Cabrini University Cavaliers (22-10, 18-4 CSAC) vs. Immaculata University Mighty Macs (25-14, 17-5 CSAC)
Colonial States Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, Day One
Friday, May 4, 10am
Gwynedd Mercy University, Gwynedd Valley, PA

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GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA – The Cabrini softball team will make its fifth consecutive CSAC Tournament appearance and 18th in program history on Friday morning, as the Cavaliers face Immaculata University in the first game of the double elimination championship tournament.

The number two seed Blue and White will face the third seeded Mighty Macs at 10am at Gwynedd Mercy University. Gwynedd Mercy, the tournament's top seed, will meet number four seed Neumann at 12pm.
 
Winners of both games will meet at 2pm, with the losers of the opening games to meet at 4pm. One team will be eliminated at the end of Friday's action, with the remaining three advancing to Championship Day Two on Saturday.

The tournament's winner will also earn the CSAC's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Tournament.

The Cavaliers and Mighty Macs met just under two weeks ago, playing a pair of classic games. Trailing 7-1 midway through the sixth inning, senior Jess Giordano cut the deficit in half with a three run homer, before junior Marissa Alpaugh's walk-off double to center field capped a four-run rally in the seventh to seal the victory. Giordano went 2-3 at the dish with four RBI and earned a complete game victory in the circle with five punch outs.  

The Cavaliers fell into a 6-0 hole in the night cap a well, slowly marching back, as Alpaugh's three-run blast evened the score at 8-8 after six innings. The Mighty Macs added a run in the seventh, but freshman Amber Seamen's first career homer tied the game with two outs in the seventh.  Immaculata scored a pair of runs in the ninth, but the Blue and White could record another comeback.

Alpaugh drove in four runs with her two base knocks, while freshman Aysiah Cintron paired three hits and three runs scored. Senior Emily Smull suffered the loss, allowing just one earned run over five innings of relief.

The Blue and White went on to win three of its last four games, securing the tournament's number two seed with an 18-4 conference record, to secure its berth into championship weekend.

Immaculata (25-14, 17-5 CSAC) enters Friday's action riding an eight game winning streak, after allowing just three runs over its last 42 innings. The Mighty Macs rolled into championship weekend after a 10-2 win over Cedar Crest in Wednesday's opening round.

Immaculata carried a 1-0 lead into the third inning, when it exploded for five runs on just three hits, three walks and two hit batters. The Mighty Macs put the game away in the sixth, plating four runs, including a two-run home run by CSAC Player of the Year Annemarie Bartow.

Ashley Rey and Michaela Petito combined for six of the team's 10 hits and scored two runs each, while Bartow tallied three RBI. CSAC Rookie of the Year Emma Bischoff allowed five hits and two earned runs with seven strike outs to earn her 14th win of the season.

AS it its doubleheaders against the Mighty Macs, the Cavaliers split its two games against Gwynedd Mercy on Sunday. Trailing 2-0 in the fourth, Cabrini broke through with four runs. Sophomore Alexandra Schell's groundout scored Alpaugh, before freshman Jess Redding stole home on a double steal. Cintron's two RBI double to center field put the Blue and White ahead 4-2.

The Griffins regained the lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Cabrini sent the game into extra innings as Alpaugh scored after a leadoff triple. The Cavaliers blew the game open in the eighth, as senior Jenna Rodriguez and Alexandria Ramos recorded two RBI singles.

Rodriguez paired a career high three RBI with 2.1 innings of one hit relief pitching to earn the victory.

Cabrini could not continue its momentum into the nightcap, as Gwynedd Mercy sophomore Alyssa Morales held the Cavaliers to just two base hits.

The Cavaliers did not fare as well in their two early meetings against Neumann (22-14, 17-5 CSAC). The Knights' offense was on display when the teams met on March 25, as Neumann emerged with 10-1 and 27-14 wins.

Neumann's three, four and five hitters, sophomore Kierstin Fallers and juniors Jackie Schneider and Julia Cox drove in all 10 of the team's runs, while sophomore Jen Sieminski controlled the Cabrini offense, allowing just two hits with five strike outs over six innings.

Despite one of its best offense games of the season, the Blue and White could not keep up with the Knights in the nightcap.

Trailing 3-0 after the first half inning, the Cavaliers exploded for nine runs, as 14 Cavaliers stepped into the batter's box. Five Cavaliers recorded RBI in the frame, including Giordano who drove in runs in both of her at bats.

The lead was short-lived, as the Knights responded with six runs in the second, five in the third and three in the fourth to take a 17-10 lead. Cabrini got four runs back in the fourth, as junior Darian Caputo joined Alpaugh and Giordano with run scoring base hits, but it was not enough, as Neumann pulled way in the fifth with 10 runs on 10 hits.

Caputo and Giordano recorded three hits each for Cabrini, one more than Schell and senior Victoria Hall, while Giordano drove in five runs.

Meanwhile, eight of the nine Knight's in the line-up recorded at least two hits, with six tallying multiple RBI.