PHILADELPHIA (5/21/04) -- The Saint Joseph's softball team had two options after returning from a challenging spring break schedule that featured six games against NFCA Top 25 teams, including four against teams ranked in the top six: go through the motions for the rest of the spring or take the experience and store it away for the postseason. The Hawks wisely chose the latter.
After battling its way through the regular season with an unassuming 17-27 record, SJU used its experience against the nation's best to take on the Atlantic 10 at the conference championships. St. Joe's reached the title game for the first time in program history and in doing so, knocked off city rival Temple and snapped Massachusetts' 72-game home win streak, the nation's longest. It was certainly a season to remember on the diamond for the Hawk nine.
After a split with Delaware in early March, SJU flew south to take on some of the nation's top teams. Saint Joseph's lost both games of a doubleheader to Georgia State as its offense sputtered but rebounded to take both tilts against Western Illinois and Alabama State to even its record at 3-3. Despite an 11-0 loss at #6 Georgia, the Crimson and Gray advanced to the finals of the Classic City Shootout where it met the Bulldogs again. Georgia came out on top again, as did #24 Georgia Tech in two contests the next day.
The Hawks continued to move south, taking on all comers at the Seminole Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla. SJU snapped a four-game slide with wins over Robert Morris and Central Michigan and hung with NCAA-qualifier Texas A&M in a 2-0 loss before taking on the eventual ACC Champion and #5 ranked Florida State. FSU got the best of St. Joe's with two big wins and the Hawks headed north with a 5-11 record after a 5-2 loss versus Florida A&M.
The first week back home wasn't kind either, as SJU earned just a single win in doubleheaders on the road against Lafayette and Monmouth. It did get back on track with two dramatic, come-from-behind wins over A-10 foe Rhode Island. Freshman Rachel Pawlikowski's game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh won game one 3-2 and senior Lindsey McNamara's RBI-double in the fifth was enough for a 2-1 win in the nightcap. The sweep was a confidence builder for the Hawks, who went on to split with Rider and hang around with Maryland on the road.
On Easter weekend at St. Bonaventure, the SJU offense exploded for 25 runs to remain perfect in conference play and then split with Drexel and Saint Peter's. Temple continued its dominance in the series, holding St. Joe's to four hits in identical 2-0 wins to hand the hosts its first two league losses. The Hawks rebounded to sweep Dayton two days later as sophomore Jill Clementi's game-winning single in the eighth gave SJU a game one victory and A-10 Rookie of the Week Lauren Hughes struck out eight in a 5-1 game two win.
Princeton swept SJU in its final home doubleheader and the Hawks earned a split at Patriot League champion and NCAA qualifier Lehigh. Saint Joseph's split with both La Salle and Fordham on the road to finish up the A-10 slate with an 8-4 record and the number three-seed in the conference tournament. It marked the fourth straight season that St. Joe's qualified for the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
After a tune-up at Villanova, the Hawks traveled to Massachusetts for the A-10 Tournament and a first round matchup with city nemesis Temple. The Owls had taken 12 straight in the series but SJU scored two runs on a single wild pitch in the sixth inning to take a 2-1 win and advance to the winner's bracket final for the first time since 1999.
A Massachusetts team that has dominated the conference over the past decade, winning nine straight tournament titles and dropping just one game in the past nine years in A-10 Tournament play was awaiting. On top of that UMass owned a 72-game home winning streak and was throwing its ace Kelli Arnold, who tossed a no-hitter against Fordham just a day prior.
The Hawks got on the board first, scoring three runs on two hits in the opening frame. SJU wouldn't tally another hit the rest of the way, but senior Dana Travis made the lead hold up, scattering five hits in a complete-game shutout. Saint Joseph's advanced to the championship game for the first time in program history and ended the nation's longest home winning streak.
Temple downed the host Minutewomen to advance to the title game, but needed to defeat SJU twice to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. In game one, Hughes twirled a gem but a pinch-hit, walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh gave TU a dramatic 2-1 victory. The Hawks came back with Travis in the nightcap. She allowed only a single run in the second inning but Temple held the SJU offense in check and advanced to its first NCAA Tournament. Junior Alicia Cunic, Hughes and Travis were honored on the all-tournament team.
Despite a deceiving 21-29 record, the 2004 season was a success for the team and individuals alike. SJU faced a program record seven NCAA Tournament teams (Georgia, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, Florida State, Temple, Lehigh and Massachusetts) and reached the Atlantic 10 Championship for the first time.
Individually, the Hawks had several players earn accolades for their work on the field and in the classroom. Cunic was the only All-Atlantic 10 pick after leading the team with a .333 batting average and six homeruns, while Travis and juniors Cara Deldeo and Megan Richardson all earned academic all-conference and all-district honors.
As the only senior class to reach the A-10 playoffs four straight years, McNamara and Travis rewrote the record book during their time on Hawk Hill. McNamara finished her career second in homeruns (21), fifth in RBI (97) and seventh in hits (167), while Travis ranks as the all-time leader in strikeouts (515), appearances (108), shutouts (26) and is second in wins (60), starts (88), complete games (81), and innings pitched (619.1).
