NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - The Smith College softball team plays their final New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season games this weekend when the Pioneers host Wheaton on Friday and travel to Coast Guard Saturday.

Weekend Softball Schedule

Friday, April 22	vs. Wheaton - 3 p.m. / 5 p.m.	Live Stats    Video
Saturday, April 23	at Coast Guard - 12 p.m. / 2 p.m.	Live Stats

Playoff Implications: Smith is currently tied with Wellesley for the sixth and final playoff spot. The Pioneers hold the tiebreaker against the Blue thanks to their sweep on April 9. Wellesley plays Springfield and MIT this weekend. The conference championship begins on Friday, April 29. 


Smith
Scout: The Pioneers (10-18, 6-8 NEWMAC) enter this weekend with a chance to clinch the No. 6 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Smith matched its win total from 2015 with their doubleheader split against Brandeis Tuesday afternoon. In the game one 7-1 victory, first-year Alyssa Pioggia (East Longmeadow, Mass./East Longmeadow) belted her first career home run and junior Allison Snyder (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) crushed a grand slam to set a new career home run record at Smith with 13. The Pioneers are led offensively by sophomore Rowan Turner (Prairie Village, Kan./Shawnee Mission East) (.364 BA, 32 Hits, 6 RBI), Caroline Kushner (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) (.351 BA, 26 Hits, 11 RBI) and Snyder (.333 BA, 29 Hits, 24 RBI). Junior Natalie Burchat (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) is 7-6 with a 3.23 ERA in 82.1 innings of work. 


  Wheaton
 All-Time Series: Dating back to 1983, this is the 71st meeting between these two schools. Wheaton leads 58-12. 
 Last Meeting: The Pioneers fell to No. 20 Wheaton on April 17, 2015 by scores of 12-0 and 10-2.
Scout: The Lyons enter the weekend series at 19-11 overall, 9-5 in the NEWMAC and winners of four straight. Wheaton is coming off a doubleheader sweep of Salve Regina, 10-1 (5 innings) and 12-6. Kelly Welch ranks second in the conference with a .467 batting average to go along with 35 hits and 25 RBI, while Marissa Timoteo's 31 RBI is good for fifth in the NEWMAC. Caroline Fairbanks is tied for the conference lead in home runs (9) and Emma Hart is always a threat on the base path with 20 stolen bases, third in the NEWMAC. In the circle, Allison Cox is 8-2 on the season with a 2.13 ERA in 46.0 innings of work. Wheaton was chosen to finish second in the Preseason Coaches' Poll and is coached by Rachael Powers, who is in her 8th season. 

Coast Guard
All-Time Series: In a series that began in 1999, Coast Guard leads 24-14.
Last Meeting: Smith picked up a NEWMAC sweep of the Bears on April 15, 2015. The Pioneers won game one, 7-0, and rallied to take game two, 6-5. Allison Snyder (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) went 7-for-8 on the day with two home runs, six RBI and four runs scored. Her three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning gave the Pioneers a 6-5 lead. 
Scout: At 9-27 overall and 2-12 in conference play, the Bears have lost two straight and are coming off a doubleheader sweep from Trinity. The Bears will play at Emerson Friday before their meeting with the Pioneers Saturday afternoon. Coast Guard is led offensively by Hayden Short (.430 BA, 49 Hits, 35 RBI), Cherokee Strickland, (.281 BA, 32 Hits, 26 RBI) and Emily Hvozdovich (.381 BA, 45 Hits, 23 RBI). In the circle, Sarah Sorensen (5-19) has pitched 142.2 innings with a 5.69 ERA. Coast Guard was selected to finish eighth in the Preseason Coaches' Poll and is led by Donna Koczajowski who is in her 19th season as head coach of the Bears.

                      2016 NEWMAC Softball Standings

School	Conference	Overall
MIT	14-0	24-6
WPI	13-1	29-5
Springfield	9-5	23-11
Wheaton	9-5	19-11
Babson	8-6	22-11
Wellesley	6-8	13-15
Smith	6-8	10-18
Clark	2-12	12-22
Coast Guard	2-12	9-27
Emerson	1-13	9-23