IMMACULATA, Pa. – Before the first game was played in the 2013 season, head coach Mike Wallace and the Immaculata University softball team set the goal of winning the Colonial States Athletic Conference. The Mighty Macs will have the opportunity play for that CSAC championship this weekend at Neumann University.
 
Immaculata earned the No. 2 seed in the CSAC Tournament thanks to its 18-4 league record, and will play sixth-seeded Keystone College in the first game of the weekend's double-elimination format Friday morning at 10 a.m. The Mighty Macs have never been seeded higher than third in the conference postseason tournament and look to capitalize on earning a bye into the weekend with a deep run into Saturday.
 
Immaculata's 22-16 overall and 18-4 CSAC marks both set program records for wins in a single season. The Mighty Macs had previously won 21 games during the 2012 and 2011 seasons, and Immaculata finished the 2011 CSAC schedule with a record of 17-5. Immaculata has now qualified for the league postseason five consecutive seasons.
 
Immaculata swept the regular-season doubleheader against Keystone in La Plume, Pa., earlier this season. The Giants took the Mighty Macs to eight innings in the first game before Immaculata pulled out a 7-4 victory. The Mighty Macs won the second game, 14-5.
 
Armed with both the CSAC's Player and Pitcher of the Year, Immaculata certainly has the talent to challenge top-seeded Neumann in the tournament, should both teams advance. Holly Schell, who was named the player of the year in the conference, started all 38 games for the Mighty Macs this year, producing 44 hits, 22 RBI and 33 runs scored – all team highs. She has the third-best batting average on the team at .346, while producing seven doubles, three triples and two home runs. During the 22 CSAC games this season, Schell hit .373 with 28 hits, 24 runs scored and 20 RBI. She had a .573 slugging and .455 on-base percentage, as well as went 9-for-10 in stolen base attempts. She also drew a team-leading 11 walks during conference play.
 
Meagan Fitzgerald, who was named pitcher of the year, appeared in 23 games and had 22 starts, including 19 complete games and six shutouts, with a 2.77 earned-run average. The junior fanned 103 batters while walking 40, and holding her opponents to a .262 batting average. She has the fifth-lowest ERA (2.77), second-most strikeouts (103) and innings pitched (134) in the CSAC, while leading the league in wins (14). In her 13 appearances and 12 starts during CSAC games, she had a 1.81 ERA while posting an 11-2 CSAC record. Across those 77.1 innings of work, she struck out 71, walked just 26 and limited opponents to a batting average of .204.

Pitcher Nicole Curcione was selected Second Team All-CSAC while third baseman Jenny Barnholt and outfielder Samantha Strickland received Honorable Mention CSAC accolades.

The CSAC Championship started Wednesday with first-round games. Sixth-seeded Keystone upset the third-seed Centenary, 4-0, to advance to Friday. Fourth-seeded Gwynedd-Mercy edged the No. 5-seed Marywood, 2-1, to advance.

Immaculata plays Keystone in the first game Friday at 10 a.m. Top-seed Neumann will face Gwynedd-Mercy at noon. The losers of those two games will face off in an elimination game at 2 p.m., while the winners will play at 4 p.m.
 
A full tournament schedule for the weekend is below.
 
Championship Weekend | at Neumann University
Friday, May 3 (double elimination)
Game 3: 10:00 a.m. - No. 2 Immaculata vs. No. 6 Keystone
Game 4: 12:00 p.m. - No. 1 Neumann vs. No. 4 Gwynedd-Mercy
Game 5: 2:00 p.m. - Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4
Game 6: 4:00 p.m. - Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4

Saturday, May 4
Game 7: 10:00 a.m. - Winner of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 6
Game 8: 12:20 p.m. - Winner of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 7
Game 9: 2:00 p.m. - same as Game 8 **if necessary