Tournament Home Page

Buies Creek, N.C. - The Saint Francis University softball team opens up its highly-anticipated 2017 season this weekend at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Invitational in Buies Creek, N.C. with three games against tournament-host Campbell, and one apiece against North Carolina Central and Maryland Eastern Shore. To visit the tournament home page, including links to live stats, click on the link at the top of the page.

Scouting North Carolina Central
 
The Eagles will look to improve off a 2016 campaign that saw them finish 8-42. They will be led by senior Dominique Wilson, who hit .270 with a team-high 19 rbi last season. She is also one of the team's top pitchers, posting a 5.55 era. The explosive Saint Francis offense will look to capitalize against a pitching staff that recorded a combined 5.62 era in 2016.
 
Scouting Campbell
 
On paper, the three meetings with Campbell will be the toughest for Saint Francis. Campbell went 28-31 in 2016 and returns its top two hitters in Amber Schisler and Rachel McCollum. Schisler hit .390 with 16 home runs and 46 rbi, while McCollum wasn't far behind with a .335 batting average and the same number of homers and rbi. The Red Flash will also have to keep Katie Baker, a .363 hitter in her own right, off the bases. The Camels hit .295 as a team and averaged 4.76 runs per game last season.
 
Campbell will hope to solve its pitching woes this season. Schisler and Baker are the top two returners in the circle from a team that gave up runs at a clip of 5.2 runs per contest in 2016. Baker recorded a team-best 11 wins.
 
Scouting Maryland Eastern Shore
 
The Hawks, owners of an 11-30 record last season, will roll out an inexperienced team with just one senior. Despite the loss of its top three hitters, MDES returns its top pitcher, Adrienne Guerra, who also hit .286 last season.
 
NEC Preseason Poll
 
The Red Flash, the only program in the NEC to record 30 + wins in each of the last two seasons, was picked second in the NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the highest it has fared in the poll in program history. Saint Francis returns eight starters from a team that led the NEC in virtually every offensive category and ranked eighth in the NCAA with 81 home runs.  LIU Brooklyn, the defending champions, topped the poll with six of nine first-place votes.
 
Lightning in a Bottle
 
The Red Flash wasted little time getting the bats going in 2016 and will be looking for the same hot start this season. Saint Francis plated 11 runs in a season-opening win over UNC Wilmington in the Seahawk Softball Bash to open 2016, then proceeded to score 96 runs over its first three tournaments, an average of 6.4 runs per game. The Red Flash scored seven or more runs in eight of its first 15 ball games.
 
Patrick-Swift Setting the Bar High
 
All Saint Francis head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift has managed to do since taking over in 2012 is stockpile 138 wins. She became the all-time winningest coach in program history in 2015 and has won more games than the previous season in each of her five years. In 2016, the Red Flash set new program marks for single-season wins (34) and conference wins (13).
 
Weekend Schedule
Friday, Feb. 10
Saint Francis vs. North Carolina Central - 10 a.m.
Saint Francis at Campbell - 3 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 11
Saint Francis vs. Maryland Eastern Shore - 12:30 p.m.
Saint Francis at Campbell - 5:30 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 12
Saint Francis at Campbell - 1:30 p.m.