Brooklyn, NY - The Hunter softball team has been crowned the 2022 CUNYAC Champions after defeating #2 John Jay in a best of three series earlier today. The title is the 12th in program history and the first since 2008. In the process, the team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Hawks won their first round game on Friday, May 6 in a 7-1 win over #4 Lehman College to advance to the winner's bracket. After getting rained out on Saturday, the CUNYAC had to alter the tournament and pitted the two teams in the winners bracket, Hunter and John Jay, in a best of three series to determine the winner. Hunter won the first game, 11-9 but dropped the second, 9-11. They rallied to come back and win the third and final game by a score of 8-6.

Game 1 (Hunter-11 | John Jay-9)
Hunter's bats kept them in the game as the team combined for 14 hits with six player registering multi-hit games. Nicole Bowe and Paige Witalec each had two hits and two RBI while Samantha Marsala filled the stat sheet with two hits and two runs scored. T'ea Panagakos started the game and threw three innings, gave up five runs, four of which unearned, five hits and struck out one. Leah Dillon came in and tossed the final four innings and earned the win. She allowed six hits, gave up four runs, none earned, and struck out two to compliment her 3-4 plate performance that included a double, two runs scored and an RBI.

The Hawks were chasing two after the first inning and then fell behind 5-0 after the conclusion of the top of the third. However, in the bottom of the third, Hunter's first six batters reached base which resulted in three runs. With bases loaded and one out, they added two more runs before Nicole Bowe smacked a two-RBI double to put her team up 7-5.

John Jay responded by regaining the lead and scoring four in the top of the fourth to make it 7-5 in favor of the Bloodhounds. However, Hunter's hot bats once again kept them alive after a walk, double and two singles knotted the game at nine apiece. Back-to-back RBI singles from Olivia Palumbo and Witalec made it an 11-9 affair. 

The Purple and Gold kept their opponents scoreless over the next three innings to win the first game, 11-9.

Game 2 (Hunter-9 | John Jay-11)
Despite an impressive 15 hits, Hunter's four errors coupled with John Jay's 16 hits resulted in an unfavorable outcome. Palumbo went 3-5 with three runs scored while Alyssa Curiale was 2-4 with a double, three RBI and two runs scored. Witalec also did her part with two hits, a double, RBI and two runs scored. Sarah Schor started in the circle and allowed 12 hits in three innings of action. A few fielding errors resulted in nine runs scored while only three were earned. Dillon came in for relief and pitched the final four innings and was solid, giving up four hits and one earned run.

The Bloodhounds wasted no time getting on the scoreboard with a run in the top of the first, followed by a crippling seven-run second inning as they capitalized on Hunter errors. Heading into the bottom of the third, Hunter faced a 9-0 deficit. They managed to score four thanks to a two RBI double from Curiale and singles from Witalec and Dillon.

John Jay tacked on a run in both the fourth and fifth while Hunter responded with one of their own in the fifth to make it an 11-5 game. In the bottom of the fifth, the Purple and Gold put up another four runs on four hits and capitalizing on two John Jay errors. However, it's as close as they would get as the Bloodhounds tied the series to force a third game.

Game 3 (Hunter-8 | John Jay-6)
At the plate, Kayla Pilotti had a big game with two hits, a game winning double, triple, three RBI and two runs scored. Panagakos started in the circle and had a solid three innings that included five hits, three runs and three strikeouts. Curiale took the win and in four innings, had an identical stat line with two less strikeouts.

John Jay was efficient as they had been all day and scored in four of the first five innings, setting the scoreboard at 6-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth. With two outs in the bottom of the frame, the Hawks capitalized on a John Jay fielding miscue; the first of three in the inning. Olivia Woodruff and Marsala had back-to-back RBI to trim the deficit to just one run. Pilotti ripped a two RBI triple to score the tying and go-ahead run before scoring herself on a John Jay error. After all was said and done, the Hawks tallied six runs on the inning and took the 8-6 lead. 

They retired the side in the sixth inning and eliminated a late seventh inning threat that had runners on second and third with two out. With the final out recorded, Hunter had won the game 8-6.

For her efforts, Curiale was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player.

The Hawks will now compete in the NCAA Tournament. The Regional will take place from May 13-15 in at each region's host institution. The tournament field will be revealed during the NCAA selection show which will be on Monday, May 9 at 1pm on NCAA.com.