UB Softball To Open NCAA Tournament Play At Georgian Court University At 11:00 AM On Thursday, May 12

Indianapolis, Indiana-The University of Bridgeport softball team will begin 2022 NCAA Division II Championship Tournamnet play on Thursday, May 12, as the number-seven seed Purple Knights (36-14) will travel to Lakewood, N.J. to face second-seeded and host of East Regional Pod 2, Georgian Court University Lions (27-8).  The three-time champions of the East Coast Conference and the champions of Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference runners-up will face off at 11:00 a.m. followed by a game at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday between third-seeded Wilmington (Del.) (34-18) takes on sixth-seed Franklin Pierce University (29-10).

Each of the country's eight regions is divided into two, four-team pods for the opening weekend of action in the NCAA Division II Championship that will take place from May 12-14.  The winners of each double-elimination pod will meet the following weekend (May 19-20), in a best-of-three Super Regional to determine a regional champion.

The winners from each of the eight regionals will advance to the 2022 Division II Softball Championship which will be held at the Regency Athletic Complex in Denver, Colorado from May 26-31.

The other pod in this year's NCAA East Regional will be hosted by top-seeded Adelphi University (42-11); and feature the Panthers, number-four seed Caldwell University (37-15), number-five seed St. Anselm College (28-15 and number-eight seed Pace University (27-19).

This trip to the NCAAs will be the fifth in the history of Bridgeport softball, as UB's previous NCAA appearances came in 1988, 1989, 2019 and 2021.

UB won its third straight East Coast Conference softball title on Sunday, when the Purple Knights defeated Molloy College, 2-0, to sweep three games in this year's conference championship tournament, as Bridgeport opened play with a 7-3 win over Molloy on Wednesday and defeated top-seeded and host St. Thomas Aquinas College, 4-2, on Friday.

2022 and 2021 East Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year and ECC Championship Tournament Most Outstanding Player Kaite Burawski (Hartly, Del.) leads the Purple Knights into the 2022 NCAA East Regional with a 25-6 record and a 1.79 earned run average.  Burwaski has struck out a single-season, school-record 336 batters in 206.1 innings pitched with only 67 walks, and she has limited the opposition to a .181 batting average against.  Those 336 strikeouts lead the nation as of May 9, and she is third in the country in strikeouts per seven innings at 11.4.  She has also notched 11 shutouts and pitched 27 complete games so far in 2002, and her 575 career strikeouts have already set a school record.

This year's ECC Rookie of the Year, freshman shortstop Madison D'Amato (Warwick, R.I.) leads the UB offense with a .428 average from her spot at the top of the order.  D'Amato has also scored a conference-best 55 runs so far this season and has drawn 38 walks to give her an impressive .546 on-base percentage. She leads the Purple Knights with a total of 65 base hits.   Madison is also a perfect 12-for-12 in stolen bases so far in 2022,

Four-time, First-Team All-Conference outfielder Kaira Ramon (Sr., Stamford, Conn.) is second in batting average at .407.

Junior Taylor Yates (Elk Grove, Calif.), a First-Team All-ECC selection who is batting .380, provides plenty of power in the UB lineup with 11 home runs and a single-season, school record for runs batted in with 52.

2022 Division II Softball East Region 2 Schedule (Double Elimination Format)

Thursday, May 12
Game 1: No. 2-Georgian Court (38-13) vs. No. 7. Bridgeport (36-14) -11:00 a.m.
Game 2: No. 3 Wilmington (Del.) (34-18) vs. No. 6 Franklin Pierce (29-10) – 2:00 p.m.

Friday, May 13
Game 3: Winner GM1 vs. Winner GM2- 11:00 a.m.
Game 4: Loser GM1 vs. Loser GM2 - 1:30 p.m. (Elimination Game)
Game 5: Winner GM4 vs. Loser GM3 - 4:00 p.m. (Elimination Game)

Saturday, May 14
Game 6: Winner GM3 vs. Winner GM5 - 11:00 a.m.
Game 7: Winner GM6 vs. Loser GM6 - 1:30 p.m. (If necessary)

2022 NCAA DIVISION II SOFTBALL SELECTION SHOW

2022 NCAA DIVISION II SOFTBALL REGIONAL BRACKETS

2022 EAST REGIONAL 2 TOURNAMENT CENTRAL