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Moon Township, PA -- Sacred Heart was declared the 2011 Northeast Conference (NEC) Softball Tournament champion on Sunday morning after the rain that drenched western Pennsylvania over the last 48 hours caused unplayable field conditions. The Pioneers now advance to the NCAA Tournament as the NEC's automatic qualifier.
The championship contest between #2 Sacred Heart and #3 Quinnipiac started on Saturday evening with the Pioneers holding a 3-2 lead when the game was stopped due to darkness heading into the fourth inning. With the game unable to be resumed and the NEC's auto qualifer due to the NCAA today, Sacred Heart was declared the winner based on their 2-0 record in the tournament. Although the Bobcats did not technically meet the double-elimination requirement, Conference policy stipulates that the last remaining undefeated team advances in the event competition can not be completed on the rain date.
Prior to today’s cancellation, Sacred Heart defeated Quinnipiac, 4-3, on Friday and upended Robert Morris, 7-3, in yesterday’s contest. Quinnipiac had staved off elimination by ousting Central Connecticut State, 8-5, on Friday and top-seeded Robert Morris, 4-3, on Saturday.
“We are extremely proud to represent the NEC at the NCAA Regionals, that’s for sure,” said Pam London, Sacred Heart co-head coach. “The team is ready. We are peaking right now, and we have great leadership from the seniors. They were there as sophomores when we won the title in 2009, and now they are ready to go back and do even better this year.”
Sacred Heart hurler Jen Russell (Seymour, CT/St. Joseph’s) won both her games and was named NEC Tournament Most Valuable Player for the second time in her career. She posted a 2.00 ERA, allowing four earned runs and 13 hits over 14 innings. Russell struck out eight batters and walked just three. She was also named tourney MVP in 2009 when the Pioneers advanced to NCAA Regionals and posted a 3-1 win over Cornell.
All Tournament Team
Jen Russell - SHU (MVP)
Taylor Froelich - SHU
Shannon McCoy - SHU
Nicole Sidor - SHU
Mina Duffy - QU
Jordan Paolucci - QU
Alexa Bryson - RMU
Allie Patton - RMU
Liz Montemurro - CCSU
2011 Northeast Conference
Softball Championships
Hosted by Robert Morris University -
Moon Township, PA
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