Seahawks begin run to TCCC Championship at Roger Williams

NEWPORT, R.I. - The Salve Regina University softball team has earned the No. 8 seed in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Championship playoffs and will travel to Bristol for a 3 p.m. game against No. 5 seed Roger Williams University Monday afternoon.

The Seahawks finished the regular season 15-25 overall and 12-12 in the conference. They solidified the final playoff spot by winning three of their final four conference games and will face a Roger Williams squad with whom they split a doubleheader with on March 30. The Hawks (17-22, 15-9 TCCC) captured game one, 9-7, behind a 4-for-4, three RBI performance from sophomore Kelly Marcin (Windsor Locks, Conn.). The Seahawks rallied back to win game two, 5-4, behind RBI hits from sophomores Jen Cruver (North Haven, Conn.) and Zeena Barbarita (Johnson, R.I.), as well as freshman Marissa Simpson (Brimfield, Mass.).

Senior Christina Walsh (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) leads the Seahawks with a .421 average and is second with 21 RBI. Simpson boasts a .364 average and leads the team in hits (43), doubles (17), RBI (24), and walks (17). Junior Kristen Parolise (Hamden, Conn.) has two home runs and 19 RBI, and sophomore Jillian Quintana (Denver, Colo.) has belted a team-leading four home runs. Cruver will get the start in the circle for the Seahawks after leading them in wins (eight), earned run average (3.71), and strikeouts (73) during the regular season.

Junior Hannah Pirez (Bolton, Mass.) leads Roger Williams with a .360 average, 40 hits, four triples, six home runs, and 29 RBI. She is also 10-of-11 in stolen base attempts. Marcin sits second in RBI with 17 and is hitting .236 while junior Erica Castro (Medford, N.Y.) is hitting at a .306 clip and has driven in 14 runs. Junior Jaclyn Doolin (Miller Place, N.Y.) is 10-7 with a 2.40 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 108.0 innings of work for the Hawks. Marcin, meanwhile, is 6-10 with a 4.89 ERA and 53 K's in 91.2 innings.

The all-time series between the two schools is even at 29 wins apiece. The Hawks own a 16-10 all-time mark against the Seahawks in Bristol and a 7-4 mark in TCCC playoffs. Two years ago, Roger Williams defeated the Seahawks 4-1 at Endicott College in Beverly, Mass. in the playoffs.

In other TCCC action this afternoon, No. 7 New England College travels to Milton, Mass. for a 4 p.m. game at No. 6 Curry. The winner of today's SRU/RWU game will face No. 4 University of New England in Beverly Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. The NEC/Curry winner will play No. 3 Nichols at Western New England College tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 p.m.