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| Josh Crowding hit .350 this year for Immaculata. | PHOTO: Immaculata Athletics |
Seeded fourth in their regional, Immaculata will start the tournament on Friday against the host and No. 1 seed, nationally ranked Christopher Newport University of the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference.
The Mighty Macs (26-16, 12-6 AEC) secured their automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Atlantic East Conference Tournament last weekend in Winchester, Va. They went undefeated in the tournament, defeating Cabrini twice and top-seeded Marymount.
Joey Wright has been a standout for Immaculata, setting a program single-season record with 67 hits and boasting a .394 batting average. He also leads the team in home runs (9) and RBIs (54). Other key hitters include Josh Crowding (.350 average, 7 home runs, 33 RBIs), Shawn Haut (.346 average, 5 home runs, 36 RBIs), Hunter Weitzel (.367 average, 1 home run, 25 RBIs), Joey Sacco (.308 average, 22 RBIs), and Nick Turnage (.416 average, 17 RBIs).
On the mound, Immaculata has been led by Stephen DiBattista, who holds a 9-3 record with a 2.62 ERA and 41 strikeouts. Jason Hughes, who recently pitched seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts to earn the win against Marymount, has a 5-4 record, a 3.30 ERA, and 75 strikeouts. Alex LePage has also been solid, posting a 5-2 record with a 4.20 ERA.
Christopher Newport (26-9) enters the tournament as the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Champions, having earned an at-large bid. This will be the second meeting of the season between Immaculata and Christopher Newport; the Mighty Macs previously fell to the Captains 11-4 on March 2nd during their spring break trip.
Last season, these two teams also faced off in the NCAA Tournament at the Winchester Regional.
The bracket is rounded out by Scranton and North Carolina Wesleyan.
