NU In Tourney Curtain Raiser

The No. 3 seed Niagara Purple Eagles begin their quest to become MAAC Tournament Champions with a first round match-up with second-seeded Iona on Thursday at noon. The three-day tournament takes place in Buffalo, N.Y. 

Niagara clinched the third seed with a split at Marist in its regular season finale on May 9. The Purple Eagles are joined at the tournament with the top seed and host Canisius and the fourth seed Manhattan who gained entry into the tournament when Rider swept Fairfield on the final day of play.

First Pitch

sNiagara leads the conference in three offensive categories: batting average (.314), slugging percentage (.479) and home runs (39).

s Junior second baseman Teresa Healy leads the MAAC with a .455 batting average and 60 hits. Healy is having a record setting year for Niagara. Healy has already set a single-season record with 44 RBIs. She is four home runs, 10 hits and six total bases away from setting-season records in those categories.

s Sophomore pitcher Julie DiMatteo tied a school single-season record of 14 wins on May 9 against Marist. DiMatteo is 2-1 with a 0.72 ERA in the MAAC Tournament. She tossed a complete-game three-hitter shutout against Canisius to force the Championship Game last season.

s The senior class of Jenna Baker, Kristin Kill, Laynie Stillman and Cassie Stone is the first Niagara class to qualify for the tournament all four years.

s Baker will end her career ranking in the top five in six offensive categories and fellow senior Kill will finish in the top five in four offensive categories.

s Niagara has had three players earn MAAC Player of the Week honors: Teresa Healy, Player of the Week (March 22 and April 19), Becky Zill, Rookie of the Week (March 9), Julie DiMatteo, Pitcher of the Week (April 26). 

s The Purple Eagles split against all three teams in the tournament: Canisius, W 1-0, L 6-3 (April 3); at Manhattan, L 3-1, W 2-0 (April 18); Iona, L 3-2, W 10-1.

s This will be the first meeting against Iona in the tournament. Niagara is 2-4 versus Canisius and 2-1 against Manhattan in the tournament.