WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Pennsylvania College of Technology softball looks to defend its United East Championship title in the second round of the playoff format beginning on Friday. The Wildcats (10-6, 24-13), seeded fourth, will host fifth-seeded St. Elizabeth University (10-6, 20-18) at Elm Park at 1 and 3 p.m. on Friday, with an "if needed" game starting at noon on Saturday.
Winner from the series will advance to four-team double-elimination tournament on May 9-11, where the conference champion and NCAA Division III qualifier will be determined.
For the first time in five full seasons under coach Angela Stackhouse, the Wildcats enter the playoffs seeded lower than second, after two No. 1s and two No. 2s. Penn College claimed championships in 2021 and last season while finishing second in 2022 and third in 2023.
"Our strength of schedule, both in conference and nonconference, was the most difficult it has ever been," Stackhouse said of this season. "We have a lot of freshmen on the field and have needed every game to learn what it takes. Great experience was obtained through this schedule."
Penn State Berks (16-0 UE, 23-7 overall) is seeded No. 1, followed by Penn State Brandywine (14-2, 30-8) at No. 2, Penn State Harrisburg (13-3, 25-11) at No. 3, Cedar Crest (10-6, 18-20) at No. 6, Wilson (9-7, 20-13) at No. 7, Penn State Abington (9-7, 14-22) at No. 8, Notre Dame (Md.) (9-7, 9-16) at No. 9, and Rosemont College (8-8, 11-25) at No. 10.
First-round games on Wednesday have Rosemont at Wilson and Notre Dame at Abington.
In other second-round games, the Abington-Notre Dame winner will face top-seeded Berks, the Wilson-Rosemont winner will face second-seeded Penn State Brandywine, and Cedar Crest will go to Penn State Harrisburg.
Against its possible playoff opponents, Penn College was 8-6 during the regular season. It lost twice to Berks, 10-5 and 5-4 in eight innings; split with Brandywine, winning 4-1 and losing 7-2; split with Harrisburg, losing 6-3 and winning 5-0; split with Cedar Crest, winning 9-1 and losing 5-3; split with Wilson, losing 4-1 and winning 7-3; sweeping Notre Dame, 5-1 and 5-4 in 11 innings; and sweeping Rosemont, 2-1 and 4-0.
In UE play, the Wildcats own a .343 team batting average to opponents' .240. They have outscored their opponents 98-51, own a staff ERA of 2.01 to their opponents' 5.53, have a .954 fielding average to their opponents' .962, and have committed 21 errors to opponents' 17.
In all games on offense with at least 95 at-bats, senior Mackenzie Weaver of Montoursville is hitting at a .406 clip and is followed by senior Madison Herriman of Danville at .385, sophomore Grace Lorson of Jersey Shore at .336, freshman Peyton Crawford of Bloomsburg at .326, and junior Lexi Snyder of Hegins at .301. Weaver leads with 14 doubles, three triples and 40 RBIs, and Harriman leads the team with 37 runs scored. Weaver, Snyder and sophomore Sofia LaSpina of Bellmore, N.Y., each have one home run.
In the circle, Weaver is 14-6 with a 1.14 ERA, 114 strikeouts and 13 walks, and freshman Mackenzi Tice of Mansfield is 10-4 with a 1.72 ERA, 127 strikeouts and 30 walks.
"Nothing matters until you reach postseason play. Now that we have earned that bid, we have a clean slate and can compete with any team we face," Stackhouse said. "We look to lean on our previous postseason experience and make a run for it," the coach added.
