LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 22, 2010) – Saint Francis University freshman Taylor Darneille (Fircrest, Wash. / Wilson) had a tremendous start to her collegiate playing career, and was rewarded by being named the Akadema Northeast Conference Softball Rookie-of-the-Week on Monday.
Darneille reached base safely in her first five games during the Charlotte First Pitch Classic, where the Red Flash went 1-4 to start the season this past weekend.
Darneille hit .429 on the weekend with a .643 slugging percentage and a .529 on-base percentage. She was 2-for-2 with a triple and three RBIs in her collegiate debut, leading Saint Francis to a 6-5, 8-inning win over the MAC's Toledo. She belted her first career double at Charlotte, and had two hits and a stolen base against Stony Brook. With Saint Francis short on pitchers for the weekend, Darneille gave starting pitcher Megan Layne (Vallejo, Calif./Rodriguez) (Vallejo, Calif. / Rodriquez) a rest by tossing a couple innings in the second game against Stony Brook. It would be the only game in which she did not get a base hit on the weekend, but she did reach base on a free pass in two at-bats. Darneille scored two runs, had three RBIs and was hit by two pitches in the season opener against Toledo when she was 2-for-2.
Saint Francis will travel to Florida for spring break where it will play in the Florida Gulf Coast Spring Break Invitational and the Rebel Spring Games. First up will be Georgia Southern on Friday at 9 a.m.
