April 26, 2002

BIG EAST HOMESTAND: Entering the weekend Villanova stands at 41-10 on the year and 11-3 in Big East action. The Wildcats have won the last eight Big East contests after starting 3-3 and currently are in second place with 22 points. The conference standings are determined by a 2/1 point system. Each team is rewarded two points for a win, one point for a tie and zero points for a loss. The top four teams will qualify for the 2002 Big East Softball Championships in Salem, Va., on May 9-11. Villanova will host Syracuse on Saturday (April 27) and Connecticut on Sunday (April 28) as the 'Cats continue quest for their third consecutive tournament bid.

SCOUTING SYRACUSE: Syracuse enters Saturday's game at Villanova Softball Field 20-16 on the year and 7-3 in the Big East. The Orangewomen are coming off a series split with Cornell (23-19 overall) in which Julie Dunn (Springfield, Ill.) hit the first grand slam in Syracuse history. Orangewomen head coach Mary Jo Firnbachhas guided Syracuse to a 63-67-1 record during the program's first three seasons. Offensively, Kristen Collins leads Syracuse with a .406 batting average, while Cheryl Julicher provides the power in the lineup with eight home runs and 23 RBI. On the mound, Heather Brown (7-8, 2.27 ERA) and Tara DiMaggio (8-6, 2.48 ERA) have handled the bulk of the pitching duties.

CHECKING OUT THE HUSKIES: The Huskies enter the weekend with an 11-30 record, 3-13 in the Big East. Connecticut will open their Big East weekend in Piscataway, N.J. with a double-header against Rutgers before traveling to Villanova. Last season at Villanova Softball Field, the Huskies, led by five seniors, claimed their seventh BIG EAST Tournament Championship and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals, held in Tallahassee, FL. Junior Barb Cook, the 2001 Big East Tournament MVP, has seven of the Huskies 11 victories on the mound while Jen D'Angelo leads Connecticut in batting average (.265) and RBI (9). UConn's offenses has had trouble this season as they have only recorded a .193 team batting average and been outscored 151-70 by its opponents.

WILDCAT RECOGNITION: The Villanova softball team continues to receive national recognition as the Wildcats ranked No. 2 in the East Region in the latest Division I NCAA Regional Polls. As a team, Villanova ranks in the top-10 in four statistical categories earning the Wildcat softball program respect nation-wide and five different Wildcats rank among the individual statistic leaders. Below is a complete listing of the most recently release NCAA Leaders through games of April 21:

East Regional Rankings
1.	Notre Dame	27-13
2.	Villanova	37-9
3.	Syracuse	19-15
4.	Seton Hall	25-13
5.	Long Island	24-20

NCAA Statistical Team Leaders
Team Batting Avg.	.312	5th
Team E.R.A.     	0.78	3rd
Fielding Percentage	.972	6th
W/L Percentage  	.805	8th

NCAA Statistical Inidividual Leaders
Batting Avg.	Sara Carlson	   .408	  32nd
3B/game  	Ricci Lugo	   0.15	  14th
E.R.A.  	Theresa Hornick	   0.71	  10th
E.R.A.	        Shannon Williams   0.74	  12th
Saves		Kristen Haynes	      3	  29th
Wins		Theresa Hornick	     19	  25th

LAST HURRAH: Two seniors will be honored at Sunday's game for their accomplishments at Villanova: Heather Garboden and Karen Niwinski. During their four years on the Main Line, the Wildcats have advanced to two consecutive Big East post-season tournaments and are in contention for their third straight. Over the last four seasons the team has 162 victories, including three 40-plus win seasons.

LUGO'S LONG BALL: In Wednesday's double header with the University of Delaware, sophomore Ricci Lugo set a new single-season record, blasting her 11th home run of the season. Lugo, who only had two homers as a rookie, now ranks fourth on the career home run chart with 13.

For more information on Villanova softball please contact Kevin Fischer at 610.519.6460 or via email at kevin.fischer@villanova.edu