GORHAM, Maine – Securing the No. 3 seed the University of Southern Maine Huskies are preparing to compete at the 2023 Little East Conference Softball Tournament Championship May 10-13. Southern Maine will face No. 6 UMass Boston at 3:00 pm on Wednesday.
Hosted by No. 1 seed Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors, the 2023 LEC Regular Season Champions, the top six teams in the final regular season standing qualify for the double-elimination championship tournament. The top two seeds (Eastern Connecticut and UMass Dartmouth) receive a first-round bye.
The 2023 Little East Conference Champion will receive the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, beginning with Regional Championships May 18 – May 20 Sixty-two teams will be selected for the championship field to compete in 15 regional sites. The NCAA will host an online selection show on May 15 (1:00 pm EST) announcing participating teams and regional sites.
THE BASICS
When: Wednesday, May 10 – Saturday, May 13, 2023
Where: Mansfield Sports Complex (Mansfield, Conn.) - Clyde Washburne Field – Eastern Connecticut State University
Participating Teams: Castleton University, Eastern Connecticut State University, Rhode Island College, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, University of Southern Maine
The History:
The 2023 LEC tournament will be the Huskies' seventh postseason appearance in the past eight seasons. USM has been the No. 3 seed in the tournament twice in 2016, 2018 As the 2021 LEC regular season champion, Southern Maine was the second seed in the 2022 tournament and were eliminated on the third day of the tourney.
Southern Maine has won the LEC tournament championship once (1998) and has finished as the tournament runner-up five times (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2021)
In 19 appearances in the Little East Conference Tournament Championship (1996-2021*), Southern Maine has played in 61 games and has a record of 26-35 (.426 winning percentage).
2023 Little East Conference Tournament Seeds:
- Eastern Connecticut 26-8, 16-0 LEC
- UMass Dartmouth 25-10, 12-4 LEC
- University of Southern Maine 19-19, 10-6 LEC
- Castleton 18-14, 9-4 LEC
- Rhode Island College 17-17, 8-8 LEC
- UMass Boston 20-19, 6-10 LEC
2023 LEC Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, May 10
Game 1: No. 4 Castleton versus No. 5 Rhode Island College
Game 2: No. 3 Southern Maine versus No. 6 UMass Boston
Game 3: Game 1 Loser versus Game 2 Loser
Thursday, May 11
Game 4: No. 1 Eastern Connecticut versus Game 1 Winner
Game 5: No. 2 UMass Dartmouth versus Game 2 Winner
Game 6: Game 5 Loser versus Game 3 Winner
Friday, May 12
Game 7: Game 4 Winner versus Game 5 Winner
Game 8: Game 4 Loser versus Game 6 Winner
Game 9: Game 7 Loser versus Game 8 Winner
Saturday, May 13
Game 10: Game 7 Winner versus Game 9 Winner
Game 11: If necessary
About the 2023 Huskies
The Huskies are 19-19 overall and 10-6 in the Little East Conference,. The Huskies three in-conference losses are to Eastern Connecticut (2), Rhode Island College (2) UMass Dartmouth (1) and UMass Boston (1).
As a team, USM is hitting .261 and are led by senior OF
Hannah Shields (Buckfield, Maine) who is hitting .316 with a team leading 23 RBI. Juniors P/OF/DP
Lauren Merrill (Bethel, Maine/Oxford Hills) is and
Belle Snyder (Epping, N.H.) are second and third at .315 and .305 respectively. Merrill has six doubles and 16 RBI, while Snyder is clocking in with seven RBI. Senior 1B
Rona Scott (Beverly, Mass.) is hitting .299 with 19 RBI, six doubles, a triple and a team-leading three home runs.
Merrill and Snyder lead the way in the circle for the Huskies. Merrill is 10-8 with five shutouts and 11 complete games. Pitching a team-leading 105.1 innings, Merrill has a solid 2.59 ERA with 77 strikeouts. She has held her opponents to a .233 batting average. Snyder has 95 strikeouts in 82.1 innings pitched and is 7-9 overall, and had a pair of saves to her credit with a 3.74 ERA. In conference, Merrill is 5-3 with a 2.68 ERA and two shutouts. In 47.0 innings pitched, she has 32 strikeouts and has held LEC batters to a .215 average. Snyder is 4-1 against LEC teams with a 2.39 ERA – both of her saves during the 2023 have come against LEC teams. Firing 38.0 innings, Snyder has struck out 53 and held batters to a .167 average.
About No. 6 UMass Boston Beacons
UMass Boston (20-19, 6-10 LEC) ending its regular season with a split (3-7, 4-1) against No. 5 Rhode Island College to earn the final spot in the LEC tournament. UMB is 6-8 at home, 7-9 on the road and 7-2 in neutral site games. Hitting .289 as a team, the Beacons are led by Sydney Sanden, Sofie Richland and Lauren Miner who are hitting .412, .348 and .321 respectively. Amauri English leads the Beacons with 32 RBI and is hitting .272.
Bri Melchionda leads UMass Boston in the circle. She is 12-3 overall with a 1.82 ERA with 131 strikeouts in 113.2 innings. Emily Dobie is UMB's number two with a 6-12 record. She has pitched 110.1 innings with 67 strikeouts and sports a 5.55 ERA.
USM split its 2023 series with UMass Boston, dropping game one 10-2 and then earning a 1-0 win in game two. Merrill pitched the game two win, firing 7.0 scoreless innings and striking out seven. She held UMB to one hit in the victory. Junior shortstop
Madison Day (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) was a combined 3-for-7 against UMB with an RBI.
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