Courtesy Worcester State Sports Information

Cape Cod, MA --- Worcester State has been slotted as the seventh seed in this week's ECAC Division III New England Softball Tournament and will play at #2 Brandeis on Wednesday at 4 PM in the play-in Quarterfinal round.

The rest of the tournament field, which will also play on Wednesday, includes eighth-seed Becker traveling to #1 Wheaton while on the other side of the bracket pits #6 University of New England at third-seeded Keene State and #4 Western New England hosts fifth-seed Norwich.

The winners move on to a double-elimination Semifinal tournament at the site of the highest remaining seed on Saturday and Sunday. Both squads actually played during the regular season and split a pair of identical 2-1 contests in Waltham.

Worcester State (23-17) makes their ninth ECAC Division III appearance since the 1984 season and their third in the last four campaigns. Since 1986, the Lancers are 8-13 and won the 1990 New England Division III North Championship.

The Lancers are paced by a one-two punch in the starting rotation that includes senior Hannah Everson (Methuen, MA) and freshman Meghan Rich (Chelmsford, MA).

Everson has posted a 9-7 record with a sparkling 0.72 earned run average with 98 strikeouts in 116 innings and 15 complete games in as many starts. Rich has been an impact rookie finishing the regular season at 9-6, a 1.76 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 102 frames of work. Rich has also yielded a paltry 10 walks to set the single-season school record.

Senior Kylene Pease (Ashland, MA) ties for the MASCAC lead with a .371 batting average to go with 19 runs and 17 RBIs. The Blue and Gold are also among the nation's leaders with a 0.972 fielding percentage which includes 34 miscues in 40 games.

Brandeis (23-18) earns their sixth bid to the ECAC Tournament which includes an appearance in the finals last season and a crown in 2008.

The Judges are paced by sophomore Amanda Genovese (N. Haven, CT) who is batting .452 with 35 runs, 15 RBIs to go with 66 base-knocks and an NCAA Division III best 56 swipes. First-year Danielle Navotny (Milford, NJ) is among six other student-athletes batting over .300 with 21 runs scored, 14 doubles and a team-best 26 RBIs.

Junior Melissa Nolan (Windsor, CT) is also 9-7 with 13 complete games, a 3.30 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 95.1 innings while senior Casey Ducinski (Duxbury, MA) is 9-7 in the circle with a 3.44 ERA and 10 complete games.