EDINBORO, Pa. – The Edinboro softball team will make its first appearance in the PSAC Tournament since 2014 when the Fighting Scots face Kutztown on Wednesday, May 1. The PSAC Tournament will take place from Wednesday, May 1 to Saturday, May 4 at Veterans Park in Quakertown, Pa. The double-elimination tournament will decide the 2019 PSAC softball champion and the conference's NCAA tournament automatic qualifier.

Edinboro comes into the tournament with a 21-17 record and finished at 12-8 in the PSAC West, good for the third seed. That was after the Fighting Scots were picked to finish sixth in the Western Division after finishing with six wins in 2018. The Fighting Scots will face Kutztown (33-18, 9-7 PSAC East), the third seed out of the Eastern Division, in the first game of the tournament on Wednesday at 12 noon. Kutztown was ranked eighth in last week's NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings.

Both teams will return to action at 6 p.m. The winner of the Edinboro-Kutztown game will face Bloomsburg, the number one team out of the Central Division. The Huskies are 30-15 and finished at 15-5 in the PSAC Central. The loser, meanwhile, squares off against the loser of the other 12 noon contest between Gannon and Mansfield in an elimination game.

While wrapping up his 30th season as head coach, Dan Gierlak has guided Edinboro to one of its most successful seasons. The Fighting Scots qualified for the PSAC Tournament for the first time since 2014, and the 21 wins are the most since the 2015 squad finished with 23 wins.

"I think the key was that once we played down south and some of the teams we played are nationally-ranked teams, and we were right with them," Gierlak pointed out. "We can play with everybody. We swing the bats as well any team I've had. So as long as we believe that, we are in great shape. I think that once we got back up here, we lost so many games by one run and that we could play with anyone. It's been fun."

Gierlak relies on a veteran team featuring 12 seniors, including leading hitters Danna Heh and Olivia Jankowski and pitchers Carley Nasca and Amanda Metz. "It's been great this year," Gierlak commented. "These have been 12 outstanding individual kids. They are an outstanding group and together we get along extremely well together. It's a tight knit group. They can take control of the warm up and they do what they need to do. They asked for that and I have let them do that."

Heh is the table-setter for Jankowski. The senior utility player is hitting .421, good for seventh in the PSAC. She has a team-leading 22 stolen bases, good for fifth in the PSAC. The 22 stolen bases rank third in a season and is just two steals shy of the school record.

Heh is a two-time All-PSAC West and NFCA All-Atlantic Region selection. She currently ranks sixth in career batting average (.393), along with third in career hits (161) and stolen bases (60), and fifth in career runs (87). Jankowski, meanwhile, has assaulted the record books this season. The senior outfielder ranks third in the PSAC and ranks in the top ten nationally with a .487 batting average. If she maintains that number, it would set a new school record. Jankowski has hit a school-record 13 doubles, which is tied for sixth in the PSAC, and has 10 home runs. That is second in the conference and is second in the season records. Her 42 RBIs are also second in a season and stand fifth in the PSAC.

Like Heh, Jankowski ranks among the career leaders in numerous categories. She is currently fourth in career batting average (.397), second in doubles (31), tied for third in career RBIs (87), tied for fifth in career home runs (15), and ninth in career hits (138) and runs (73) Shannon Gilbert (.346) and Victoria Allocco (.327) are also hitting above .300. Gilbert adds a pair of home runs and 15 RBIs, while Allocco has driven in 13 runs. Roni Lipinski has been on fire of late, boosting her batting average to .279. The senior catcher is tied for second on the team in home runs with four and has driven in 18 runs. Brittany Allen has also hit four home runs and stands second on the team in doubles (8) and RBIs (22). The senior shortstop is hitting .268. Seniors Nasca and Metz have formed a solid one-two punch in the circle while throwing all but 1 1/3 of the innings for the Fighting Scots. Nasca owns a 15-6 record with a 2.50 ERA. She is tied for third in wins in a season and has now made a school-record 34 appearances. She ranks fifth in career wins (29), is third in career games (80), and stands sixth in career strikeouts (211).

Metz is 6-11 with a 3.21 ERA, and has a school-record 5 saves. She has appeared in 32 games, second only to Nasca in a season. She has a team-high 110 strikeouts and ranks eighth in career strikeouts with 185. She is also fourth in career games with 75.

The meeting with Kutztown will pit two of the top hitting teams in the PSAC. The Golden Bears lead the conference with a .349 team batting average, while Edinboro ranks sixth at .306.