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ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 10 Ithaca College softball team earned the right to host a NCAA Regional this weekend after winning the 2019 Liberty League Tournament this past Saturday. The Bombers will host a pod featuring Brandeis, Penn State-Berks and Farmingdale State.
 
Action is slated to begin on Friday afternoon with a matchup between Brandeis and Penn State-Berks, followed by Ithaca's game against Farmingdale State. The winners of game one and two will move on to play on Saturday at 12 p.m.
 
Ithaca is coming off a championship weekend in which it won it won its second-straight Liberty League Championship. The Bombers defeated Clarkson, 1-0 in 10 innings during the first day of competition, before topping RPI, 8-0 in six innings, to advance to the championship game. IC clinched the title with a Haley White walk-off in the eighth inning en route to a 1-0 win over Rochester.
 
Sophomore pitcher Beth Fleming was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Performer after a stellar weekend in the circle for the Bombers. She picked up two wins, finished the weekend with a 0.00 ERA and struck out 19 batters in 18 innings of work. In Friday's win over Clarkson, Fleming struck out a career-high 14 batters. Fleming was also recently named the 2019 Liberty League Pitcher of the Year.
 
Senior Vanessa Brown, who was recently named the 2019 Liberty League Player of the Year, leads the team with a .430 batting average, 35 runs, 49 hits, 12 doubles and five home runs. She also has 23 RBI on the season and 76 total bases to go along with 13 stolen bases in 14 attempts.
 
In addition to Fleming and Brown, Alex Wright, Gabby Laccona and Emily Holden were named to the All-Liberty League First Team while Abby Shields picked up All-Liberty League second team honors. Holden leads the team and the conference with a 0.73 ERA as well as a conference-low 11 runs and 55 hits.
 
SCOUTING NO. 2 BRANDEIS
 
This is just the second time in history that the Brandeis softball team will be making an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Judges received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after posting a 27-6-1 record this season.
 
Brandeis finished second among UAA teams and was the last team at any level of collegiate softball to suffer a loss. The Judges finished their UAA slate with a 10-6 record, taking second place behind Emory. The UAA does not hold a conference tournament, so the regular-season champion gets the automatic bid to the tournament.
 
The Judges boast the UAA Coaching Staff of the Year as well as UAA Pitcher of the Year in Scottie Todd. The junior finished with a team-low 2.03 ERA to go along with a 12-4 record.
 
Brandeis' Sydney Goldman and Jolie Fujita also picked up first team honors while Keri Lehtonen and Marley Felder were named to the second team. Fujita is second in the league with a .421 batting average and led the team in hits (48), at-bats (114), runs (34) and RBI (26). Goldman currently has a 13-2 record on the season in the circle, a 2.09 ERA and 101 strikeouts on the season. Her 100+ strikeouts marked just the sixth time in Brandeis program history that a pitcher reached that number.
 
The Bombers last faced Brandeis on March 8, 2009 on their Spring Break trip. IC topped the Judges, 6-3.
 
SCOUTING NO. 3 PENN STATE-BERKS
 
The Nittany Lions are currently 31-0 on the year and coming off a perfect 18-0 mark in the NEAC.
 
Penn State-Berks is coming off a NEAC Championship for the third year in a row. It is the Nittany Lions sixth title in seven seasons. Berks defeated Keuka College, 12-1 in five innings, in the opening round of the tournament before topping Penn College, 3-1, to advance to the tournament championship. The Nittany Lions then went on to defeat Penn again in the championship game, 3-2. Brianna Smith earned NEAC Tournament MVP honors after going .889 (8-for-9) with one double, one home run, three runs scored and two RBI.
 
Head Coach Donna Ference was named the 2019 NEAC Coach of the Year while Jezz Rozick picked up her fourth-straight Pitcher of the Year honor. She was also named to the All-NEAC first team along with Brianna Smith and Val Miller. Hunter Hart was chosen for the All-NEAC second team while Maddy Davidson and Cori Dickinson earned All-NEAC third team honors.
 
The Bombers last faced Penn State-Berks in the NCAA Regional in 2017. Ithaca defeated the Nittany Lions, 3-0, in its first game of the weekend before winning, 5-3, to head to the regional final.
 
SCOUTING NO. 4 FARMINGDALE STATE
 
Farmingdale State won the Skyline Conference Championship last weekend with a 3-2 win over Mount Saint Mary. The Rams opened up the tournament with a 2-0 win over Mount Saint Vincent before moving on to defeated St. Joseph's (L.I.) to advance to the conference final. Sophomore pitcher Madeleine Smith was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament.
 
The Rams are currently 20-15 overall and finished their conference slate with a 14-2 record.
 
Six Farmingdale State players earned all-conference recognition this season.
 
Smith headlined the Rams' awards as she was named the 2019 Skyline Pitcher of the Year. Additionally, Smith earned first-team honors along with teammates Julianna Prescia, Sierra Cardenales and Priscilla Rivera. Lexie Collard and Jaxie Collard were both second team selections.
 
Smith leads the team with nine wins on the season as well as a 2.02 ERA, 11 complete games, four shutouts, one save, 104 innings pitched, 32 strikeouts and an opponents' batting average of .240. Cardenales leads the team with a .372 batting average.
 
The Bombers last faced Farmingdale State on March 13, 2010 in Panama City, Florida. IC defeated the Rams, 6-1.
 
ITHACA VS. THE 2019 TOURNAMENT FIELD:
The Bombers have faced four teams this season that will also be competing the NCAA Tournament. The Bombers split with Whittier, falling 7-6 before claiming game two, 2-0. IC also faced and split with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on its Spring Break trip to California, taking the first game, 9-1, before falling, 3-2 in the second game. The Bombers split with St. John Fisher at the end of March, losing the first game, 5-3, before winning game two, 8-0 in five innings. Finally Ithaca defeated Manhattanville, 8-0 in six innings on March 31. Game two of the doubleheader against the Valiants was canceled due to weather.
 
ITHACA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT:
This is the Bombers' 30^th trip to the NCAA Tournament. The team has played 145 games and holds an 83-62 record in NCAA play. Ithaca has been to five of the last six NCAA Tournaments and won a National Championship in 2002. Most recently, the Bombers finished tied for third at the 2018 Division III World Series.
 
GAME SCHEDULE
 
Friday, May 10:
Game 1: Brandeis vs. Penn State-Berks | 1 p.m.
Game 2: Ithaca vs. Farmingdale State | 3:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, May 11:
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 | 12 p.m
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 | 2:30 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3 | 4:30 p.m.
 
Sunday, May 12:
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 | 12 p.m.
Game 7 (if necessary): Same teams as Game 6
 
TICKETS
 
Adults: $10
Seniors/Veterans: $8
Students: $7
Children (under 12): $5