University of Connecticut Athletics
Softball Begins Quest for BIG EAST Title Against Syracuse
5/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 7, 2008) - The University of Connecticut softball team has arrived in Louisville as it prepares to open the BIG EAST tournament Thursday. The Huskies are the three seed and will face the six seed Syracuse in their quarterfinal game at 10:00 a.m. The game will be webcast live on the BIG EAST website, and can be heard on WHUS 91.7.
Connecticut finished the regular season 27-21 and 13-7 in the BIG EAST. They were able to move up from fifth to third place over the final weekend with a two game sweep of Louisville on Saturday, May 3. Micah Truax (South Glen Falls, N.Y.) was a perfect 6-for-6 during the doubleheader with two RBI and one run scored. That performance earned her BIG EAST Player of the week honors for the second time this season.
The BIG EAST tournament features the top eight teams in the regular season in a three-day single elimination event. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that begins the following weekend. The winner of the UConn/Syracuse game will face the winner of #2 DePaul vs. #7 Pittsburgh on Friday in the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, the other quarterfinals are #1 USF vs. #8 Providence and #4 Notre Dame vs. #5 Louisville. The championship game will be held on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The semifinals and championship games will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports, and all games involving UConn will air on WHUS 91.7.
UConn’s quarterfinal opponent Syracuse is 21-31 overall and finished 12-10 in the BIG EAST. They moved up to the sixth seed with a dramatic 8-7 victory over Notre Dame in the second game of their doubleheader on Sunday. The Orange trailed 7-3 going into the bottom of the seventh inning before scoring five runs to win. They top player is junior Amy Kelley. She has hit .349 with 11 home runs and 31 RBI on the season. Their best starting pitcher is sophomore Brittany Gardner. She has a 13-12 record with a 2.65 ERA in 33 appearances (21 starts).
It is a win or go home scenario for UConn as they need to win each game to continue to advance in the BIG EAST tournament. If they are able to win the conference tournament, they will advance to the NCAA Tournament Regional round. That will take place on May 16-18 at a time and location to be determined.
