PITTSFORD, N.Y. – For the third consecutive season, the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College softball team will host the NCAA Division III Regional at The Softball Complex beginning at 12 p.m. on Friday when SUNY Geneseo battles Mount St. Mary.  The Cardinals, who are ranked sixth in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, will draw Immaculata at 2:30 p.m.

Fans unable to make the journey can still follow their favorite team's progress by using the links below:

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Ticket, which are sold as day passes, can be purchased at the event and are priced as follows: $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and $5 for students.  

HOW THEY EACH GOT HERE: The top-seeded Cardinals (30-7) earned their way into the field after winning their second consecutive Empire 8 Championship last Sunday behind an MVP performance from Sarah Kubik and Lindsey Thayer's three wins.  Fisher, which has now won six Empire 8 titles overall, will look to punch its ticket to the Super Regional round for the third consecutive season.  SUNY Geneseo (30-7) earned a spot after winning the SUNYAC automatic bid with a 5-1 win over Cortland to punch its ticket to the Championship for the first time since 2002.  Mount Saint Mary (20-14) cruised to its third straight conference title after winning the Skyline Conference while Immaculata University (28-14) enters the weekend having bested the top two seeds in the CSAC Championship to take home its first conference title in program history. 

EXPERIENCE IS THE BEST TEACHER: Entering the weekend, St. John Fisher holds the upper hand in experience as the Cardinals will be making their ninth appearance in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship and third in a row.  Fisher has reached the NCAA Championship in each of the last two seasons and finished third overall in 2016 and second in 2017.  Mount Saint Mary will be making its third appearance in the championship field in 2018, but has never advanced out of Regional play.  Geneseo has played in the NCAA Championship just once prior to this weekend after reaching in 2002 while the Mighty Macs are set to make their first-ever appearance. 

LINDSEY "K"-ER (PART TWO): Prior to the start of the Empire 8 Championship last weekend, we detailed the progression of senior All-American pitcher Lindsey Thayer's chase for the all-time Division III strikeout record.  One thing about being so dominant is that it often gets lost in the shuffle as to how great you really are.  Thayer has been so good over her four-year career that what she does isn't surprising anymore.  Whether it's pitching a perfect game, or striking or 21 in a seven inning game, we've almost come to expect these things.  However, she's in sight of one record that you can't take for granted.  Entering Friday's game, Thayer sits just three strikeouts away from breaking the all-time Division III mark for career strikeouts.  Currently, the record is held by Hayley Feindel who pitched for Coast Guard from 2009-12 and notched 1,457 career Ks in 1,029.7 innings.  Thayer currently sits at 1,455, but has needed only 834.2 career innings to do it. 

KEEPIN' IT 100: To stick with our Lindsey Thayer theme, the Winthrop native notched another milestone over the weekend as she earned her 100th career victory inside the circle and has since added two more to bring her total to 102 victories.  To give that some context, Thayer now has nearly 40 wins more wins than any other pitcher in St. John Fisher's illustrious history.

HERE COMES THE BOOM: The Cardinals led the Empire 8 in home runs this season with 21, but over their last six games, Fisher has been red hot with seven dingers including two in each of its final Empire 8 Championship contests.  Through 37 games this season, Fisher is batting a conference-high .348 and owns a .482 slugging percentage.  Sarah Kubik, who was named the Empire 8 Championship's Most Valuable Player last weekend, leads the team with nine homers and 28 RBI as the Orchard Park native is slugging .760.  Mary Claire Grosvenor has been a nightmare for opposing pitchers lately as well with the junior catcher entering this weekend with a .344 batting average to go along with seven doubles and four home runs – all of which have come over her last 14 games.

FRESHMEN PHENOMS: On a team full of veterans, it's always helpful to have freshmen that can immediately impact the team's success.  Fisher has four freshmen that have stood out through the Cardinals' first 34 games.  Sammie Torlish currently leads the team in batting average (.386) and ranks second in the Empire 8 with 44 hits and fifth with 27 RBI.  Emily Trotman has also provided a big spark for head coach Bari Mance as the East Amherst native ranks third on the roster among qualifying players with a .360 batting average to go along with 36 hits, 20 runs scored, seven doubles and 22 RBI.  Megan Kreger (.359, three doubles) and Maddie Klidonas (.286, 11 runs, nine RBI) have also come up big in clutch moments so far this season.

PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME: It's obviously helpful when you're playing your best entering the postseason and Fisher is definitely firing on all cylinders.  Entering the championship, the Cardinals have posted 15 straight wins and are outscoring their opposition, 89-7 in that span.  Since the streak began on April 13th, Fisher is hitting .376 as a team and has held its opponents to a .135 batting average.  Fisher, which has actually come out on top in 22 of its last 23 games, has boomed 154 hits during its winning streak including 41 extra base knocks.  During the stretch, no one has been hotter than Grosvenor as the junior catcher is hitting .595 over her last 15 games with 22 hits, seven doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI.  Grosvenor is slugging 1.108 dating back to April 13th and owns a .605 on-base percentage.

SCOUTING GENESEO: The Knights reached the 30-win plateau for the fourth time in program history this season and first time since 2002.  Geneseo, which is receiving votes in the latest national poll, has posted a win in eight of its last nine games and led the State University of New York Athletic Conference in doubles with 77.  Offensively, the team is paced by Alyssa Persich's .379 batting average and 44 hits.  Danni Napoli is hitting .297 over 34 games with 10 doubles while Anna Merante owns a .363 average at the plate.  Maddison Tucker has 30 hits in 83 at-bats (.361) while Claire VanNewkirk leads the team with 13 doubles and 22 RBI on the season.

The Knights' true strength lies in their pitching staff as Geneseo enters the Regional ranked 18th in Division III with a combined earned run average of 1.91.  Ashlyn Kersch sets the standard with a 0.92 ERA as the sophomore has surrendered just 13 earned runs over 99.0 innings of work with 74 total strikeouts.  Taylor Moore has proven to be a solid second option with a 2.33 ERA over 93.1 innings this season.
      
SCOUTING MOUNT SAINT MARY: Also known as the Knights, Mount Saint Mary comes to town riding a six-game winning streak after claiming its third straight Skyline Championship last weekend.  The Mount is led by Cindy Connoly at the dish as her .376 average was good for the 10th-highest in the Skyline Conference.  Morgan O'Neill has accounted for 30 hits in 85 at-bats (.353) while Taylor Canto (.344) and Emily Lang (.323) have combined to post 61 hits this season.  The Knights are built around speed more than anything else as Mount Saint Mary has 52 stolen bases and 14 triples on the season while only clubbing 31 doubles and six home runs in 34 games.

In the circle, the team relies heavily on its workhorse, Cindy Connoly, and her 2.07 earned run average.  Connoly, who is also the team's top hitter, enters with a 13-8 overall record after notching 177 strikeouts over 135.0 innings this season.   
  
SCOUTING IMMACULATA:  The Mighty Macs will vie for a softball national championship for the first time in team history after winning the Colonial States Athletic Conference.  Immaculata, which outside of Fisher is the hottest team in the Rochester Regional, has posted 11 consecutive wins including triumphs over the top two seeds in its conference championship last weekend.  As a team, the Mighty Macs deliver a strong 1-2 punch and are hitting .338 overall led by Annemarie Bartow's .474 average.  Bartow is among the Division III leaders with 64 hits this season to go along with 48 RBI.  Not to be outdone, Ashley Rey is hitting .414 with 60 hits, nine home runs and 47 RBI.  As a team, Immaculata is capable of putting up some big numbers as it leads the three other teams that comprise the Rochester Regional in home runs (25), RBI (251) and doubles (78).

Pitching, however, is often the wild card in the postseason and Immaculata is allowing 3.58 earned runs on average this season.  Michaela Petito has posted a team-low 2.93 ERA over 43.0 innings, but the unquestioned ace is Emma Bischoff who owns a 15-5 record with a 3.61 earned run average in 104.2 innings of work. 

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