Game Notes
Game 1 Live Stats | NEC Front Row
Game 2 Live Stats | NEC Front Row
 
LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis softball team travels to Sacred Heart for an NEC doubleheader on Saturday.  The Red Flash meets the Pioneers for a 1 p.m. first pitch, with both games broadcast on NEC Front Row.
 
Saint Francis is 22-17 on the season, including 3-1 in NEC play.  The Red Flash will look to bounce back after dropping both games of its doubleheader against Pitt on Wednesday.  SFU also gets back to conference play after last weekend's games vs. Central Connecticut State and Fairleigh Dickinson were postponed.  Two weeks ago, SFU split against LIU Brooklyn and swept Wagner.
 
Sacred Heart enters the weekend with a 1-3 mark in the NEC.  The Pioneers split against Bryant and dropped two against Mount St. Mary's.
 
SERIES NOTES
The Red Flash is 17-13 all-time against Sacred Heart.  The teams split last year's doubleheader, hosted by SFU.  Saint Francis won the first game, 7-1, but fell 7-6 in 10 innings in the second game. 
 
START'EM YOUNG
Saint Francis is one of the youngest teams in the nation, with nine freshmen and two sophomores making up over half of the 19-player roster.  Only 13 teams in the nation have a higher percentage of underclassmen making up their roster.

SFU has started at least four freshmen in every game this season.  The Red Flash has started at least five rookies in 27 different games and even started six against East Carolina on February 20.

Only 10 other schools have started at least five freshmen in a game this year.

The freshmen class has made a major impact for the Red Flash, accounting for almost 60 percent of the team's hits (182 of 306) and 53 percent of the team's runs (133 of 251).  Five of the team's top seven hitters, by batting average, are freshmen, including Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove)(.346), Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) (.323), Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) (.321), Kassidy Troxell (Navarre, Ohio/Perry) (.308) and Mikayla Bower (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) (.300).
 
DOUBLE-DIGIT DINGERS
Jordan Seneca (Plum, Pa./Plum) hit home runs number 10 and 11 against Pitt on Wednesday.  She joined Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) (10) as SFU players with double-digit home runs on the season.  It marks the first time in program history that two players have hit 10 or more home runs in the same season.
 
Alexis Bower (Cogan Station, Pa./Williamsport Area)(7) and Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton)(6) are next in line to join Norton and Seneca.
 
WALK THIS WAY
Saint Francis entered its doubleheader against Pitt tied for the school record for walks in a season.  With Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois)'s leadoff walk in the first game, the Red Flash broke the record of 163, set by last year's squad.  SFU drew four more walks on the day to hold a total of 168 this year.
 
CROSSING THE PLATE
The Red Flash has a chance to set two more team records this weekend.  SFU has scored 251 runs on the season.  With four runs this weekend, the 2016 team will pass the 2006 squad for the single-season record.  The Red Flash is currently on pace for over 350 runs this year.
 
Saint Francis also has a chance to set a new record for RBI in a season.  SFU has driven in 229 RBI, just two shy of the mark held by the 2006 team.
 
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Sacred Heart is 10-22-1 on the season, including 1-3 in conference play.  The Pioneers defeated Quinnipiac, 4-0, on Thursday after playing Stony Brook on Wednesday.  SHU lost the first game, 4-2, against Quinnipiac and tied the second game, 3-3, in eight innings.

The Pioneers are batting .226 as a team and averaging 2.45 runs per game.  McKenna Wiegand leads the team with a .294 average.  Lauren Delgadillo has a team-best 29 hits to go along with two home runs, 13 RBI, 14 runs scored and a .271 average.  Hailey Derosiers has also scored 14 runs, while adding 24 hits and a .245 average.

Sacred Heart is strong in the circle, with a team ERA of 3.18 and an opposing batting average of .231.  Jamie Carlson has a 2.82 ERA in a team-high 87 innings, covering 16 appearances and 14 starts.  She is 4-10 with eight complete games.  Emily Orosco has made 14 appearances, including 10 starts, for a 4-4 record.  She has a 2.37 ERA in 65 innings.  Kristen McCann and Adrianna Mallory have each made 10 appearances.  McCann has a 3.47 ERA in 44.1 innings, while Mallory has a 4.74 ERA in 20.2 frames.