Cancelled Event: Softball versus Tarleton State
Softball
vs Tarleton State
Cancelled
Providence College Athletics
Saturday, May 10
Villanova, Pa.
1:30 PM
Providence College
vs
Creighton
Providence College BIG EAST Championship Game Notes Semifinals.
5/10/2025 9:36:00 AM | Softball
The Friars play No. 4-seed Creighton, in a BIG EAST Championship Semifinal game at 1:30 on BEDN.
LIVE STATS AND STREAM... Providence's BIG EAST Semifinal game vs. Creighton on Saturday, May 10 will be streamed on the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN) at 1:30 p.m. Live stats will also be available via the softball schedule on Friars.com.Â
ROAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP... The winner of Saturday's Semifinal game between No. 6 Providence and No. 4Â Creighton will advance to play in the Championship match (game one) against No. 2- seed UConn on May 10 at 5:00 p.m.
VS. CREIGHTON
2025 Season
PC leads:2-1
Saturday's contest will mark the first encounter between the two teams in postseason play.
Providence's History In The BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP... Â Â Â Â Â
The Friars captured their lone BIG EAST Title in 1994 under the direction of Head Coach Jennifer Finley. Providence defeated Connecticut in Jamaica, N.Y., 1-0, with Kim Robbins being named the Most Outstanding Player.Â
Providence holds an 11-16 overall record in the BIG EAST Championship with one title and two runner-up finishes. The Friars fell to Connecticut in the 1992 BIG EAST Title game, 2-1, before reaching the title game for a second-consecutive season in 1995 but were defeated by Connecticut, 3-1.Â
The Friars' last time in the BIG EAST Softball Championship was in 2019 where the Friars fell, 4-0, in a Semifinals match against DePaul. Prior to that, the last appearance in a BIG EAST Semifinals was in 1995 against Boston College. Providence defeated the Eagles, 5-1.Â
Wednesday's game against Villanova marked second-year Head Coach Kelsey Christensen's BIG EAST Championship debut. The Friars pulled away with a historic, 10-9, eight-inning win in which the Friars overcame a seven-run deficit to upset the No. 3-Seed and defending BIG EAST Champs, Villanova. It marked the Friars' first postseason win in 30 years.Â
FRIARS TAKE DOWN TOP-SEEDED REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS, ST. JOHN'S, 10-0, IN FIVE INNING SHUTOUT WIN...
The sixth-seeded Providence College softball team upset top-seeded St. John's, 10-0, in an elimination game in BIG EAST Softball Championship on Friday, May 9 at the Villanova Softball Complex in Villanova, Pa. Hanna Aldrich led the way for the Friars with a three-run triple in the fourth inning to break the game open.
FRIARS FALL TO UCONN, 5-4, IN QUARTERFINALS BUT BOUNCE BACK WITH A 7-0 SHUTOUT WIN OVER BUTLER TO STAY ALIVE...
The No. 6-seed Providence Friars were defeated, 5-4, by the No. 2-seed UConn Huskies in a BIG EAST Quarterfinals match. Despite a late game-tying effort in the sixth, Connecticut was able retake the lead and clinch one-run lead for the win.
However, the Friars came alive in the Elimination Game against the No. 5-seed Butler Bulldogs as they claimed a 7-0 shutout win. The shutout marked the second of the season for the Friars, both coming against Butler as Providence earned a 10-0 win over the Bulldogs on March 15.
FRIARS RECORD HISTORIC SEVEN-RUN COMEBACK UPSET WIN OVER THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS, VILLANOVA, TO RECORD FIRST POSTSEASON WIN IN THIRTY YEARS...
After qualifying for the BIG EAST Softball Championship for the first time since 2019, the sixth-seeded Friars recorded a historic eight-inning comeback win over No. 3Â Villanova on May 7.Â
The Friars recorded eight of their 10 runs in the final three innings to secure their first postseason win since 1995. With the victory, the Friars improved to a 23-29 overall record. Sophomore Cameron Dunn (Bothell, Wash.) paced the Friars with two home runs and three RBI. Senior Jessica Walter (Middletown, Del.) was credited with the win for Providence, pitching 4.1 innings while recording seven strikeouts.Â
PC's win over Villanova was its first of the season as the Wildcats swept the Friars in a three-game series the weekend prior to tournament play (May 2-4). The Friars took the lead in the all-time postseason record over the Wildcats, now leading 3-2.Â
CONFERENCE PLAY...
Providence won 11 of its conference games to clinch a spot in the BIG EAST Softball Championship for the first time since 2019. Heading into the final weekend of BIG EAST play, Providence sat in contention with three other teams (VU, SHU & CU) but was able to secure the sixth-seed after leading the tie-breaker over Seton Hall.
POWER FROM TOP TO BOTTOM...
The Friars have hit 31 home runs this season. Cameron Dunn holds a team-high 10 home runs while Gabriella Sebastian, Rachael Petrarca and Julia Renny are behind with four. Nine separate players have tallied a home run for Providence this season.Â
The Friars have recorded four home runs thus far in this year's conference tournament action. In the First Round game against No. 3 Villanova, Dunn recorded two home runs and three RBI to spark the comeback win for the Friars. Rachael Petrarca capped off the 7-0 win over No. 5 Butler with a two-run homer. Sofia Peterson sparked a six-run second-inning scoring outburst for the Friars with a solo shot in the Friars' 10-0 win over the Red Storm.Â
HITTING MACHINE...
Junior Elisa Smith has led the Friars' lineup throughout the regular season. She holds a team-best .393 batting average, 66 hits, seven triples and a .466 on-base percentage, ranking her among the Big East's top hitters. She is currently first in the conference in triples, seventh in batting average, eighth in on-base percentage and ninth in hits. Lee's performance in the regular season earned her a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team; her first All-BIG EAST recognition of her career.Â
Smith was a key player in the Friars win over Villanova as she went 3-5 at the plate, registering a RBI single and recording three clutch putouts. The junior had a 2-2 performance from the plate in Providence's win over the top-seeded Red Storm. She recorded an RBi and two runs scored.Â
ELISA SMITH ON TRACK TO MAKE PROGRAM HISTORY...
After four outstanding posteseason games for Elisa Smith, the outfielder currently ranks second all-time for runs scored in a single season with 41. She is just seven runs away from setting a new program record.Â
The junior is now second all-time in hits with 66. The all-time record stands at 74 (Kalena Petersen 2004).Â
PITCHING DOMINANCE...
Providence's success this season has been helped by graduate student Tori Grifone's effort in the circle. She enters the BIG EAST Championship with a team-high 10 wins. Over 112.1 innings pitched, she has posted a 3.99 ERA while holding opponents to a .265 batting average and recording 65 strikeouts. In Big East play, Grifone ranked sixth in ERA (3.43) and third in opposing batting average (.240). She tallied a season-high eight strikeouts in a win over Creighton earlier this year. Grifone's effort in the regular season earned her a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team; her first All-BIG EAST recognition of her career.Â
Senior Jessica Walter has also had a stellar performance in the circle for the Friars. The Middletown, Del. product leads the squad in ERA (3.48) and has posted a 7-1 record. She was awarded the win in the Friars' comeback victory over the Huskies, pitching the last 4.1 innings while recording seven strikeouts. Walter closed the game out in the bottom of the eighth, as she struck out two batters in a three-up, three-down inning. The victory marked her seventh of the season. =
Sophomore Alyssa Twomey has been a key player in the Friars' postseason run. The Rhode Island product has a 2-1 record and a 1.68 ERA across 16.2 innings of work. Twomey tossed a complete game for PC in the team's upset shutout, five-inning win over the BIG EAST Regular Season Champions, St. John's. She struck out five Johnnies, conceding only six hits. It marked her second shutout victory of the tournament.Â
BETTER TOGETHER...
PC's unprecedented postseason success is due to the combined effort from all players. Five Friars are currently batting above .400 across the four games played. Cameron Dunn leads the charge with a .600 batting average, 1.300 slugging percentage and a .643 on-base percentage during the tournament.
Ten players have recorded hits; eight of which have registered more than one. Elisa Smith leads with seven.Â
SCOUTING THE BLUEJAYS...Â
Creighton claimed the four seed in the BIG EAST Championship with an 15-9 conference record. The Bluejays defeated no. 5-seed Butler, 6-3, in the First Round and went on to upset the one-seed St. John's, 5-3 in the Quarterfinals. The Bluejays are coming off a 12-1, six-inning loss to No. 2-seed UConn on May 9. Friday's loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for Creighton. Â
The Bluejays have a strong foundation with two All-BIG EAST First Team members, Sydney Potter and Sydra Seville. Seville, an outfielder, started in each of Creighton's 24 conference games in the lead-off position, ranking third in the BIG EAST with a .468 batting average, while racking up a BIG EAST single season record 44 hits. Overall, the senior slugger leads the BIG EAST and ranks third all-time in Creighton history with 72 hits, posting a .389 batting average with nine doubles, two triples, two home runs and a team-leading 42 runs and 20 stolen bases. Seville's 20 stolen bases this season are seventh-most in a single season in program history and the most by a Bluejay. Earlier this season, Seville recorded the longest hit streak by a Bluejay since at least 1999, collecting a hit in 18 straight games. Potter, an infielder/catcher, finished the regular season ranking second in BIG EAST play with 35 RBI, third in home runs with 10 and seventh in slugging percentage at .747, while owning a .337 batting average. She is one of four Bluejays to start every game this season and owns a .307 batting average with 50 hits, including seven doubles, 15 home runs and 58 RBI. Potter's 58 RBI this season have tied the school record for most RBI in a season, while her 15 home runs are tied for the seventh-most in a single season in program history.Â
Players Mentioned
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