FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


South Easton, Mass. - Southern Connecticut State University defeated and eliminated the University of New Haven 8-0 earlier this morning to advance to the Northeast-10 Softball Championship Final. The Owls will face Le Moyne College in the finals this afternoon.

Southern Connecticut freshman pitcher Jayme Larson (Aurora, Colo.) pitched a complete game shutout as she held the New Haven offense to only two hits, while striking out two batters to earn her 11th victory of the season.

Junior Kerry Iacomini (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) led the Owls' offense at the plate with a 2-for-2 performance, while drawing two walks.  Iacomini also drove in three runs and scored twice.  Freshman Alyssa Pagano (Monroe, Conn.) was 1-for-2 at the plate after hitting a two-run homerun and senior Monica Savarese (Orange, Conn.) had two hits and drove in two runs as well.

Southern Connecticut improves to 33-13, while New Haven is now 32-16.

The Owls are currently 2-1 in the double-elimination portion of the Northeast-10 Championship, while Le Moyne is 2-0. With a win over Le Moyne at noon, Southern Connecticut will force a decisive final championship game at 2 p.m.

With 15 member institutions the Northeast-10 is the second largest NCAA Division II athletic conference in the nation. Its 23 championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500 student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II conference.

Northeast-10 Championship Bracket

Wednesday, April 29
Game 1: #1 Le Moyne 2, #8 Assumption 0
Game 2: #2 New Haven 5, #7 American Int'l 2
Game 3: #3 So. Connecticut 2, #6 Pace 1
Game 4: #4 Merrimack 1, #5 So. New Hampshire 0

Saturday, May 2
Double Elimination for Remainder of Tournament
Host: Le Moyne
Game 5: #1 Le Moyne 4, #4 Merrimack 0
Game 6: #2 New Haven 4, #3 So. Connecticut 3 (8)
Game 7: #3 So. Connecticut 6, #4 Merrimack 2
Game 8: #1 Le Moyne 12, #2 New Haven 3 (6)

Sunday, May 3
Game 9: #3 So. Connecticut 8, #2 New Haven 0
Game 10: #1 Le Moyne vs. #3 So. Connecticut – 12 p.m.
Game 11: If Necessary – 2:00 p.m.