PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – As the calendar flips to May, postseason action awaits three of Pace University's spring athletic teams. While baseball enters the final stretch of the regular season, softball and both men's and women's lacrosse gear up for Northeast-10 Conference Championship tournament play starting on Tuesday evening.
Pace Baseball vs No. 15 University of New Haven | Tuesday, 3:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Video
Pace Baseball vs Caldwell University | Wednesday, 3:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Video
Returning to Pleasantville for the final homestand of the regular season, the Setters will begin a string of three games at Finnerty Field when they host New Haven on Tuesday afternoon. Pace enters the week at 16-17-1 with a 10-13 record against Northeast-10 Conference opponents.
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Originally scheduled to play a three game weekend series at No. 10 Le Moyne, weather postponed the final two games of the Setters-Dolphins series to Monday. Le Moyne took the series opener on Saturday, 5-0. The Setters were limited to four hits in the contest, as
Ryan Aquino (Mamaroneck, NY/Rye Neck) threw eight innings while allowing four earned runs for the Blue and Gold. Pace responded with a split against the Dolphins on Monday. The Setters scored five runs in the ninth inning to take the first contest of the day, 10-5.
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Tuesday marks the rubber match of the regular season series between Pace and New Haven. The Setters earned a 4-1 victory over then-No. 5 New Haven on April 5 before the No. 17 Chargers took Game Two on April 18, 6-4. Now holding the No. 15 ranking with a 32-6 overall record, Tuesday will be the first time this season New Haven will play at Pleasantville.
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Caldwell enters the week at 7-36 overall, dropping four straight. The Cougars play a doubleheader on Monday against Post prior to coming to Pleasantville. Wednesday's game will be the first time the two teams have met after their originally scheduled March 21 meeting was postponed. Pace is 6-0 against Caldwell since 2013.
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No. 20 Pace Men's Lacrosse at No. 6 Adelphi University | Tuesday, 7 p.m. | Live Stats | Video
After earning a win in their regular-season finale to clinch a berth into the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament, the sixth-seeded Setters will travel to Adelphi to take on the third-seeded Panthers. Pace ended the regular season at 7-6 with a 6-5 mark against conference opponents.
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The Blue and Gold picked up a 14-9 victory over Assumption on Friday to punch their ticket into the postseason. A Pace attack that featured 10 different goal scorers was led by a five-point night from
Liam Brennan (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman). The senior had three goals and two assists, moving into second on the all-time points list with 219 in his career.
Peter Bashar (Stratford, CT/St. Joseph) and
Kevin Vogelsberg (Wantagh, NY/Holy Trinity Diocesan) both added two-goal games, while
Robert Beshlian (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) made nine saves, including No. 500 in his career, to secure the win in net.
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Adelphi ended the regular season at 10-3 and were 9-2 in conference play. The Panthers ended the regular season with a win of their own, defeating Franklin Pierce 17-9 on Saturday. Adelphi won the regular season meeting against Pace on Mar. 28, 12-6. The two teams have become a familiar postseason pairing, meeting in last season's NE10 Conference Semifinals as well as the NCAA DII Tournament.
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No. 15 Pace Women's Lacrosse vs No. 20 Bentley University | Wednesday, 6 p.m. | Live Stats | Video
Playing the first postseason home game in program history, the third-seeded Setters will host the sixth-seeded Bentley Falcons in the opening round of the NE10 Conference Tournament. Pace ended the regular season with a 13-4 overall record and a 10-3 conference mark, both new program bests.
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The Setters closed out the best regular season in the team's four-year history with a program-record 26 goals against Franklin Pierce on Saturday.
Casey Gelderman (Farmingville, NY/Sachem High School East) tied her own team record with a seven-goal day, ending the season with a team-best 75 points.
Courtney Pabst (East Patchogue, NY/Bellport) collected the 100
th goal of her career in the win. The junior closed out the regular season as the team's leader in assists with 28 helpers. The 26-16 victory featured 12 different scorers, 13 players with a point, and all active players seeing game action.
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Bentley enters the postseason at 9-6 with an 8-5 record in conference play. The Falcons snapped a three-game slide with a win over Southern New Hampshire to enter the tournament on a high note. Bentley defeated Pace in the regular season 14-13 in Waltham, but Wednesday's contest will be played at Pace Stadium where the Setters went 9-0 in the regular season.
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Tickets for Wednesday's game will be $6 for adults, $4 for seniors and youth, $1 for NE10 students with a valid ID, and free for Pace students with valid ID.
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Pace Softball vs Assumption College/Merrimack College (in Garden City, N.Y.) | Thursday, 12 p.m.
Closing out the regular season with nine straight wins, the Setters head into the NE10 Conference Tournament as one of the hottest teams in the country. Pace, who ended the regular season with a 25-19 record and a 17-9 mark against the NE10, clinched a share of the NE10 Southwest Division title over the weekend and hold the No. 2 seed in the Southwest heading into the postseason.
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The Setters swept a three-game weekend series against Saint Rose to conclude the regular season. Sophomore
Emma Bernet (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W Baker) tossed a pair of complete-game shutouts against the Golden Knights, picking up wins number 12 and 13 of the season. Her ERA now sits at 1.11, the lowest in the conference.
Jaclyn Flores (Escondido, CA/San Pasqual High School) pitched the season finale, going six innings while allowing an unearned run.
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Playing their best ball of the season, the Setters offense has terrific contributors throughout the lineup.
Ashley Lew (New City, NY/Clarkstown High School North) went 6-for-9 at the plate last week with five extra-base hits, driving in five while scoring five runs herself.
Jordan Chillinsky (Carlsbad, CA/Carlsbad High School) hit .700 over the week, scoring three runs while driving in a pair.
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Pace will play the winner of the No. 4 Assumption vs No. 3 Merrimack matchup that takes place on Tuesday. The Setters were 1-1 against both teams in the regular season.
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