LATHAM, N.Y. - The Penn State Berks softball team has earned its way into the NCAA Division III Softball Championship and will square off against Endicott College in the opening game. 

Berks and Endicott will open up the four team, double elimination tournament with a game at 2 p.m., followed by host Salisbury University and Framingham State University at 4:30 p.m. The winners of each of those games will play on Saturday, May 14 at noon, while the losers will follow at 2:30 p.m.

Berks captured its seventh conference title on Sunday afternoon, defeating Penn College 5-3 and earning the automatic qualifier. Posting a record of 26-11 on the season, the Nittany Lions pride themselves on their plate presence, holding the third best team batting average in the country (.390). Player of the Year Arizona Shreck has played a major role in that offense as her 24 doubles lead all players in Division III.

United East Championship MVP, Briana Smith, has helped on the other side of things as she has twirled the 36th most strikeouts in the nation (145).

Endicott (30-11) also makes its way to the tournament via automatic qualifier, winning the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship. The Gulls have relied on success in the circle as pitcher Maria Hanchuck averages 9.3 punch outs per 7.0 innings (25th in the country).

In the other day one game, host Salisbury squares off against Framingham State. The Sea Gulls posted a record 36-6 this year and earned an at-large bid to the tournament. The Rams carry a 23-17 record into the Championship and battled from the loser’s bracket to win the MASCAC Championship and their AQ.

 

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

Instagram - gounitedeast  |  Twitter - @GoUnitedEast

******************************************************************************************************************************************

The United East has nine NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Gallaudet University, Lancaster Bible College, Morrisville State, Penn College, Penn State Abington, Penn State Berks, Penn State Harrisburg, St. Mary's College of Maryland and Wells College. The United East also includes three associate members in the sport of men’s golf including Rosemont College, Rutgers University – Camden and Wilson College. The United East has also partnered with the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference in the sports of men's and women's lacrosse and the North Atlantic Conference in men's tennis and women's tennis. For more information, please visit: gounitedeast.com.