SU and CNU.
Utility player Bridget Laychak made the All-C2C First Team, and a pair of Eagles (P Caitlyn Burch, OF Hannah Steele) made All-C2C Honorable Mention.
UMW traveled to Salisbury on Apr. 20, dropping the opener 6-2 before falling 13-0 in a five-inning nightcap.

What's At Stake

Due to the C2C only fielding four softball teams, the winner of the C2C Tournament will not receive an automatic bid to into the NCAA Tournament. C2C member schools will need a Pool B or Pool C at-large bid to make the field.
The Division III selection show is scheduled for Monday, May 13 at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com.

The Rundown

Tournament Schedule

The 2024 Sea Gulls

Scouting Report

What's At Stake

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