MEC Softball Tournament Central 

The University of Charleston women's softball team is set to face Fairmont State University in the opening round of the Mountain East Conference Tournament Friday, May 1^st, in Salem, Va. at 2:30pm. 

Charleston, who enters the tournament the #3 seed, finished the regular-season with an overall record of 35-10, 20-8 in MEC play.  The 35 wins are the most at UC since 2007 and led the conference.  W.Va. Wesleyan finished as the MEC regular-season champions with a 32-6 overall record and a 22-2 conference mark winning their second straight MEC regular-season title.

Pacing UC has been its pitching which features a league best 2.16 earn-run average and 277 strikeouts in 298 1/3 innings pitched, 43 more than any other team.  Senior Courtney Fain's 17 wins on the season lead the MEC as do her 180 strikeouts in just 136 innings pitched; freshman Jessie Rowe is sixth in the conference with 11 wins on the season.  Senior Morgan Aguirre's season was cut short due to injury but was perfect in 10 appearances with a 7-0 record at the time of her injury.

At the plate, the Golden Eagles posted a fifth best mark with a .296 batting average, hitting 66 doubles, 10 triples, and 27 homeruns ranking them fourth in the MEC in each of those categories. Jenna Evans paced UC going 17 of 17 in stolen bases which is second in the conference.  Overall Charleston stole 50 bases in just 45 games ranking them third. Junior Cortney Norris's .359 batting average leads UC in which she is the offensive leader in hits (51), runs scored (32), total bases (92), and homeruns (9). Freshman Bethany Williams .356 average ranks second and leads the team in doubles (11) and runs-batted-in (43). Junior Kelly Browning and Williams each have hit seven homeruns with Browning adding 23 runs-batted-in on the season.  Senior Ayla Santos finished the regular season with a .331 average hitting 10 doubles, driving in 22, while adding three homeruns. 

Recording outs and making plays on the defensive side of the ball is just as valuable to the Golden Eagles whose .964 fielding percentage ranked them second in the MEC.  560 putouts were recorded by Norris and Santos a combination of strikeouts and groundouts from the UC pitchers. Of those 560 putouts, 152 came from assists by double-play combination Evans (2B) and Andrea Hayes (SS).

Charleston which received votes twice in the NFCA national poll was ranked 2^nd in the April 22^nd Atlantic Region poll.  Making the NCAA National Tournament would mark the first time participating in the NCAA's version and the first time since 1993 of making a post-season National Tournament in which the Golden Eagles were NAIA affiliated at that time.