FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Simmons to host Saturday-Sunday
at Brighton's Daly Field

WINTHROP, Mass. – In the first year of divisional play for the sport of softball in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, Fenway schools Simmons University and Emmanuel College have topped their respective divisions as the 2019 GNAC Tournament gets underway on Tuesday afternoon with two single-elimination contests.

Simmons now prepares to host the Saturday-Sunday portion of the tournament on May 4-5 at Daly Field in Brighton, Mass., as the South Division top seed was set to host the final two days of the tournament in 2019. In alternating fashion, the top seed coming out of the North Division will host the final two days in 2020. 

Under head coach Olivia Berry, Emmanuel posted a remarkable 15-1 mark in GNAC play to earn the league's outright regular-season title. By virtue of cementing one of the No. 1 seeds, Emmanuel will host a pair of contests on Thursday, May 2 at Boston's Roberto Clemente Field.

Simmons will also host two contests at Daly Field on that Thursday, as the Sharks have won 16 of 22 overall under head coach Brook Capello since March 30 – a date in which they split a non-conference doubleheader with Emmanuel. 

Each of the No. 1 seeds will play in the second contest at each site as the double-elimination portion of the championship tournament gets underway.

Prior to that, the single-elimination play-in games will take place on Tuesday, April 30, to determine which other two teams will join Simmons, Emmanuel, and No. 2 seeds Suffolk University and University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) in the six-team double-elimination portion of the tournament.

Tomorrow in the North Division, third-seeded Saint Joseph's College of Maine will host fourth-seeded Norwich University at 3:30 PM, and third-seeded Johnson & Wales University will welcome fourth-seeded Albertus Magnus College at 4:00 PM. 

For the complete tournament schedule, please see below. Be sure to catch the tournament action live on thegnac.tv or watch on one of our four custom digital streaming apps.

Tuesday's Norwich/SJC winner will take on Suffolk at Emmanuel on Thursday. The Albertus/JWU winner will travel to Simmons' Daly Field to take on USJ.

Tuesday, April 30, 2019 (single elimination)
North Play-in: #4N Norwich at #3N Saint Joseph's (Maine) - 3:30 PM
South Play-in: #4S Albertus Magnus at #3S Johnson & Wales - 4:00 PM 

Thursday, May 2, 2019 (double elimination begins)
Game 1: Winner of North Play-in game vs. #2N Suffolk (hosted by #1N Emmanuel) - 4:30 PM
Game 2: Winner of South Play-in game vs. #2S Saint Joseph (Conn.) (hosted by #1S Simmons) - 4:30 PM
Game 3: Winner of Game 1 at #1N Emmanuel - 6:30 PM
Game 4: Winner of Game 2 at #1S Simmons - 7:00 PM 

Saturday, May 4, 2019 (hosted by #1S Simmons, Daly Field)
Game 5: Loser of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 1 - 10:00 AM (elimination game)
Game 6: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 2 - 12:30 PM (elimination game) 
Game 7: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 - 3:00 PM
Game 8: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 - 5:30 PM (elimination game) 

Sunday, May 5, 2019 (hosted by #1S Simmons, Daly Field)
Game 9: Winner of Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7 - 10:00 AM (elimination game) 
Game 10: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9 - 12:30 PM
Game 11: If necessary - 3:00 PM 

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience. 

– #TheGNAC –