PREVIEW: Softball Readies For 2025 NCAA East Regional at Goldey-Beacom

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BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – After hearing their name announced on Selection Monday, the University of Bridgeport's softball team will now gear up for the 2025 NCAA East Regional. The Purple Knights, as the No. 6 seed, will travel to face third-seeded Goldey-Beacom College on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.

INSIDE THE REGIONAL (East Region 2 @ Goldey-Beacom)
UB will need to get through a familiar group of squads to advance onto a super-regional. The sixth-seeded Purple Knights are joined by CACC foes Goldey-Beacom (No. 3 seed) and Wilmington (No. 2 seed) along with a team they saw earlier this year in SNHU (No. 7 seed).

UB went 1-2 against the Lightning this season, 1-1 versus the Wildcats and 1-0 against the Penmen. Goldey-Beacom eliminated the Purple Knights from the CACC Tournament last Thursday afternoon after the two teams split a regular-season doubleheader.

Bridgeport and Wilmington also split a regular-season doubleheader on March 15 while UB's 5-2 win over SNHU came during their spring break trip to Florida (March 7).

HOW WE GOT HERE
The Purple Knights were rewarded with an NCAA selection due to a 33-14 overall record, a CACC regular-season championship (19-3) and their first national ranking in recent memory. Additionally, the Purple Knights posted a 27-9 in-region record which includes wins over each team at the regional this weekend.

INSIDE THE STATS
The Purple Knights own the second-lowest ERA (2.31) in the region this season in addition to boasting the second-highest slugging percentage (.454) and on-base percentage (.394).

Bridgeport is tied with top-seeded Pace for the highest fielding percentage (.974) in the region which is also ranked sixth in the country. UB made 12 fewer errors than any other team in the CACC this season.

UB also led the CACC in runs per game (5.75) during the regular season. Bridgeport has played numerous tight contests this season, including 15 games decided by two or fewer runs.

ALL-CONFERENCE PURPLE KNIGHTS
Kaite Burawski
CACC's Pitcher of the Year (First Team)... Ranks 26th in the country in ERA... Led the CACC in strikeouts, wins, innings pitched, batting average against... Currently has 997 career strikeouts.

Mya Jones
CACC All-Conference First Team… Second-most RBIs in the region... Fifth-highest on-base percentage and batting average in the region.

Madison D'Amato
CACC All-Conference Second Team… Leads the east region in total hits... Ranks second in the east region in batting average, on-base percentage and runs scored... Fifth in the country in doubles (most in the region)... Registered a 32-game hitting streak during the year (6th longest in DII history).

Angela Oros
CACC All-Conference Second Team… Currently tied for third in the region in RBIs... Ranks fifth in the east region in both slugging percentage and home runs... In conference play (22 games), finished No. 1 in CACC in slugging, RBIs and home runs.

Sydnee Perreault
CACC All-Conference Second Team... Leads the country in sacrifice bunts...  CACC All-Tournament Team (hit solo HR in 6^th inning of CACC first round game that broke 2-2 tie).

Dawn Stearns
2025 CACC Coach of the Year… Eclipsed 300 career wins this season (331 wins currently – all with UB)… Bridgeport's all-time winningest coach… ECC Co-Coach of the Year in 2021.

RECENT UB SUCCESS
Head Coach Dawn Stearns and the Purple Knights have amassed a sensational 190 wins since 2019. If you take out 2020's shortened year, it is an average of 30.3 victories per season. They have also earned five bids into the NCAA Tournament during that time and a pair of regular-season conference titles.

MORE CONTRIBUTORS
Freshman Paityn Thibodeaux joins UB's All-Conference honorees as Bridgeport's final hitter with an average over .300. The California native is batting .333 in 84 at-bats with 17 RBIs and 14 walks. She ranks third on the team in on-base percentage (.434).

On the other side of the ball, Vise Zarate once again pitched well in her junior campaign. The California native finished the year with a 2.94 ERA across 126 innings pitched. She notched 16 complete games and nine wins.

UP NEXT
The winner of Bridgeport versus Goldey-Beacom will take on the winner of Wilmington and SNHU on Friday at 10 a.m. while the losers will face off at 2 p.m.