Tournament Schedule | Live Stats | Live Video (East Carolina game only)
Greenville, N.C. - The Saint Francis softball team returns to North Carolina for the second consecutive week to play five games in three days at the Pirate Clash hosted by East Carolina. The Red Flash will play two games vs. Fordham and Cleveland State and one vs. East Carolina.
Scouting Fordham
Fordham is four-time defending Atlantic-10 champs, winning a program-best 18 conference games in 2016 on its way to a 39-21 record. The Rams are off to a quick start once again in 2017, recording a 4-1 record at the UCF Knights Invitational with wins over No. 21 Baylor and Northwestern. The only loss was to No. 10 Arizona. Fordham returns eight starters from last season's championship team, including Player of the Year Lindsay Mayer, who led the Rams with five hits at the UCF Invitational. Jessica Hughes leads the team with two home runs, while Sydney Canessa, Madison Shaw and Amy Van Hoven, first team all-conference selections in 2016, are all batting over .300. Pitcher Lauren Quense, a second team all-conference selection in 2016, is 3-0 with a 1.72 era.
Scouting East Carolina
The Pirates went 1-4 against stiff competition in its opening weekend at the Red and Black Showcase in Athens Georgia, dropping two games to No. 10 Georgia and one apiece to Syracuse and Winthrop. Their only win was a 14-6 drubbing of Winthrop. The Pirates went 23-31 in 2016 and return three of their top four hitters, including junior Karlie Smith, who batted a team-best .323 as a sophomore, and Ciara Ervin who hit .315 with team-highs in home runs (7) and slugging pct. (.577). Senior Lydia Ritchie is the team's top pitcher, posting a 13-12 record with a 2.67 era and 13 complete games. Tate McClellan paces the team with a .455 batting average through the first five games, while Kacie Oshiro registered a team-best seven hits.
Scouting Cleveland State
The Vikings went 1-3 at its host tournament, earning its only win over Canisius. The Vikings went 21-32 last season and graduate their two top hitters. Mackenzie Joecken, Marissa Marcelli and Mel Woodward all went 4-for-13 (.308) in the opening weekend. Woodward led the way with three rbi, while Alicia Major hit the team's only home run.
Red Flash Sweep NEC Awards
Saint Francis swept the first NEC weekly awards as junior
Jordan Seneca (Plum, Pa./Plum) (Plum, Pa.) earned Player of the Week honors, senior
Ethel Santai (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove Area) (Pine Grove, Pa.) was named Pitcher of the Week and freshman
Abby Trahan (Kaplan, La./Kaplan) (Kaplan, La.) earned All-Rookie honors. It was Seneca's fourth Player of the Week honor of her career.
Deep Lineup
Saint Francis's depth was on full display in its opening week as 10 players recorded batting averages of .300 or more. Additionally, nine players recorded at least three hits. The pitching depth was also impressive as three Saint Francis pitchers logged at least 10.0 innings with all three recording era's south of 3.0.
Winning Close Games
The Red Flash struggled to close out close games in 2016, going 6-13 in games decided by three runs or less. After dropping its first tight ball game of the season on a walk-off home run, Saint Francis responded with two wins in dramatic fashion. Senior
Kelsie Marconi (Lowber, Pa./Yough) (Lowber, Pa.) delivered a clutch two-run single to give the Red Flash a 7-4 win over Campbell in extra innings. In its final game, senior
Kindra Witthus (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) (Hudson, Wis.) belted a sixth inning grand slam to lift the Red Flash to a 6-3 win.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, Feb. 17
Saint Francis vs. Fordham - 2:15 p.m.
Saint Francis at East Carolina - 6:45 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 18
Saint Francis vs. Cleveland State - 11:45 a.m.
Saint Francis vs. Fordham - 4:15 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 19
Saint Francis vs. Cleveland State - 11:45 a.m.
