Softball | 5/3/2016 12:05:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT softball team will play in its first Liberty League postseason tournament, heading to Southside Field at the University of Rochester for the double-elimination championship that begins on Thursday, May 5. Fourth-seeded RIT will take on top-seed Rochester in the opening game at 2 p.m. Rensselaer is the No. 2 seed, while Skidmore is the No. 3 seed.
 
RIT (17-21, 6-6 Liberty League) enters the tournament having won four straight games, including a doubleheader sweep over St. Lawrence last Saturday to claim its first Liberty League postseason berth since joining the conference in 2011-12. RIT is out-scoring its opponents 189-169 this season.
 
RIT boasts a lineup with six players hitting at least .335. Junior Sam Killian (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) leads the way with a .409 batting average, one home run, and 25 runs batted in. Senior Amanda Cook (Royal Palm Beach, FL/Suncoast), the reigning Liberty League Player of the Week, is right behind, hitting .406 with 15 doubles, one shy of the single-season school mark, two homers and 30 RBIs in 31 games. She is second in the Liberty League with a .667 slugging percentage and 30 RBIs and leads the conference in doubles. Senior McKenzie Martin (Deposit, NY/Deposit) leads RIT and is in the top-five in the Liberty League in hits (45), runs scored (33), and doubles (12).
 
Junior hurler Sierra Valentine (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) is 10-8 with a 3.28 earned run average and leads the conference with 130 strikeouts in 123 2/3 innings. Lauren Mahar (Rotterdam, NY/Schalmont), named the Liberty League Pitcher of the Week on May 2, has six wins and 84 strikeouts in 110 1/3 innings of work.
 
Rochester (22-20, 10-2 Liberty League) is the No. 1 seed for the fourth straight season and is gunning for its third consecutive league title. The Yellowjackets are 5-1 against the tournament field this season, outscoring their opponents, 197-184. Kayla Kibling leads the team with a .424 batting average to go along with a home run and 16 runs batted in. Eight different players have at least 10 RBIs. Eleni Wechsler leads the Yellowjackets pitching staff with an 11-14 record and a 2.66 earned run average in 139 2/3 innings.
 
Rensselaer (27-9, 9-3 Liberty League), the No. 2 seed, is 4-2 against the tournament field this season. Stephanie Caudle leads the Engineers and the conference with a .452 batting average, four home runs, and 41 RBIs, while slugging .670. Devan Puhl is right behind with a .420 batting average. Rensselaer is hitting .317 as a team, having out-scored its opponents, 178-118 this season. On the mound, Caudle is 13-4 with a 1.91 earned run average, four saves, and 114 strikeouts in 121 innings this season. Victoria Hepworth is 8-3 with a 2.35 ERA.
 
Skidmore (16-22, 6-6 Liberty League) is the No. 3 seed having won the tiebreaker over the Tigers and is 2-4 against the tournament field this season. Dani DeGregory leads the Throughbreds with a .452 batting average to go along with two home runs and 20 RBIs. Lauren Fortunato is hitting .425 with team-best totals of four home runs and 28 RBIs. Skidmore is hitting .289 as a team and is getting out-scored by its opponents, 192-169 this season. On the mound, Amanda Carilli is 13-14 with a 2.86 earned run average in 173 2/3 innings.
 
The Tigers dropped a pair of extra inning contests to Rochester, 2-1 in 11 innings and 3-2 in eight innings at Tiger Stadium on April 23. Rochester leads the all-time series between the two schools, 24-19. RIT lost both contests at Rensselaer on April 9, 5-3 and 9-1. Rensselaer leads the all-time series between the two schools, 16-3. RIT and Skidmore split the season series at Tiger Stadium on April 17. RIT won game one, 1-0, while Skidmore took game two, 5-2. RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 17-11.
 
RIT is in its first postseason since the 2011 season, when the squad was a run away from its first Empire 8 Championship. The Tigers have made one NCAA Division III Tournament appearance, in 2001.
 
Schedule of Games (Double Elimination Format):
Thursday, May 5
Game 1: 2 p.m. – No. 1 Rochester vs. No. 4 RIT
Game 2: 4:30 p.m. – No. 2 Rensselaer vs. No. 3 Skidmore
 
Friday, May 6
Game 3: 10 a.m. – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 4: 12:30 p.m. – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 (elimination game)
Game 5: 3 p.m. – Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 3 (elimination game)
 
Saturday, May 7
Game 6: 12 p.m. – Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5
Game 7: 2:30 p.m. – If Necessary (if one-loss team wins Game 6)