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LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis softball team returns to the NEC Tournament for the first time since 2008 as it opens against Robert Morris on Thursday.  The Red Flash finished the regular season with a 33-22 overall record, including 13-3 in the NEC to enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed.  SFU tied a program-record for overall wins in a season and set a new program-high for NEC wins.
 
The Red Flash opens the double-elimination tournament against the three-seeded Colonials at Noon on Thursday.  SFU split a doubleheader at Robert Morris earlier this month.  All games of the tournament are being broadcasted on NEC Front Row. 
 
LIU Brooklyn, one-seed, and Bryant, four-seed, are the other two participants in the tournament.  SFU split a twinbill at LIU Brooklyn in the opening weekend of NEC play.  The Red Flash swept Bryant, launching 12 home runs in the doubleheader.
 
NEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Saint Francis is back in the NEC Tournament for the first time since 2008.  The Red Flash was the No. 3 seed that year.  SFU was also the No. 2 seed in 1998 and 2002.
 
The Red Flash is 18-27 all-time in the NEC Tournament.  SFU reached the championship round of the tournament in 1998, winning the first game against Robert Morris, but falling in the second game.
 
ALL-NEC
Saint Francis had five players selected to the All-NEC teams, announced on Tuesday.  Freshman Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) was named NEC Rookie of the Year and was voted onto the First Team.  Joining her on the first team were Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton), Ketarah DeVries (Forreston, Ill./Forreston) and Jordan Seneca (Plum, Pa./Plum).  Freshman Kassidy Troxell (Navarre, Ohio/Perry) was selected for the Second Team.
 
Norton is the second player in program history to win NEC Rookie of the Year, joining Alexis Bower (Cogan Station, Pa./Williamsport Area) in 2014.  Norton has a .333 average this season to go with 14 homers and 54 RBI.  The Spring Grove, Pa. native leads all Division I freshman in RBI.  Norton leads SFU with 59 hits, including a team-best 16 doubles and three triples.  Norton is a finalist for NFCA Freshman of the Year.
 
Seneca leads SFU with 18 homers and 58 RBI.  She tops the NEC in RBI this season and is just one homer behind Mount St. Mary's Rachel Heinze for the conference-lead.  Seneca needs six RBI to set a new single-season NEC record.  She has set new school records for homers, RBI and walks(39) in a season.
 
Cabell is tied for second on the Red Flash with a .333 average.  She has 13 doubles, 11 homers and 47 RBI, with that production coming off 47 hits.  In NEC play, Cabell is hitting .367 with four doubles, six homers and 15 RBI.
 
Troxell has 46 hits and a .317 average, with seven doubles, five homers, 19 RBI and 29 runs.  She has eight multi-hit and three multi-RBI games this year.
 
In the circle, DeVries has a 2.82 ERA in 31 appearances, with a 13-5 record.  DeVries has thrown eight complete games, including five shutouts, and has 114 strikeouts in 106.2 innings.  DeVries has been even stronger in NEC play, with a 1.75 ERA in 10 appearances.  The Illinois native was part of two No-Hitters this year.  She threw the final inning of a combined No-Hitter, with Ethel Santai (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove Area), in the season-opening win at UNC Wilmington.  On March 19, DeVries threw a complete-game, five-inning No-Hitter against Cornell, allowing only one walk and striking out six.    
 
DOUBLE-DIGIT DINGERS
Saint Francis has four players with double-digit home runs this season. Cabell hit her 10th bomb of the year on May 1 at RMU to join Seneca (18), Norton (14) and Alexis Bower (Cogan Station, Pa./Williamsport Area) (12).  Cabell added her 11th homer in last week's win over Central Connecticut State.  Seneca is just one homer behind NEC lead and has topped the previous NEC single-season record, previously held by Wagner's Andrea Lazzari (16, 2009).  Mount St. Mary's Rachel Heinze finished her season with 19 homers.

SFU was the fourth team in Division I this year to have four players with 10+ homers, joining Louisiana-Lafayette, Oregon and Pitt.

Prior to this season, the Red Flash never had two players hit 10+ home runs in the same season.  SFU has 78 dingers as a team, more than doubling the previous school record of 33 homers in 2008. 

Saint Francis is fifth in the nation in home runs and seventh in home runs per game (1.39).
 
SFU has hit five or more home runs in three different games this year.  SFU hit a season-high seven homers in the second game of a doubleheader against Bryant, including tying an NCAA-record with five bombs in the first inning of that game.  In the opening game of that doubleheader, SFU hit five homers.  The Red Flash added another five-homer game in last week's second game against Central Connecticut State.  SFU and Louisiana-Lafayette are the only two teams with three or more five-homer games this season.
 
SETTING RECORDS
The Red Flash has set multiple NEC and school records this season.  Last weekend, SFU passed NEC records for runs and RBI.  With 355 runs and 326 RBI, SFU topped UMBC's marks set in 2006.

Earlier this year, SFU broke the home run record, 55, set by Bryant last year.  SFU now has 78 homers this year.

As a team, SFU has set new school records for runs, RBI, home runs and walks(233).  SFU needs four hits to set a new school mark.  SFU is also on-pace to set a new program-mark for team batting average, topping .281 by the 1994 team.

Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) has set a new single-season mark for runs(52), while Seneca has established new records for homers, RBI and walks(39). The sophomore could also set a new record for slugging percentage (.729).  This weekend, Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) needs six hits to break Nicole Bender's 2008 record of 65 knocks in a season. 
 
SCOUTING THE COLONIALS
Robert Morris finished the regular season with a 20-31 record, including 10-6 in the NEC. Six RMU players were selected Second Team All-NEC.
 
The Colonials have a team batting average of .257 and averages 3.2 runs per game.  Jordan Gurganus leads with a .351 average and 60 hits, while Haileigh Stocks and Kristen Gabelt each have eight homers.  Stocks has 25 RBI and Gabelt has 21.  Ashley Gerhart has a .300 average with five bombs and 20 RBI, while Lauren Hackett has four homers and 22 RBI.
 
RMU has a team ERA of 4.12 and allows an opposing batting average of .293.  Kaitlin Ellzy leads the staff with a 2.96 ERA in 156 innings over 37 appearances.  She has 98 strikeouts and 82 walks this season.  Laura Coulter is 4-8 with a 4.82 ERA in 27 appearances.
 
SCOUTING THE BLACKBIRDS
LIU Brooklyn won 14 straight games to close out the year, finishing with a 27-24 record (14-2 NEC).  Five LIU players were named First Team All-NEC.
 
LIU is batting .286 as a team and averaging almost four runs per game.  Celinna Cosio is hitting .357 with 8 homers and 37 RBI.  Victoria Zamora has 5 homers and 25 RBI to go with a .364 average. Whitney West leads the squad with 66 hits and a .371 average.
 
The Blackbirds have a 3.67 ERA as a team and allow an opponent batting average of .307, with Erynn Sobieski leading the way with a 3.20 ERA in 192.1 innings.  Sobiewski has 129 strikeouts in 42 appearances.  Tallie Woodson has a 4.18 ERA in 112.1 innings over 32 appearances.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Bryant concluded the regular season with a 12-34 record, including 9-7 in NEC play. The Bulldogs had two players chosen for Second Team All-NEC accolades.

The Bulldogs are hitting .211 as a team and averaging 2.4 runs per game. Elle Madsen leads the team with a .318 average and three homers.  Taylor Burger also has three homers and is tied for a team-best 14 RBI.  Hayley Bottino is hitting .270 with two homers and 13 RBI, while Kaleigh Goulart has two homers and 14 RBI.
 
In the circle, Bryant has a 5.01 ERA and allows an opposing batting average of .285.  Madsen leads the staff with a 3.11 ERA in 119.1 innings over 23 appearances.  She has 77 strikeouts.  Colby Norris has made 26 appearances, with a 5.30 ERA in 96.1 innings.