BOWIE, Md. - Following one of the best regular seasons in program history and a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championship, the No. 8 Bowie State softball team will continue postseason action in the Atlantic Region Tournament on Thursday, May 11 at 11 a.m. against No. 1 East Stroudsburg at Creekview Park.

TICKETS

• General admission all-day passes 
• Cash only
• $10 for adults
• $5 for students (with ID), children, adults 65 & older, military and first responders at the gate

WHERE: Stroudsburg, PA (Creekview Park)
WHEN: Thursday, May 11 at 11 a.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
VIDEO: Click HERE
FOLLOW: @BSU_Sports_Info on Twitter, @bowiestatebulldogs on Instagram
NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET: Click HERE
NCAA PROGRAM: Click HERE

THE SERIES
The Bulldogs will meet the Warriors for the 11th time in program history and first in region play. Entering Thursday's game, the Bulldogs have lost its last five outings to the ESU, including the last matchup that occured in 2019 with BSU falling twice by the scores of 9-1 and 16-4 in Bowie, Md. East Stroudsburg is 8-2 all-time against Bowie State and holds a 7-1 record at home against BSU.

BOWIE STATE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs earned an automatic-bid to the Atlantic Regional Tournament after winning the 2023 CIAA Softball Championship with a 8-2 win over Claflin last weekend. In double elimination, the Bulldogs won the first two games - a 2-0 victory over Virginia State and a 3-2 win over Claflin that advanced BSU to the championship game. The Lady Panthers would end up defeating Winston-Salem State twice to get back to the title game. Bowie State suffered a 1-0 setback to the Lady Panthers during game one but was able to take an early lead and never relinquish. The Bulldogs would solidify the win with two runs in the sixth and three in the seventh.

Sophomore Lindsey George, this year's CIAA Player of the Year was also named the Tournament MVP. In the winner takes all game, George went seven innings, giving up two runs, both of them earned, on four hits, allowing five walks and striking out six. Additionally, freshman Trinity Mizelle and sophomore Kayla Evans were both selected to the All-Tournament Team.

ESU WARRIORS
ESU (38-16) earned the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Region after also having a best seasons in program history, breaking its wins record and finishing second in the PSAC East during the regular season. Highlighted by PSAC East Pitcher of the Year, Paige Zigmund - ESU had four other players named to the All-PSAC Second Team. The Warriors bowed out of the PSAC Tournament against Mercyhurst, falling 7-0 on May 5. Despite the loss, ESU's Reilly Vicendese broke a program record with her 68th hit in the loss. She leads the team in batting average (.382) with 53 runs scored, six triples and 31 RBI. 

The pitching duties have been split amongst Zigmund, Leigh Ann Jenkins and Maddy Ptritchard. Zigmund has an ERA of 2.23 with a 21-5 record, 160 strikeouts and four shutouts in 169.2 innings pitched. ESU's catcher/utility player Kaitlin Houser is the teams top defensive player with 196 putouts (202 chances), six assists and a fielding percentage of 1.000.

ATLANTIC POD 1
May 11-13
Thursday, May 11

• 11:00 a.m. | Game 1: No. 1 East Stroudsburg vs. No. 8 Bowie State
• 1:30 p.m. | Game 2: No. 4 West Chester vs. No. 5 West Virginia Wesleyan

Friday, May 12

• 11:00 a.m. | Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
• 1:30 p.m. | Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
• 4:00 p.m. | Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4

Saturday, May 13

• 11:00 a.m. | Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
• 1:30 p.m. | If necessary  

WHAT'S NEXT
The winner will advance to face the winner between No. 4 West Chester and No. 5 West Virginia Wesleyan at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 10. The loser between Bowie State and East Stroudsburg will face the loser between WCU and WVW on Friday, May 10 at 1:30 p.m. in a double elimination contest.

For the most up-to-date information on Bowie State Athletics and its 13 varsity sport teams, visit bsubulldogs.com.