ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- The Elizabethtown College baseball and softball teams take to the diamond in the Commonwealth Conference playoffs this week. The Blue Jay baseball team opens play against Alvernia University Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Owls Field in West Lawn, while the softball team plays at Lebanon Valley College in the tournament opener Friday at 11:00 a.m.
BASEBALL (Tournament site)
The Blue Jays (22-14 overall, 11-7 Commonwealth) are seeded third in the four-team, double-elimination tournament and will battle the second-seeded Crusaders (32-8 overall, 13-5 Commonwealth) as they look to repeat as conference champions.
Last season, the Blue Jays entered the tournament as the top seed but lost their opening game to Albright College by a 6-4 score. Elizabethtown battled back through the loser's bracket and won four games in two days to capture the title, including a sweep of Widener University in the championship round.
Widener is the top seed in the tournament and will face fourth-seeded Messiah College in the opening game Thursday at 4:00 p.m. Action will continue with three games Friday and the championship round Saturday afternoon.
The Blue Jay offense features five .300 hitters, led by
Steve Motika With a .382 average.
Brian Kiernan brings a .341 mark into the postseason along with team highs in doubles (13) and runs batted in (26) while
Anthony Heaps slugged seven home runs and drove in 22 runs.
At the top of the order,
Rodney Francis is hitting .290 with 21 walks, 22 stolen bases and a team-high 33 runs scored, while
Dillon Tagle had a strong rookie season with a .345 average, 13 doubles and 12 runs batted in.
On the mound,
Adam Hartzell has a 3-3 record with a 4.08 earned run average and two shutouts in eight starts, with
Todd Leister (3-1, 4.06 ERA) and
Matt Vinagro (4-4, 4.88 ERA) following in the rotation.
The Blue Jays' strength lies in its bullpen, which combined for an 8-2 record, eight saves and a 2.87 earned run average.
Ryan Barrett went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 10 appearances (18 innings) while
Greg Katz is 2-0 with two saves and a 2.21 ERA in nine relief outings.
SOFTBALL (Tournament site)
The Blue Jays (18-11-1 overall, 7-7 Commonwealth) face the top-seeded and nationally-ranked Flying Dutchmen (29-9 overall, 12-2 Commonwealth) in the opening game of the tournament at 11:00 a.m. Friday, followed by third-seeded Widener against second-seeded Messiah at 1:00 p.m.
Friday's opening-round winners will play at 3:00 p.m. Friday, with the tournament concluding with up to four games Saturday starting at 9:00 a.m. Messiah is the defending tournament and NCAA Division III champions, and enters the playoffs ranked ninth in Division III at 32-7 overall (11-3 Commonwealth).
Elizabethtown grabbed the fourth and final Commonwealth Conference playoff berth on the final day of the regular season with a 10-2 win over Arcadia University combined with an extra-inning loss by Alvernia. The Blue Jays are making their third trip to the conference tournament in the last four years, and finished as runners-up to Lebanon Valley in 2008.
The Blue Jays carry a .332 team batting average into the tournament, led by seniors
Sarah Church (.435, 11 doubles, 22 RBI) and
Paige Tanner (.341, 7 triples, 25 RBI, 9 steals).
Courtney Comstock has been a catalyst out of the leadoff spot with a .388 average and team highs of 32 runs scored and 11 steals, and
Elly McCarthy has provided the power with nine home runs (tying the single-season program record) and 30 runs batted in.
Sharing time in the pitcher's circle for the Blue Jays have been
Julie Sebastian (10-5, 3.51 ERA) and
Emily Vogel (8-6, 3.00 ERA). Sebastian has thrown 14 complete games in 15 starts and has issued just 16 walks in 103 2/3 innings, while Vogel has tossed 12 complete games and walked 18 in 88 2/3 innings.