Razorbacks to play Terriers in NCAA

Berkeley, Calif. - The University of Arkansas softball team will take the field tomorrow in regional play of the NCAA Tournament at 7 p.m. CST against Boston University.
 
Arkansas with an overall record of 27-26 in regular season play received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of its tough schedule and multiple quality wins. The Razorbacks are the No. 2 seed in the Berkeley Regional, with California taking the No. 1 seed, Boston University No. 3 and Iona No. 4.
 
Boston University, the America East Champions, have an overall regular season record of 40-12 while being 15-3 in conference play. The Terriers are led at the plate by sophomores Jayme Mask and Brittany Clendenny. Mask, who is averaging .368, has 57 hits and 10 RBI, while Clendenny leads the team in home runs with 8 while also batting .340 on the season. In the circle, the Terrier's rely on sophomore Holli Floeker who has a 19-3 record with an ERA of 1.75 for the 2012 season.
 
Boston and Arkansas have only one common opponent this season in South Florida. The Terriers defeated the Bulls 5-3 on Feb. 25 in the NFCA Leadoff Classic. Arkansas dropped its game with the Bulls, 7-6 in eight innings on Feb. 18 in the USF Tournament.
 
"The head coach at Boston is a good friend of mine," says head coach Mike Larabee. "We played on the 1996 and 2000 Men's National Fastpitch Team together, so it is going to be fun to play his squad. I know that he will have his team ready to go, so we will have to be at our very best to come out with a victory."
 
Arkansas has been led at the plate throughout the season by freshman Devon Wallace and sophomore Clarisa Navarro. Wallace named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year, averaged .345 with 48 hits and 14 home runs for her freshman campaign. Navarro hit .339 on the season with 58 hits, 10 home runs and 29 RBI. Wallace and Navarro were recently named to the NFCA Division I All-Region Team in the South Region. Wallace was named to the first team while Navarro was second team All-Region.
 
Freshman Kimmy Beasley and Chelsea Cohen recorded most of the time in the circle for the Razorbacks in regular season play with Beasley throwing 125.1 innings and Cohen 189.1 innings. Beasley, named to the All-SEC Freshman Team has a record of 10-9 with an ERA of 3.32 while striking out 97 batters. Cohen has a 14-15 record with an ERA of 3.44 and 96 strikeouts. The pitching staff welcomed back junior Hope McLemore into the rotation towards the end of SEC play. McLemore was out for the majority of the season due to injury. A now healthy McLemore claimed her first victory of the season against No. 11 Georgia.
 
First pitch is set to be thrown at 7 p.m. CST. The No.1 overall seed in the tournament California will take on Iona following the end of the Arkansas and Boston game.
 
There will be a live blog and live stats available at ArkansasRazorbacks.com. For more information regarding Razorback softball or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.