Jackets Travel to Ithaca, N.Y. for NCAA Regionals

Defiance will travel to Ithaca, N.Y. as the No. 8 seed and will face the top-seeded Bombers of Ithaca College in the opening round. Ithaca, the No. 10 team in the nation, enters the tournament with a 30-10 mark, having won the Empire 8 conference regular season title.

DC Head Coach Jodie Holava feels her team’s play over the past several weeks has prepared the Jackets for this challenge, “When playing schools at this level, you can expect every game to be very competitive. We just need to continue to play our style and let the rest take care of itself.” Defiance enters the regional tournament with a 22-16 mark, and has won 12 of its last 16 contests.

Defiance has been untouchable with late-game leads this season, tallying a 14-0 mark when leading after the fourth inning. Part of that success is due to the pitching of Justine Johnston and one of the HCAC’s top defenses. Johnston enters the tournament with a 16-6 record and a 1.79 ERA, after going 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA in the HCAC Tournament. She is backed by a defense that ranks second in the HCAC in fielding percentage, after committing no errors in its three-game tourney run.

The DC offense also stepped up during the HCAC Tournament, hitting .290 as a team and averaging nearly six runs per game. The Jackets have three players hitting over.300, as Marah Robinson, Laurel Palk and Mallory Faling all are having strong seasons at the plate. Robinson leads the team with a .372 average and seven homeruns, while also driving in 25 RBI. Palk is hitting .331 in her final campaign, while Faling is hitting .316 with a five long balls and team-high 29 RBI. Freshman Cara Hughes delivered several clutch hits for the Jackets in the HCAC Tournament, hitting .333 with one homerun and four RBI in DC’s three tournament games.

Defiance will begin its NCAA Regional Tournament run on Thursday, May 8 at 10:00 a.m., against Ithaca in the double-elimination tournament.

NCAA Regional Tournament home page