01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Rhode Island College is the team to beat in the 2006 Little East Conference softball tournament starting Thursday at RIC's Dayna A. Bazar Softball Complex.

The record-breaking Anchorwomen (29-8-1 overall, 11-2-1 in the league) won their second consecutive LEC regular-season championship Saturday when they defeated Eastern Connecticut, 5-3, in the first game of a doubleheader at Willimantic, Conn. Senior Andree Sitnik (Lincoln), who had not hit a home run in her collegiate career before this season, blasted her second game-winner in the top of the eighth inning. She launched a three-run shot that broke a 2-2 tie.

RIC's 29th win (on April 29) set a school record for victories in a season. The 2005 team won 28 games.

Pitcher Nicole Riley (North Providence) won her 20th game of the season, a school record. She has only two losses.

Eastern Connecticut won the second game, 5-3, snapping RIC's 19-game unbeaten streak.

RIC is ranked No. 30 in the Division III in the nation and No. 1 in New England.

Coach Maria Morin 's team, the top seed, will open the LEC Tournament on Thursday against sixth-seeded UMass-Dartmouth (14-11-1, 4-9-1). Second-seeded Eastern Connecticut (21-17, 11-13) will play fifth-seeded Southern Maine (19-17, 8-6). Third-seeded Keene State (24-12, 9-5), the defending champion, will play fourth-seeded Western Connecticut (26-14, 9-5).

The double-elimination tournament will continue Saturday and Sunday until a champion is crowned.

Riley, a junior, is having a career year. She has not lost since March 17. She beat the top-three teams in the league last week, throwing a three-hit, eight-inning gem against Keene State last Thursday. She has 128 strikeouts in 147 1/3 innings and in addition to her 22 decisions has two saves.

First baseman Christie Lotti was 10-for-21 in eight games last week with 2 doubles, 2 triples and a home run. She led off the eighth inning of the Keene State game with a double and scored the game-winning run. She leads the team in runs (35), triples (9) and home runs (4) and is tied for second in RBI (23).

Keene State was the final home game for the four seniors who have won more games (101) than any class in RIC softball history: Sitnik, the right fielder; Katie Benevides (Dighton), the left fielder; Megan Ponte (Wakefield), the center fielder, and Casie Lyons (Hudson, Mass.), the second baseman.

Keene State is led by pitcher Erin Fuoroli (Warwick/Pilgrim). She lost twice last week, an uncommon occurrence, but her record for the season is still solid: 9-4, 2.07 E.R.A. She threw her first collegiate no-hitter against Westfield State, striking out five and not walking a batter in the 11-0 romp. Her career record is 25-6.

RIC wasn't the only softball team celebrating over the weekend. Bryant (24-14, 22-4) beat Saint Michael's, 6-2, in the opener of a doubleheader Sunday and clinched its first Northeast-10 Conference regular-season title. Junior Lindsay Connor 's two-run triple was the key hit for Bryant. She added insult to injury when she raced home while the pitcher was walking back to the circle. Pitcher Janine Enos went the distance for her 10th win.

The Bulldogs are scheduled to play two at Le Moyne today. The NE-10 Tournament starts Friday at Bryant. The Bulldogs, the 2005 tournament champions, are ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Northeast Region and appear bound for the NCAA Regional for the third consecutive season. They are 21-3 in their last 24 games and at one point had an 11-game winning streak.

CCRI defeated Dean College, 4-1, and won the Region 21 championship but lost twice to Orange County CC and will not be going to the Northeast District Tournament. In an unusual policy, the NJCAA allowed Orange Country compete in the Region 21 Tournament because there are no other Division II softball teams in their region. The winner of the regional championship advances to the district tournament, which is why Orange County is moving on. But Orange County is not in Regional 21, which is why CCRI is the regional champion. Confused? Welcome to the club.

Records fell for the Knights this season. Pitcher Jen Dupont (Lincoln) holds the career mark for victories (17), strikeouts (142) and E.R.A. (1.54) and the season marks for strikeouts (80) and E.R.A. (1.51, 1.57). Jasmine Bonanca (Swansea) holds the season record for hits (46). Her .605 batting average is second in NJCAA this season and the third-highest in CCRI history.

Sixth-seeded Wheaton lost to third-seeded Smith, 1-0, in the first round of the NEWMAC Tournament last week and finished with a 24-15, 9-7 record. Sophomore Audey Poulton (Charlestown/Chariho) had two hits in the finale.

Providence College (29-16-1, 11-9) defeated Pitt, 3-2, in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday and clinched a berth in the Big East Tournament for the first time since 1996. Gina Rossi 's RBI single and Katie Ross ' two-run single were the big hits in PC's three-run fourth inning. Pitt won the first game, 2-0.

The Friars started the week with a 5-3 victory over former Big East rival Boston College and ended it with a doubleheader split at Syracuse, winning the opener, 4-2, and losing the second game, 4-1. Catcher Rachel Bartholomew was held hitless for the first time in 15 games.

PC stickmen seeded 1st Providence College (8-6, 6-2) earned a share of the Metro Atlantic lacrosse regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed for the MAAC Tournament this weekend at Canisius College in Buffalo. The Friars defeated Mount St. Mary's, 8-3, Saturday in a game they had to win for a piece of the title. Mount St. Mary's (6-8, 6-2) could have had a .500 season and the regular-season championship had it won. Canisius also has a 6-2 league record.

Michael Farley turned in his fourth three-goal game of the season, and keeper Peter Littell had nine saves.

Providence will make its sixth consecutive appearance in the MAAC Tournament when it plays fourth-seeded Marist (6-8) on Friday at 4 p.m. Mount St. Mary's (6-8) and Canisius (7-7) will play at 6:30. The winners will meet Sunday at noon. The MAAC champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

PC is a three-time regular-season champion and won the MAAC Tournament two years ago.

PC coach Chris Burdick is the US Lacrosse coach of the week for directing the Friars to their 9-6 victory over Marist and 8-3 triumph over Mount St. Mary's.

Brown, once a lacrosse power, is struggling. The Bears lost to fifth-ranked Cornell, 10-6, Saturday and fell to 2-10 overall, 0-5 in the Ivy League. They will play their season finale at Stevenson Field Saturday at 1 against ninth-ranked Princeton.

Bryant (11-4, 8-2) will play Merrimack tomorrow in the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Tournament. The Warriors edged Bryant, 14-13 in overtime, April 15, but the Bulldogs have history on their side. They beat Merrimack, 10-9, in the 2005 NE-10 semifinals. Jedd Storoshenko scored four goals in Bryant's 13-8 quarterfinal victory over Southern New Hampshire.

The Wheaton women (9-7, 5-1) advanced to their fifth consecutive NEWMAC lacrosse championship game last Sunday but lost to top-seeded Springfield, 15-11. Springfield rallied from a 6-5 halftime deficit and scored the final four goals of the game. Senior Julia Coit played her final collegiate game and had a goal and two assists. She finished fourth in career goals, sixth in points and seventh in assists.

Brown in NCAAs again Brown is going to the NCAA men's tennis tournament for the fourth time in the last five years. The Bears (20-9, 7-1) defeated Penn (18-6, 6-2), 4-3, Sunday at Philadelphia in a playoff for the Ivy League's automatic bid. Brown and Penn had tied for the Ivy championship with 6-1 league records.

Brown won the doubles point on the strength of wins at No. 1 (Phil Charm and Chris Lee ) and No. 2 (Dan Hanegby and Saurabh Kohli ). Kohli won at No. 4 singles and Lee at No. 6. Senior Luke Tedaldi 's 7-6 (5), 6-4 triumph over Justin Fox at No. 5 singles decided the match.

The NCAA will select the tournament field tomorrow night.

Salve Regina (14-5) won its fifth consecutive Commonwealth Coast Conference championship Saturday with a 7-2 victory over Colby-Sawyer. Salve won the three doubles matches with Jason Lago and Robbie Norton at No. 1, Matthieu Brichon and Jon Crim at No. 2 and Michael Collins and Gerard Gaumond at No. 3. Norton, Lago and Brichon won in singles in straight sets, and Ted McAusher won a super tie-breaker at No. 3 singles.

Track and field notes

Wheaton won its ninth consecutive NEWMAC women's outdoor track and field championship on the strength of nine all-conference performers who finished first or second. Junior Jennifer Harlow won the 100 hurdles and high jump and was second in the long and triple jumps and ran a leg on the second-place 4x100 relay. Harlow had won the high jump at the Penn Relays the day before the NEWMAC meet.

Freshman Christine Moreau (Lincoln) won the 400 hurdles and anchored the winning 4x400 relay team. She finished second in the 100 hurdles and ran with the second-place 4x100 relay. Freshman Chizoba Ezeigwe won the 100 and 200 dashes and ran on the 4x100 relay. Freshmen Natana Jules and Celeste Karpow finished 1-2 in the 400 and ran legs on the winning 4x400 relay. Freshman Lily Calderwood won the 800 and was the fourth member of the 4x400 relay. Samira Sanders was the other runner in the 4x100 relay.

The other all-conference performers were Megan Brousseau (Attleboro), who was second in the 1,500, and Kendra Leith , who was second in the 5,000.

The Wheaton men finished fourth on the legs of the winning 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams and two outstanding individual efforts. Ajay Sisodia , Jonathan Cunha and Michael Wright ran both relay races. Victor Martinez was on the 4x100 team and Brian Dundon the 4x400 team. Cunha won the 110 and 400 hurdles, Wright the 100 and 200 dashes. Sisodia was second in the 400 and Pat Benson second in the 5,000.

UMass-Lowell senior Lawrence Aidoo (Providence) won the 100 in school-record time and also finished first in the 200 at the Brown Springtime Invitational. His 10.86 seconds in the 100 broke the previous UMass-Lowell record, set in 1982. He also ran a leg on the second-place 4x100 relay. Senior Nate Potter (Richmond) was sixth overall in the hammer but first among Division II-III throwers.

Also at Brown, Elisa Semedo of CCRI set school records in the 100 hurdles (15.75) and 400 hurdles (1:07.88) and ran a leg on the record-breaking 4x400 relay (4:16.90) with Sherilyn Nicholas , Mary Oyekoya (Woonsocket) and Rachael Procter (East Providence). Competing in her first meet, Michelle McNamee (Cranston) qualified for the NJCAA Nationals in the javelin (109-11). Kevin White qualified for nationals in the 400 hurdles (57.87), and Hunter Stewart qualified in the 400 dash (52.14).

Also, URI's Sarah Thornton broke the school record in the discus (160-2) and qualified for the NCAA East Regional.

At the Penn Relays last week, Brown senior Brittany Grovey broke the school record in the triple jump (43-5) and finished second. The distance medley relay of Naja Ferjan , Akilah King , Kelly Powell and Anna Willard was third. The men's 4x200 relay (Dallas Dissmore , Jamil McClintock , Mike Pruzinsky and Luke Renick ) set a school record of 1:25.72. Grant Bowen cleared 16-1 in the pole vault, second-best in Brown history. Brown will compete in the outdoor Heps this weekend in Philadelphia.

Providence College's Mary Cullen ran the fastest leg (4:15.2) in the 4x1500 relay at the Penn Relays. The Friars finished fifth in the Championship of America Division. PC men ran fourth in the distance medley of the Championship of America Division.

Rhode Island College's Manny Karngar (Providence) won the 800 (1:56.86) at the LEC/MASCAC Alliance championships. Dana Skorupa (Cumberland), nursing shin splints, won the 100 (12.8), 200 (26.27) and long jump (5.37 meters). Ashley Nyzio Pawtucket) won the javelin (39.61 meters). All earned All-LEC recognition.

Connecticut College junior Alyse LaLiberte (Cumberland) set the school record in the hammer with a throw of 146-6 and finished second at the Silfen Invitational April 22.

mszostak@projo.com/ (401) 277-7340