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The Niagara Purple Eagles begin their quest for their second MAAC Championship and first since 1998 when they play the No. 1 seed Siena Saints on day one of MAAC Tournament Play on Thursday, May 9 at 2 p.m.
 
How to Tune in
The 2013 MAAC Softball Championship page on MAACSports.com will provide links for live stats and MAAC.TV with live audio and video.
 
Scouting Siena
The Saints enter the tournament celebrating their program’s first MAAC regular season championship after sweeping Marist last weekend. Siena claimed two All-MAAC weekly accolades, with junior Jessika-Jo Sandrini taking Pitcher of the Week and freshman Alyssa Lancaster earning Rookie of the Week. In 29 appearances Sandrini has compiled a 15-7 record with a 3.73 ERA, tossing 90 strikeouts and holding her opponents to a .271 batting average. Five members of the Saints squad have a batting average above .300, with sophomore Paige Lloyd owning a team-high .376.
 
Last Time Out
Siena took the regular season series with a doubleheader sweep on April 15, 5-2 and 10-7, in Monteagle Ridge. NU compiled a combined 21 hits in the losses, with sophomore Ambur Farmer recording three doubles and two runs scored. Jenn Sansano pitched 10 strikeouts and allowed five earned runs on seven hits in the game one loss.
 
MAAC Tournament History
This is Niagara’s 11th trip to the MAAC Tournament, compiling a 10-19 record since its first appearance in 1992. NU emerged as tournament champions in 1998, defeating Canisius in the championship game, 2-1. Niagara would go on to win its NCAA play-in series 2-1 against Robert Morris before falling to Hawaii and national runner-up Arizona.
 
The Streak
NU strung together a program record nine consecutive wins between April 21 and April 28. The Purple Eagles swept twinbills against Manhattan, Saint Peter’s, St. Bonaventure, and Rider and edged Iona in game one, outscoring opponents 61-15.
 
No Hits for You
Junior Jennifer Sansano threw the MAAC’s first no-hitter of 2013 after going the distance in a 5-0 shutout vs. Manhattan on April 21. It was Sansano’s second career no-no, pitching her first on March 2, 2012 as a sophomore at St. Bonaventure.  The no-hitter was the first for a Niagara pitcher since Julie DiMatteo (’12) accomplished the feat against Saint Peter’s on April 10, 2011. The Clarence, N.Y. was one out away from her second no-no in six days against Rider before the feat was broken up with an RBI-single.
 
Breaking Records
Becky Zill will finish her career ranked in the program’s top five list in at least six categories, including Single Season Home Runs (12, 2011), Career Games Played (166), Career At-Bats (523), Career RBIs (115), Career Home Runs (26), and Career Total Bases (272).
 
The Hit That Did It
Niagara started conference play with a 0-5 record until the nightcap against Marist. In the top of the seventh with the game tied 2-2, sophomore Desarae Maldonado hit an RBI-single to score the go-ahead run and steal the victory from the Red Foxes for NU’s first MAAC win of the season. If it was not for that hit, Niagara likely would have finished 8-8 and missed qualifying for the MAAC Tournament.
 
"Richie" Richberg
Junior Brittany Richberg has started all 43 games for Niagara this season, and has compiled 45 hits including a team-high 16 multiple hit games.
 
Zill in the MAAC
After being held hitless in game one of the MAAC opening series against Fairfield, Becky Zill has recorded a hit in the remaining 15 conference contests, including eight multiple hit and seven multiple RBI games. In conference games she is tied for first with 24 hits and ranks second in batting average (.453), RBIs (19), total bases (40) and putouts (122).
 
Dominating the Circle
Jenn Sansano hopes to carry her dominance over MAAC opponents into tournament play. She has pitched five shutouts in 2013, and held a stretch of 23 consecutive scoreless innings. The junior leads all MAAC pitchers against conference opponents in ERA (1.33), opposing batting average (1.55), and strikeouts (88), and averages 1.40 strikeouts per inning. Nationally, Sansano ranks 45th with an average of 8.1 strikeouts per seven innings.
 
Just Wait ‘Till the End
In 43 contests this season, NU has outscored its opponents 24-6 in the seventh inning.
 
“Knock Cancer out of the Park”
Niagara softball organized its third annual “SLAMphoma” event this year on April 21 vs. Manhattan. The charity event raised money to support Niagara University senior Sarah Stocum in her battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The fundraiser included t-shirt sales, basket raffles, and a home run derby, coordinated by senior Gabby Lustrinelli. Since the event’s inaugural year in 2011, it has raised over $15,000 for community members fighting cancer.