Weekend Notes | Tournament Central | Friday Live Stats (UMass) | Friday Live Stats (Bucknell) | Live Video (vs. ECU)
 
GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Saint Francis softball team visits East Carolina this weekend for the Pirate Clash.  The Red Flash is 3-2 after opening weekend.
 
Saint Francis will start the tournament on Friday with games against UMass, at 10 a.m., and Bucknell, at 12:30 p.m.  On Saturday, the Red Flash are scheduled for contests against UMass and East Carolina.  The tournament wraps up on Sunday against UMass and East Carolina.
 
Last weekend, the Red Flash earned an 11-0 five-inning win over UNC Wilmington to open the Seahawk Softball Bash.  SFU also defeated Army, 8-5, on Friday.  The next day, the Red Flash split games against Eastern Kentucky (L, 4-3) and Army West Point (W, 10-2).  On Sunday, Saint Francis fell 6-4 against EKU.
 
NO-HITTER
Juniors Ethel Santai (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove Area) and Ketarah DeVries (Forreston, Ill./Forreston) combined for a five-inning No-Hitter in the season-opening win over UNC Wilmington.  Santai threw the first four innings, allowing four walks.  DeVries handled the final three outs, including a strikeout.

Only seven baserunners reached on the day, with the first and third innings being the only ones that multiple baserunners reached.

It was the first Red Flash no-hitter since Laura Caldwell on April 14, 2008 against Central Connecticut State.
 
SMASHING SENECA
Sophomore shortstop Jordan Seneca (Plum, Pa./Plum) led the Red Flash offense this past weekend.  Seneca hit .474 (9-for-19) with three doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and five runs scored.  For her efforts, Seneca was named College Sports Madness NEC Player of the Week.

Seneca went 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBI in the win over UNCW, including a two-run homer in the first inning and two doubles. 

Though Seneca only went 1-for-5 against Army, she scored a pair of runs.

Seneca launched her second home run of the weekend in the loss to Eastern Kentucky. 

She went 2-for-3 with an RBI doubles in the sixth inning to seal the mercy-rule win against Army on Saturday.

In Sunday's game, Seneca went 2-for-3 again, including a single to center that drove in two runs.

In the first weekend of the season, Seneca already tied her 2015 home run total and is over halfway to her RBI total of 14.
 
NEWCOMERS
Freshmen made a big impact for the Red Flash in the first weekend.  Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois), Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) and Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) started all five games.  McKenzie Burge (Osceola Mills, Pa./Phillipsburg-Osceola) started in four games.  Kassidy Troxell (Navarre, Ohio/Perry) appeared in three games, while Mikayla Bower (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) and Melanie Martire (Herndon, Va./Herndon) each played in two games.

Cheyenne and Sierra batted .286 and .333, respectively.  Cheyenne had a homer and two RBI, while Sierra had a triple and three RBI.  They combined for 12 runs scored.  Sierra had three hits against UNC Wilmington and two in the second game against Army.  Cheyenne had a hit in each of the first four games.

Norton hit .278 with two doubles, a triple and a homer, while driving in six runs.  The Spring Grove, Pa. native had two hits each in games against UNC Wilmington and Army (second game).  She drove in four runs against Army.

Burge batted .400 with two RBI and had multi-hit games against UNC Wilmington and Army.  Troxell also had two hits in six chances, with both hits coming in the 8-5 win over Army.

Bower had a hit against Eastern Kentucky, while Martire scored two runs against Army.

In the win over UNCW, freshmen accounted for eight of the team's 13 hits and six of the 11 runs. 
 
SCOUTING THE PIRATES
East Carolina is 3-3 this season.  The Pirates went 3-2 on opening weekend at the Kajikawa Classic, hosted by Arizona State.  They earned wins over Virginia (9-1), Seattle (6-0) and UC Riverside (6-2), but lost to Arizona State (9-1) and Nevada (2-1).  The Pirates also lost a 5-0 decision on Wednesday to Charlotte. 

Seniors Meredith Mitchell and Kelsi Briggs each hit .417 on the weekend, with five hits.  Mitchell had two RBI, while Briggs added a double, a homer and two RBI.  Sophomore Karlie Smith had six hits, with a homer and two RBI, for a .400 average.  Junior Ciara Ervin had six knocks in 16 at-bats, with two doubles, a homer, two RBI and four runs scored.  Junior Alex Mycek hit two home runs on the weekend and drove in five runs.

In the circle, junior Lydia Ritchie went 1-1 in four appearances and three starts, with a 2.21 ERA in 12.2 innings.  Ritchie allowed 11 hits and five runs (four earned), with 17 strikeouts and 10 walks.  Sophomore Ashley Cruise held a 2.69 ERA in 13 innings over three appearances and two starts.  Cruise went 2-0, allowing 17 hits and six runs (five earned), while striking out 14 and walking nine.
 
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
UMass started the season 0-3 at the Charlotte First Pitch Classic.  The minutemen fell against Charlotte (7-1), Toledo (5-4) and Youngstown State (9-8). 
 
Freshman Kaitlyn Stavinoha led the team with four hits, including a triple and three RBI.  Senior Taylor Carbone, junior Ashton Wince and sophomore Jena Cozza each had three hits.  Carbone and Wince each drove in three runs.

Sophomore Meg Colleran appeared in all three games, including two starts.  She posted a 4.50 ERA in 14 innings, allowing 20 hits, 15 runs (nine earned) and three walks, while striking out seven.  Carbone pitched five innings, with a 7.00 ERA.
 
SCOUTING THE BISON
Bucknell will make its season debut this weekend.  The Bison went 35-20 overall, including 12-6 in the Patriot League, last year and reached the Patriot League Championship Game. 

Senior Amanda Fazio is the top returning hitter.  She batted .341 last year with 56 hits, including three doubles, and drove in 10 runs.  She also scored 29 runs and stole 26 bases.  Junior Jacee Almond hit .316 with 50 knocks, including 12 doubles and three home runs.  She drove in 27 runs and scored 28.

Senior Dana Nielsen went 13-4 in 32 appearances, including 21 starts.  She posted a 3.13 ERA in 127.2 innings, striking out 82 batters, while walking 29.  Fazio was 19-12 with a 3.39 ERA in 39 appearances, including 30 starts.  Fazio pitched 181.2 innings, with 164 strikeouts and 48 walks.