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Clarkson University Athletics

CU Softball Preview - at Liberty League Championships (Ithaca, NY) - (5/2-4)

By: May 1, 2019
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Connor Koehler

Softball | 5/1/2019 12:21:00 PM

After one of the best one-year turn arounds in school history, regardless of sport, the Clarkson University Softball team is back in the Liberty League Championships for the second time in three years, heading to Ithaca College for this weekend's double-elimination tournament for the league's conference title.

Live Stats/Live Video
Tournament Webpage

Clarkson vs. The Field: The Golden Knights will be joined by host Ithaca College, their first opponent, as well as University of Rochester and Rensselaer. Clarkson went 0-2 against the Bombers in the regular season, with one of the games being decided by just a single run, a solo homer. The Golden Knights split with both Rochester and Rensselaer during the conference season.

Key Stats for Clarkson (25-13, 9-5 Liberty League, #4 seed): The Golden Knights were led by their three pitchers as the success of the team relied on the pitching staff of Olivia Zoeller, Sam Mennig and Leah Allen. Zoeller tossed both of her shutouts in league play, with one coming against Rochester, and was the hard-luck losing pitcher in the 1-0 defeat against Ithaca. She also was the winning pitcher against RPI, striking out nine over seven innings. Overall, Zoeller posted a 2.14 earned run average, 1.07 WHIP and 10 victories, striking out a league-high 101 hitters, with 87 of them coming on swings. On Offense, Raeanna Dunn led the way with a .420/.483/.489 slash line as well as 28 steals in 30 tries. Fifteen of those stolen bases came during the 14-game conference season. Michele Winn batted .360 with five home runs and 12 doubles and Liz Caggiano drove in 35 runs with a .325 average. Freshman Kayla Robert hit .291/.324/.388 overall, but those numbers increased to .326/.383/.419 when only counting league contests.

Key Stats for Ithaca (23-7-1, 11-1 Liberty League, #1 seed): Few pitching staffs can match the overall numbers of the Bombers, as Ithaca's group of hurlers has combined for a team earned run average of just 1.88. Emily Holden has the lowest ERA on the team at 0.81, striking out 36 hitters in 51.2 innings of work, most of which came in relief as she received a single start in 17 appearances. Beth Fleming (10-2, 1.41 ERA, 87 strikeouts, seven shutouts) and Haley Congdon (3.14 ERA, 35 strikeouts) have received the majority of the starting nods. Offensively, Vanessa Brown is batting .447/.496/.699 with 72 total bases, 13 steals and only five strikeouts in 103 at bats. Alex Wright (.409/.473/.548), Gabby Laccona (.366/.394/.462) and Abby Shields (.337/.431/.446) all contribute significantly to the offense as well.

Key Stats for Rensselaer (27-9, 9-5 Liberty League, #3 seed): The Engineers started the season 18-2 but have gone just 9-7 over their last 16 games. Part of that slump has come as RPI has not stolen as many bases as of late, swiping only 23 in conference (14 games) and 52 in non-conference contests (22 games). Veronica DeStefano (.438/.460/.578) and Jessica Torch (.393/.452/.429) have combined for 56 of those 75 steals, with Torch leading the league with 35 stolen bags. DeStefano is also among the league leaders in hits (56) and runs scored (38) with only seven strikeouts in 128 at bats. Allie Hunt (.367/.409/.467) and Quin Garant (.356/.456/.540) are also dangerous hitters in the lineup. Jaime Cleasby (2.33 ERA, 1.09 WHIP) and Erika Holowka (2.66 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 81 strikeouts) are the two anchors of the rotation.

Key Stats for Rochester (19-17, 9-5 Liberty League, #2 seed): Though Rochester comes in with the worst overall record, the Yellowjackets have some serious offensive threats in the lineup. Alizah Ayon is hitting .407/.485/.752, leading conference in slugging percentage, runs batted in (36), total bases (85), and home runs (12), with the latter figure doubling the output of any other player in the league. Sammi Re is hitting .422/.471/.467 in 14 league games, while Jessica Conforti (.333/.376/.397) and Harleigh Kaczegowicz (.311/.387/.549) have produced solid overall numbers. Kaczegowicz has 18 extra-base hits and five home runs. In the pitching circle, Elizabeth Bourne has a 2.71 earned run average with 39 strikeouts in 108.1 innings of work. Bourne is like the other Rochester pitchers in that they pitch to contact rather than getting hitters to miss, combining for 97 strikeouts and 75 walks in 228.1 innings this year.




 
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Players Mentioned

Leah Allen

#23 Leah Allen

P/IF
5' 8"
Junior
R/R
Liz Caggiano

#21 Liz Caggiano

IF
5' 9"
Senior
R/R
Raeanna Dunn

#5 Raeanna Dunn

IF
5' 4"
Graduate Student
L/R
Sam Mennig

#25 Sam Mennig

P/IF
5' 6"
Senior
R/R
Michele Winn

#3 Michele Winn

C/IF
5' 6"
Junior
L/L
Kayla Robert

#4 Kayla Robert

IF
5' 5"
Freshman
R/R
Olivia Zoeller

#9 Olivia Zoeller

P/OF
5' 4"
Freshman
R/R

Players Mentioned

Leah Allen

#23 Leah Allen

5' 8"
Junior
R/R
P/IF
Liz Caggiano

#21 Liz Caggiano

5' 9"
Senior
R/R
IF
Raeanna Dunn

#5 Raeanna Dunn

5' 4"
Graduate Student
L/R
IF
Sam Mennig

#25 Sam Mennig

5' 6"
Senior
R/R
P/IF
Michele Winn

#3 Michele Winn

5' 6"
Junior
L/L
C/IF
Kayla Robert

#4 Kayla Robert

5' 5"
Freshman
R/R
IF
Olivia Zoeller

#9 Olivia Zoeller

5' 4"
Freshman
R/R
P/OF