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ITHACA, N.Y. – After a thrilling come-from-behind walk-off 3-2 win over Moravian College last Sunday in the regional round of the 2016 NCAA Division III Softball Championship, the nationally-ranked Ithaca College softball team will host nationally-ranked Rowan University in a best-of-three series in the Super Regional round of play.  The series will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday and will continue on Saturday at Ithaca's Doris Kostrinsky Field.

Fans unable to make the trip to South Hill can still enjoy the action from anywhere in the world using live stats and live video.  Stay up-to-date with all the news by following the Bombers on Twitter @BomberSports.

Want to know more about this weekend's competitors?  Check out the game notes below:

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Ithaca, which won the Empire 8 Conference's automatic bid into the field of 62, earned its way into Super Regionals after winning all three of its contests last weekend on its home field.  The Bombers began the regional with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Mount Saint Mary behind a complete game shutout by senior pitcher Laura Quicker.  The Bombers followed that performance with a convincing 8-0 win over No. 17 Moravian College on Saturday after a shutout win by Allison Macari.  Ithaca punched its ticket to Super Regionals in the ninth inning of what turned out to be the deciding game on Sunday when Casey Gavin drove in Vanessa Brown who had led off the inning with a double to right-center.

Rowan won the New Jersey Athletics Conference Championship and made its way to Super Regionals after outlasting Cortland on Sunday in the Cortland Regional.  The Profs beat Castleton, 4-2, in their opening round game on Friday and went on to earn a 1-0 win over the Red Dragons in the winner's bracket game.  On Sunday, Rowan watched its six-run lead disappear against Cortland before eventually falling, 13-12, to force a deciding game seven.  The Profs would go on to take the game and the region behind a 7-3 victory.

NOT THEIR FIRST RODEO: While Ithaca and Rowan play in different conferences, the two teams are no strangers to one another having played 11 times before.  The Profs have won six of the 11 games played historically, however, the two squads have split their six meetings in the NCAA Championship.  Rowan and Ithaca last squared off in the 2014 Regional round of NCAA play with the Profs ending Ithaca's season with a 1-0 win.

ITHACA IN NCAAS: After earning yet another conference championship, the Bombers made their 27th appearance in the NCAA Championship, which is tied for the most appearances in Division III softball history with Central College.  Ithaca last made the tourney in 2014 and hoisted the national championship trophy in 2002 after defeating Lake Forest, 1-0.  Head coach Deb Pallozzi's squad finished fourth in the national tournament in 2005 and 2008.  Rowan by comparison has made the NCAA Championship 24 times.

ALL-REGION REPRESENTATION: Both teams boast a wealth of talent which was recently recognized by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).  Ithaca landed five players on the Northeast's All-Region squads while Rowan placed five on the East Regions teams.  For Ithaca, Casey Gavin, Allison Macari and Kelly Robichaud were named First-Team while Vanessa Brown and Laura Quicker were tabbed second and third team, respectively.  The Profs had three land on the First-Team including Beth Ann Hyland, Shilah Snead and Ashley DeYoung while Carly Anderson and Morgan Smith were Second-Team All-Region selections.

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER: Both teams feature a potent offense as Ithaca enters play averaging 5.7 runs per game with a .305 team batting average.  The Profs are scoring 7.6 runs per game and hit at a .362 clip as a team. 
Ithaca is led by Gavin's .412 batting average while Robichaud supplies a majority of the team's power with 12 homeruns and 32 RBI.  In all, the Bombers lineup consists of three players that hit over .360 with Vanessa Brown (.362) leading the team with 50 hits.

Rowan's lineup is led by Snead who is considered by many to be one of the best players in the nation.  Her .472 batting average and 76 hits are among the national leaders while her 64 runs scored leads all Division III players.  Outside of Snead, the Profs have seven hitters averaging over .340.  Six of Rowan's starters have 30 RBI or more led by Morgan Smith's 56.

WHAT ABOUT PITCHING: No surprise here – both teams have solid pitching.  Ithaca has two starters that are more than capable of shutting down even the best hitting lineups.   Macari and Quicker have combined to post 19 wins for Ithaca along with 13 shutouts this season.  Macari is 15-3 with a 1.79 earned run average over 117.1 innings of work while Quicker owns a 14-4 record and a 2.02 ERA.  The pair has combined to record 175 strikeouts.  Last weekend in regional play, Macari earned two wins and allowed just one run over 10 innings while Quicker tossed a seven inning shutout in which she surrendered just two singles.

The Profs rely heavily on their ace, Beth Ann Hyland, who is ranked in the top 10 nationally with 23 wins (23-5) this season.  Her 1.39 ERA, 150.2 innings of work and 155 strikeouts leads the team. 

WHAT'S NEXT: Whichever team wins this weekend will advance to the NCAA Division III Softball World Series in Salem, Va. May 26-31.  The winner of the Ithaca – Rowan series will face the winner of the Haverford – Messiah series in what will equate to the quarterfinals.