ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College softball team earned the No. 2 seed in the Liberty League Championship and hosting rights for the semifinal round. Ithaca will take on No. 3 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 12 at Kostrinsky Field for a chance to play in the Liberty League final on Saturday. This year's tournament is comprised of the top four teams in the league standings and will be single-elimination format.
Ithaca finished the regular season with a 24-7 overall and record and 19-4 mark in Liberty League play. RPI went 10-4 overall and 9-3 in the Liberty League after getting a late start to the season.
The University of Rochester earned the top seed with a 29-8 overall record and 22-3 mark in the league. Skidmore College slipped into the fourth seed at 11-8. U of R and Skidmore will play 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The highest remaining seed after Wednesday's contests will host the championship game, which has an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship on the line.
Fans can follow Wednesday's action at Kostrinsky Field via
webcast and
live stats.
The Bombers and Engineers are no strangers to one another as there have been 39 all-time meetings between the two schools since 1993. Ithaca leads the series, 31-8, but within Liberty League action, the matchup is 4-4 since 2018.
INSIDE LOOK AT ITHACA AND RPI:
The Bombers:
Ithaca is batting .298 this season with six players hitting over .300. The Bombers have outscored their opposition on the season, 182-67, and IC also has hit 27 homeruns on the year and stolen 80 bases. In comparison, IC's opponents have hit nine homeruns and stolen 15 bags.
Julia Loffredo leads the team with a .356 average, seven homeruns and 34 RBI.
Gabby Laccona owns a team-best 35 runs, 33 hits and 10 doubles, to go along with a .351 average.
Allison Dell'Orto has swiped 19 bases on the season with a team-high 18 walks and a .344 average, while
Haley Gaffney is hitting .341 with 10 doubles, six homeruns and 28 RBI.
Kailey Collins is the fifth Bombers hitting over .300 on the season at .317.
Haley White provides power within the lineup with seven homers on the season, while
Daniella Mulvey and
Tava Kasper will also factor into the starting lineup.
In the circle, IC possesses two solid options in
Beth Fleming and
Riley Piromalli. Fleming is 11-6 on the season with 101 strikeouts in 101.2 innings pitched with a 2.34 ERA, while Piromalli is 13-1 with a 2.01 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 94.0 innings.
The Engineers:
RPI is batting .345 in its short season. Six Engineers are hitting over .300, while two of those are over the .400 mark. RPI holds a significant edge in doubles on the season, leading its opponents by a 38-to-9 advantage.
Catherine Worthington leads the Engineers with a .486 average, while Erin Askins is hitting .477 with seven doubles, three homeruns, 17 runs scored and 16 RBI. Maddie Provencher owns a .395 average, Veronica DeStefano is hitting .386 and Allie Hunt swings at a .378 clip. Liv Vizzini is the sixth Engineer over a .300 average at .345.
Brooke Sroczinski and Alexis Cooke are both 5-2 on the season in the circle. Sroczinski owns a 2.42 ERA in 46.1 innings pitched with 40 strikeouts, while Cooke has thrown 37.0 innings with 32 strikeouts and a 3.78 ERA.
