Series Notes | Live Stats
 
LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis softball team welcomes Cornell this weekend for its home debut on the new turf at Red Flash Softball Field. 
 
The Red Flash meets the Big Red for a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at Noon.  The squads finish out the series on Sunday with a 1 p.m. start.
 
LAST WEEK
Saint Francis went 2-2 at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational last weekend, defeating UTEP (12-1) and Mount St. Mary's (10-2) in mercy-rule wins.  The Red Flash fell 5-0 against No. 10 James Madison and battled hard in a 6-4 loss to No. 15 Arizona.  SFU dropped a midweek doubleheader against Grand Canyon.
 
Junior Alexis Bower (Cogan Station, Pa./Williamsport Area) earned NEC Player of the Week honors after hitting .571 in six games last week, with eight hits, including a double, a triple and six RBI.  Bower also got a win for her effort in the circle against UTEP, where she went 4.2 innings, allowing only one run on three hits, while striking out two.
 
Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) picked up NEC Rookie of the Week accolades after batting .563 with nine hits, including a double, two home runs, six RBI and six runs scored.  She went 4-for-4 with a homer, three RBI and three runs scored vs. UTEP and drove in three runs against Arizona, including a home run in the seventh inning.
 
Freshman Kassidy Troxell (Navarre, Ohio/Perry) totaled eight hits and three RBI, while Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) collected seven knocks and scored seven runs.  Sophomore Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton) added five hits, including two doubles, and seven RBI.
 
In the circle, junior Ethel Santai (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove Area) led the pitching staff with a 2.80 ERA in four appearances, with three starts.  Junior Ketarah DeVries (Forreston, Ill./Forreston) struckout 11 batters in 10 innings over four appearances.
 
Freshman Impact
Newcomers have played a big role in the Red Flash's success so far this season.  Seven freshmen have combined for 93 of the team's 160 hits (58%) and 69 of 129 runs scored (53%). Five freshmen have played in at least 17 games, with Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois), Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) and Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) starting all 21 contests.

Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) is second on the team with a .344 average, including four doubles, a triple and three home runs, while driving in 11 runs and scoring 17.  Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) is right behind with a .329 average and leads the team with 23 hits and 23 runs scored, while batting leadoff.   

Kassidy Troxell (Navarre, Ohio/Perry) is hitting .327 with 18 hits and six RBI, while Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) is batting .324 with 22 hits, including four doubles, three triples, four home runs and 19 RBI.  McKenzie Burge (Osceola Mills, Pa./Phillipsburg-Osceola) has played in 17 games, with a .267 average.
 
NEC/NCAA Leaders
The Red Flash are among the conference and national leaders in several categories
 
Team Stats
              Category                                         Average                     NEC/NCAA Rank

Batting Average	.292	2/104
Runs Per Game	6.14	1/40
Doubles Per Game	1.57	1/44
Triples Per Game	0.29	1/37
Home Runs Per Game	0.71	1/91
On-Base Percentage	.427	1/24
Slugging Percentage	.456	1/69
Earned Run Average	4.28	3/164

 
Individual Stats
            Category                             Player                         Total/Per-Game Average         NEC/NCAA

Triples	Norton	3/0.14	2/6
Home Runs	Seneca	6/0.29	1/27
RBI	Seneca	26/1.24	1/16
On-Base Percentage	Witthus Cabell	.541 .516	1/66 2/122
Slugging Percentage	Seneca Norton	.688 .647	1/170 3/230
Runs	S. McKee	23/1.10	1/51
Sacrifice Flies	Bower	3	1/3
Walks	Cabell Seneca McKee	17/0.89 16/0.76 15/0.71	1/20 2/52 3/81
Strikeouts Per 7 Innings	DeVries	7.9	2/71

 
 
Scouting the Big Red
Cornell is 0-5 this season after making its 2016 debut last weekend at  the South Florida Under Armour Invitational.  The Big Red lost to Western Michigan(8-0), IPFW(13-7), Seton Hall(8-7), Central Michigan(8-6) and Providence(10-4).

The Big Red is hitting .274 as a team and averaging 4.8 runs per game.  Leanne Iannucci is batting .333 with five hits, including a double, and five RBI.  Rebecca Kubena and Jessica Bigbie are also hitting .333, while Kubena has four RBI.  Meg Parker has five hits and a home run.

The Cornell pitching staff has a team ERA of 9.06.  Sierra Stone has pitched 10 innings in three appearances, with a 6.30 ERA.  Maddie Orcutt has made two starts and has a 9.55 ERA in 14.2 innings.