PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College softball team will look to capture some hardware beginning at 2 p.m. on Friday when the Cardinals, who are ranked sixth in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, welcome No. 21 Ithaca College to The Softball Complex for the NCAA Division III Softball Championship's Super Regional round.  The winner of the best-of-three series will advance to Oklahoma City, Okla. for a chance to win a national title.

Fans unable to make the venture to Pittsford can still enjoy all of the action online by using the links below:

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Tickets, which are available as single-session prices, will be sold at the event and are $10 for adults, $7 for senior citizens and veterans, $5 for students and children 12 and under.  Children under the age of two are admitted for free.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Fisher advanced to its third straight NCAA Super Regional last weekend after defeating SUNY Geneseo in back-to-back games to stave off elimination.  The Cardinals defeated Immaculata in their opening round game before falling to Geneseo in the winner's bracket.  After bouncing back to eliminate Mount Saint Mary behind a complete-game shutout from senior pitcher Lindsey Thayer, Fisher outscored Geneseo 15-5 to earn its third Regional crown in as many seasons. 

Ithaca also posted a win in its opening round game of regional play with a 4-0 triumph over Bay Path University before punching its ticket to the championship round with a 2-0 defeat of Manhattanville College.  The Bombers would meet the Valiants again on Sunday and needed two games to put a bow on things.

NCAA PEDIGREE: Both teams are among the Division III softball elite as Fisher and Ithaca have combined to play in the NCAA Championship 38 times overall.  The Cardinals are making their ninth trip in program history, including three straight, while the Bombers, who have reached The Dance more times than any other program in Division III, are in the middle of their 29th NCAA run.  Take it a step further and Fisher is looking to make its third trip to the NCAA Championship week after being one of eight teams left standing in each of the last two years while Ithaca has made 10 trips in all and won the 2002 national championship.

BATS ON STRIKE: Entering the weekend, no team in Division III has recorded more strikeouts this season than Fisher, which has 399 to its credit – 47 more than the next closest team and Fisher did it in seven fewer games.  To put that into perspective, the Cardinals have over 200 more strikeouts than hits surrendered this season.  A big reason for that is Thayer who currently leads the nation in total strikeouts (298), strikeouts per seven innings (11.8) and hits allowed per seven innings (2.93).  Last week in Fisher's win over Immaculata, Thayer became Division III's all-time strikeouts leader as the Winthrop native now has 1,515 career Ks.

WE MEET AGAIN: Needless to say that these two teams are quite familiar with one another.  In fact, dating back to 2006, Fisher and Ithaca have played 40 times.  Recently, before the Bombers departed the Empire 8 Conference to join the Liberty League, the two programs were consistently atop the conference standings.  Take it a step further and the Cardinals and Bombers played for the Empire 8 Championship in 2016 and 2017 with Fisher earning the title in 2017.  This season, they faced each other in a non-conference doubleheader on March 31st with the Cardinals coming out on top in both games.

SMALL SAMPLE WITH BIG RESULTS: Over its last 10 games, Fisher has been on fire at the plate.  Dating back to April 29th, head coach Bari Mance's squad has gone 9-1 and is outscoring its competition, 57-11.  As a team, Fisher is hitting .356 at the plate while limiting its opposition to a paltry .115 average.  Of the team's 98 hits, 27 have gone for extra bases including 15 doubles and 11 home runs.  Katie Mazierski has been on a tear as the senior infielder is hitting .455 to go along with 10 runs scored.  Mazierski, who recently became the all-time hits leader in the Empire 8's history, is approaching Fisher's milestone as well as she currently needs just three hits to pass Hall-of-Famer Jen Wilder's program mark of 223 hits.  Mary Claire Grosvenor has also been lighting up opposing pitching to the tune of a .438 average and a .688 slugging percentage.  Grosvenor has blasted two doubles, two home runs and has driven in eight over her last 10 appearances.  Julia Sortisio and Ashley Prince have also been a nightmare at the plate as well with the duo has combining to produce 24 hits including six doubles, a triple, two home runs and 16 RBI. 
      
SCOUTING ITHACA: The Bombers, who are coached by NFCA Hall-of-Famer Deb Pallozzi, bring a 31-10 overall record into the weekend as Ithaca has gone 8-2 over its last 10 games.  Alex Wright leads the team with a .381 batting average over 41 games while Vanessa Brown, the Liberty League Player of the Year, leads the team in hits (52), runs (36), RBI (41) and slugging percentage (.551).  Gabby Laccona, who was selected as the conference's Rookie of the Year, hit .371 during her freshman season to go along with 46 hits and 32 runs scored.  Hannah Anderson and Allie Colleran provide some pop in the lineup as the pair has combined to club nine home runs.

In the circle, Ithaca is paced by its ace Haley Congdon and her 1.79 ERA.  Over 23 appearances, Congdon has amassed an 11-2 record with 68 strikeouts over 101.2 innings.  Emily Holden owns a 1.91 earned run average over 55.0 innings while Beth Fleming has thrown 88.1 innings this season with a 3.01 ERA.

While the Bombers are only allowing roughly 6.6 hits per seven innings this season, the team does give up quite a few walks.  Through 41 games this season, the Bombers have yielded 124 walks – 28 more than Fisher.