BOSTON – Seeking its fourth NCAA berth in six years, the top-seeded and defending Patriot League champion Boston University softball team will open the double-elimination tournament against No. 4 Colgate on Thursday with action slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. No. 2 Bucknell and No. 3 Lehigh will compete in the other opening-round contest at 1 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 57-28 overall in conference tournaments, having won 12 titles and finish runner-up eight times.
• BU is 11-2 all-time in the Patriot League tournament with 3-0 sweeps in 2014, 2016 and 2018 ... 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 looking to break an odd-numbered year curse, as they haven't won a conference title in an odd-numbered year since 2009 despite winning in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018.
• The Terriers are making their 10th overall appearance as the No. 1 seed and second in the Patriot League after winning all three games in 2018 at home ... They own a 21-8 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.
• Seniors Emily Morrow, Alex Heinen and Alexa Ponce all started in the 2016 and 2018 championship victories ... Classmate Madi Killebrew missed most of 2016 to injury but was the Tournament MVP in 2018 with a PL-record 10 RBIs.

• The Terriers are a perfect 15-0 at home this season with nine combined PL victories and wins against UMass Lowell (2x), Boston College, Dartmouth, UMass and Rhode Island ... BU though needed five walk-off hits for wins against BC, Army, UMass Lowell, Colgate and Holy Cross.
• BU had a program-record 10 players earn All-Conference honors with Heinen (Player) and sophomore Ali DuBois (Pitcher) repeating as major award winners ... For the full release, click here.
• Heinen owns a PL-high eight homers with a team-high 34 RBIs while tying Morrow in batting average at .314 ... They have combined for 47 runs, nine doubles and five triples.
• Freshman Aliyah Huerta-Leipner (.299) is second on the team in slugging % (.503) behind Heinen (.516) with seven homers, team-high 11 doubles, team-high 37 runs and 26 RBIs.
• Sophomore Jen Horita (.299) led the Terriers during conference play at .483, while Killebrew (.260) hit .352 with 11 runs scored ... Freshman Nicole Amodio (.244) recorded a team-high 13 RBIs. 
• The Terriers own 28 homers this season, their most since recording 38 in 2012.
• DuBois (21-9, 1.38 ERA) and freshman Emily Gant (12-7, 1.45 ERA) have combined for 328 strikeouts in 318.2 innings against 76 walks while holding opponents to a .209 batting average ... They are the first duo from the same school since 2015 to earn All-PL First Team honors.
• BU outscored PL opponents, 77-18, but in the last five games, only had a 19-14 combined advantage against Army and Bucknell.

• The Terriers recorded a doubleheader split at Bucknell (3-2, 1-4) last weekend to finish ahead of the Bison for the regular season title ... The loss did snap BU's season-high 14-game win streak.
• BU is 3-0 all-time against the Bison in the PL tournament ... 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 ... Last season at home, BU pulled out a 6-4 win after Morrow turned a double play to seal the victory and help the Terriers advance to the championship round.
• BU owns a 12-7 all-time record and is 7-3 at home ... Last season, besides the PL semifinal win, the Terriers won two of three at home (8-4, 1-0, 1-2). 
• Led by PL Coach of the Year Joey Lye, Bucknell batted .319 in conference play and held opponents to .198 while finishing with a 12-5 advantage in homers.
• The Bison featured six All-PL members ... 2019 PL Rookie of the Year Allyse Volpe is hitting .412 with 16 stolen bases, 27 runs scored and 19 RBIs, while Anna Gimmestad (.333) and Lauren Hadley (.329) combined for 14 homers and 63 RBIs ... Though not recognized, Taylor Wolfgang (.284) owns seven homers and a team-high 37 RBIs and 16 doubles. 
• All-PL member Raeanne Geffert (15-12, 2.08 ERA) and Lauren Lichtenwalner (11-7, 2.83 ERA) have combined for 206 strikeouts in 301.1 innings of work with nine shutouts.

• The Terriers went 2-1 at Lehigh with a pair of 2-0 wins, including an eight-inning game one thriller, with the Mountain Hawks bouncing back for a 1-0 game-three victory.
• BU is 3-2 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 ... Last season, the Terriers run-ruled the Mountain Hawks, 8-0(5), to return to the NCAAs.
• The Teriers are 13-12 all-time in the series with a 6-3 home record.
• Lehigh batted .269 in PL play and held opponents to .239 while posting a 31-17 advantage in doubles.
• All-PL First Team member Jaelynn Chesson is batting .357 with five homers and 30 RBIs, while fellow member Mary-Hannah Smith (.353) owns two homers and 26 RBIs ... They have combiend for 30 doubles.
• Ashley Rabago is batting a team-high .386 with 22 runs scored and .455 on-base percentage.
• Former All-PL pitcher Parker Boyd (12-11, 3.33 ERA) owns 133 strikeouts in 147.0 innings ... Gabriella Nori (8-12, 3.71 ERA) and Emily Sorem (5-2, 3.87 ERA) have combined for the other 25 starts.

• The Raiders are making their first tournament appearance since 2015 ... Colgate and BU have never met in the tournament.
• BU is 17-1 all-time against Colgate after claiming a home sweep back on April 13-14 ... They Terriers won the first two games by a combined score of 15-0 but needed a walk-off RBI bunt by sophomore Marina Sylvestri to prevail in game three, 2-1.
• Colgate batted .245 in conference play while holding teams to .310 ... Opponents had a 30-20 advantage in doubles, while the Raiders had a slight 11-8 lead in homers.
• All-PL First Team member Meghan Romero is batting a team-high .329 with 15 doubles, three homers and 25 RBIs ... Second Team member Virginia Irby is batting .322 with five homers, 24 RBIs and 29 runs scored ... Morgan Farrah (.293) and Jordan Miller (.287) have six homers apiece.
• Bella Crow (11-12, 3.56 ERA), Kaitlyn Borruso (6-3, 4.73 ERA) and Jessica Hay (8-10, 4.87 ERA) have combined for 102 strikeouts in 312.2 innings with Crow earning three solo shutouts.