DENVER, COLO. - West Chester University opens play at the NCAA Division II National Championships Thursday against 18th-ranked Saint Anselm College at 6 p.m. EST. West Chester makes its third straight and fourth overall appearance in the national finals. Saint Anselm is making its second trip to the national finals and first since 2018. West Chester will play at the Assembly Athletic Complex in Denver, Colo., for the second time following its appearance in the 2019 NCAA Division II National Championships. The facility was known as the Regency Athletic Complex at the time. The Golden Rams won one game and lost two.
Fans can head to Barnaby's of West Chester on S. High Street to join in the Watch Party there. Or,
CLICK HERE to watch the web stream at home.
2021 NCAA Division II National Championships
West Chester (34-14) vs. No. 18 Saint Anselm (32-5)
Thursday, May 27 l 6 p.m. EST
Assembly Athletics Complex (Denver, CO)
HOW WEST CHESTER GOT HERE: West Chester University defeated East Stroudsburg, 2-1, in the Atlantic Regional Championship Game, completing a perfect 4-0 run through the region to get to Denver, Colo., and the national finals. Senior RHP,
Jen Hanshaw, pitched all four games of the regional and picked up the win in each as well. Though there was no official most outstanding player, had there been one selected, it would most certainly have gone to No. 15 inside the circle.
HOW SAINT ANSELM GOT HERE: Saint Anselm College defeated No. 22 Georgian Court, 4-0, in the "if necessary" game of the East Regional, punching its second ticket to the national finals in school history. Georgian Court had defeated Saint Anselm, 3-1, earlier in the day to force a winner-take-all final. The Hawks made an historic run to the national championship series in 2018 – its only other appearance in the national finals.
GARBER HM ALL-AMERICA AGAIN: West Chester fifth-year senior
Bri Garber was named an honorable mention selection to the Division II Collegiate Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-America. She is now a two-time D2CCA honorable mention All-American having earned the same distinction in 2018. Garber, who has re-written both the school and conference record book during her illustrious collegiate career, earned the honor after having been a first-team All-Atlantic Region selection earlier this month.
GARBER AND MELVIN ALL-ATLANTIC REGION PICKS: The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced the NFCA All-Atlantic Region team. Fifth year
Bri Garber was named to the first team and sophomore
Madison Melvin was named to the All-Atlantic Region second team by the NFCA. It marks the third time in four years that Garber was a first-team NFCA all-region selection. Melvin joins the squad for the first time.
GARBER, MELVIN, AGUILAR AND KLEMAS ALL-PSAC EAST SELECTIONS: West Chester's softball team landed four of its own on the 2021 All-PSAC East team this spring. Three players,
Bri Garber, sophomore
Grace Aguilar and senior
Jamie Klemas were named to the first team while sophomore
Madison Melvin received a spot on the second team.
SOMETHING ABOUT MARY: Fr., RHP
Mary Picozzi got the start in the PSAC Championship Game and pitched West Chester to a 4-2 victory over Seton Hill. It marked the first time since 2006 that a true freshman got the ball in a PSAC conference championship-clinching game and earned the win. Lock Haven's Kristin Erb was the last to do it. Picozzi also pitched a five-inning no-hitter earlier in the year against Wilmington (Del.).
MELVIN RUNNING INTO RECORD BOOKS: So., OF
Madison Melvin is literally running into the WCU softball record books with her stolen bases this spring. The speedy outfielder has stolen 28 bases in 29 attempts this year as she continues to chase Megan Kelly's single-season record of 36 steals in 2013. That puts Melvin fourth on the single-season charts. Her .966 percentage of successful steal attemps trails only Sarah Walasavage's percentage of .968 in 2016 (30 of 31) for individuals with at least 27 steal attempts.
MELVIN'S BATTING AVERAGE AMONG THE BEST SINGLE-SEASON MARKS IN SCHOOL HISTORY: So., OF
Madison Melvin's .439 batting average this spring is the second-best mark in a year at WCU. Only former standout Sam Ingersoll (.484 in 2010) posted a higher single-season batting average. Ingersoll transferred into the program from University of North Carolina.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Saint Anselm leads, 1-0
LAST MEETING: Feb. 16, 2018 at Snowbird Tournament [Myrtle Beach, S.C.] – Saint Anselm, 4-1
NCAA TOURNAMENT OVERALL: 30-21 (10 years)
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 2-6 (3 years)
WCU HEAD COACH DIANE LOKEY vs. SAINT ANSELM: 0-1
SAINT ANSELM HEAD COACH JILL GAGNON vs. WCU: 1-0
DIANE LOKEY COACHING RECORD: Overall: 619-373 [.624] (20th season);
at WCU: 570-346 [.622] (18th season)
in the NCAA Tournament: 30-21 (10th appearance)
- (Winningest softball head coach at WCU)
- (2 PSAC Championships [2017, 2021]; 4 PSAC Championship Game appearances [2011, 2017, 2018, 2021])
- (7 PSAC Eastern Division titles)
- (5-time PSAC East Coach of the Year)
- (10 appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament; 4 Atlantic Region Championships [2014, 2018-19, 2021)
WEST CHESTER vs AUGUSTANA (SD): would be first meeting
WEST CHESTER vs BIOLA (CALIF): would be first meeting
WEST CHESTER vs GRAND VALLEY STATE: 1-4 (last meeting, GVSU [11-1] on Mar. 10, 2018; streak; L4)
WEST CHESTER vs NORTH GEORGIA: 0-2 (last meeting, North Georgia [9-1] on Feb. 16, 2020)
WEST CHESTER vs VALDOSTA STATE: would be first meeting
WEST CHESTER vs WEST TEXAS A&M: would be first meeting
WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY STORYLINES …
- 5th-yr. Sr., INF Bri Garber was named an Honorable Mention All-America at second base by the D2 Collegiate Commissioners Association (D2CCA). Garber is a two-time D2CCA Honorable Mention All-American (2018, 2021). She is putting a bow on an outstanding college career this weekend. The Willow Street, Pa., native will go down in history as one of the best players to ever come out of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference as well as West Chester University.
- This spring, Garber is hitting .411 (69-for-168) in 48 games. She has rapped out 14 doubles and 7 triples while scoring 51 runs. She is a career .399 hitter, who led the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in hits during the regular season this year with 62. Her 69 hits currently leads the team. The PSAC all-time hits leader has 317 base knocks entering the Golden Rams' games in the NCAA Division II National Championships this week. She also broke the PSAC all-time record for games played. She has appeared in 245 career games entering the national finals. Her 225 runs scored is second all-time in PSAC history behind former Kutztown standout, Steph Denlinger (234).
- Garber has two sisters (Hanna, Julianna), who each play Division I softball for University of Delaware. Hanna was named NFCA All-Northeast Region this spring. Garber's uncle (Jeff) is an infield instructor with the Washington Nationals and was part of that organization when it won the World Series in 2019. Her father, Todd, is an assistant coach at West Chester University. He played college baseball at Millersville University.
- Sr., RHP Jen Hanshaw is one win shy of becoming a 20-game winner for the Golden Rams. She brings a personal 8-game winning streak into the national championships in which she has pitched into the seventh inning on all eight occasions. Hanshaw only walked two batters in four appearances during the Atlantic Regional. She struck out 10. That was over 27.1 innings of work.
WEST CHESTER HITTERS VS SAINT ANSELM PITCHERS …
JAIME KLEMAS vs. MORGAN PERRY
.667(2-for-3); 1 K
COURTNEY STUMP vs. MORGAN PERRY
.333 (1-for-3); 1 Run Scored
ANNAMARIE HARTMAN vs. MORGAN PERRY
.000 (0-for-1); 1 BB
BRI GARBER vs. MORGAN PERRY
.000 (0-for-3)
BRI GARBER vs. COURTNEY FISHER
.000 (0-for-1)
