BOSTON – Seeking its third NCAA berth in five years, the top-seeded and host Boston University softball team will open the double-elimination Patriot League tournament against No. 4 Army West Point on Thursday with action slated to begin at 12:00 p.m. The defending champion Mountain Hawks and No. 2 Bucknell will compete in the opening-round contest at 2:30 p.m.

Fans unable to attend will be able to watch all of the games for free on the Patriot League Network.

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• BU is 54-28 overall in conference tournaments, having won 11 titles and finish runner-up seven times.
• BU is 8-2 all-time in the Patriot League tournament with 3-0 sweeps in both 2014 and 2016 ... The Terriers won the first two games in 2017 before dropping a pair of one-run decisions to Lehigh in the championship round.
• The Terriers are making their ninth overall appearance as the No. 1 seed and making their first since winning it all in 2012 at home ... They own an 18-8 record with America East championship wins in 1993, 2002, 2003, 2010 and 2012 ... They finished runner-up in 2011 and went 0-2 in both 2001 and 2007.
• A fifth-year senior who missed all of 2017 to injury, Brittany Younan is the lone Terrier who was a member of both the 2014 and 2016 PL championship squads ... She is also the only active Terrier who earned All-Tournament honors in 2016.

• The Terriers are 10-3 at home this season with seven combined PL victories  and one-run losses to Bucknell (2-1) and Boston College (1-0).
• BU enters the tournament with 36 victories, tied-for-third most in program history, and the most in a regular season since the Terriers entered the 2012 America East tournament with a 37-14 mark.
• The Terriers became the first team to sweep all five major PL awards since Defensive Player of the Year was introduced in 2014 ... That season, senior and 2018 Defensive Player of the Year Brittany Younan prevented Lehigh from claiming a sweep by earning Rookie of the Year accolades.
• BU had a PL-high seven players earn All-Conference honors ... For the full release, click here.
• 2018 PL Player of the Year Alex Heinen is batting a PL-high .373 with 49 RBIs and 12 doubles, one behind doubles leader and junior Madi Killebrew (.304 avg.).
• Senior Emma Wong is batting .335 with 48 runs scored, while Younan (.306 avg.) has 44 runs scored and NCAA-high 10 triples ... Senior Jilee Schanda (.313 avg.) is also batting over .300 with junior Emily Morrow (.283 avg.) near the mark.
• PL Coach of the Year Ashley Waters has primarily relied on four pitchers this year with freshman Ali DuBois (25-7, 1.77 ERA) leading the way as the PL Pitcher and Rookie of the Year ... She owns 175 strikeouts in 205.2 innings.
• Freshman Cali Dolfi (5-7, 2.34 ERA), sophomore Lizzie Annerino (3-3, 2.70 ERA) and sophomore Kali Magane (3-1, 3.67 ERA) have all pitched at least one complete game this season.

• The Terriers went 2-1 at home against Bucknell, first claiming an 8-4 win and then 1-0 victory with Morrow hitting a walk-off homer ... The Bison bounced back in the third game for a 2-1 (8 inn.) victory.
• BU is 2-0 all-time against the Bison in the PL tournament but both contests occurred in 2014 at Lehigh ... The Terriers first pulled out a 4-3 (8 inn.) thriller in the opening round and then beat Bucknell again in the title game, 10-5.
• Bucknell batted .273 in conference play and held opponents to .230 while finishing with a 13-6 advantage in homers.
• The Bison featured three All-PL First Team members ... Lauren Hadley is batting a team-high .368 with 10 doubles and 33 RBIs, while Meghan Kovac owns 13 homers, 12 doubles and 42 RBIs.
• All-PL First Team member Raeanne Geffert (17-10, 1.94 ERA) owns 147 strikeouts in 173.1 innings and owns three shutouts with opponents hitting .232 against her.

• The Terriers went 2-1 at home against defending PL champion Lehigh by bouncing back from an 8-5 loss with a 5-0 win and 3-1 victory ... Lehigh is on the road in the PL tournament for the first time since 2011.
• BU is 2-2 all-time against the Mountain Hawks in the PL tournament, first claiming semifinal wins in both 2016 (6-2) and 2017 (14-7) ... Lehigh though edged the Terriers, 1-0 and 4-3, in the 2017 championship round to advance to the NCAAs.
• Lehigh batted .259 in PL play and held opponents to .233 while posting a 42-12 advantage in stolen bases.
• All-PL First Team member Nicole Yozzo is batting a team-high .338 with 44 stolen bases, while second team member Mary-Hannah Smith (.289 avg.) owns a team-high two homers and 26 RBIs.
• All-PL Second Team pitcher Parker Boyd (16-11, 2.55 ERA) owns 158 strikeouts in 173.0 innings against 55 walks with three shutouts.

• The Terriers went 2-1 at Army, first earning a 3-0 (8 inn.) win and then rebounding from a 3-2 loss with a 7-0 victory.
• BU is 4-0 all-time against the Black Knights in the PL tournament with a 2016 title game victory and opening round wins in both 2016 and 2017 ... The Terriers first beat then-No. 4 Army in 2014 after the Black Knights upset No. 1 and host Lehigh in the opening round.
• Army batted .277 a PL-best .277 in conference play and held opponents to .207 batting average with a 28-9 advantage in doubles.
• All-PL First Team member Carrie Reilly bats a team-high .349 with four homers and 28 RBIs while fellow All-PL members Kristen McPeek (.317 avg.) and Taylor Drayton (.313 avg.) have combined for 18 doubles and 46 RBIs.
• All-PL First Team pitcher Courtney Springman (16-14, 1.77 ERA) owns 151 strikeouts in 186.0 innings but does also have 113 walks.