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Arlington, Texas - The Saint Francis softball team (12-7) concludes its 10-day Texas trip with five games in three days at the UT Arlington Tournament. The Red Flash will play two games against Tulsa and Incarnate Word and a game against tournament-host UT Arlington.

Scouting Tulsa

The Golden Hurricanes have navigated a difficult non-conference schedule to post an 8-7 record entering the weekend. After starting 1-4, Tulsa has won seven of its last 10 ball games. The Golden Hurricanes have been fueled at the top of the order by Morgan Neal and Julia Hollingsworth. Neal is hitting .463 (19-for-41) while Hollingsworth, a first team all-conference selection as a freshman, is 20-for-48 (.417) with two home runs and 12 rbi. Arkansas transfer Haley Meinen is 2-0 with a 2.03 era and Emily Watson is 6-2 with a 2.40 era and four complete games.

UT Arlington

Saint Francis's lone meeting with UT Arlington will serve as a rubber match of sorts after the teams split a doubleheader on Tuesday. Like Tulsa, the Mavericks started 1-4, but have since recovered to notch a 9-7 record with a game today vs. Southern. UT Arlington is led by Krista Rude, a NFCA Third Team All-Region and Second Team All-Sun Belt selection as a freshman. She is hitting .451 with a team-high 23 hits. Freshman Aileen Garcia is hitting .325 with two home runs. Sam Clakley has been dominant in the circle with an 8-2 record and 0.61 era. She threw a complete game shutout against Saint Francis in game two of Tuesday's doubleheader, holding the Red Flash to just two hits. Eight of her 10 starts have been complete games and five have ended in shutouts. 

Scouting Incarnate Word

The Cardinals are 4-10 and losers of six of their last seven games. Offensively, Incarnate Word is batting .218 while its opponents are hitting .345. Marcela Lopez (.357) and Danielle Ramirez (.355) have been the team's most consistent hitters. The Cardinals pitching staff has recorded a combined 6.15 era.

Red Flash Offense Busts Out

The Saint Francis offense busted out of its longest slump of the season, which saw it held without a run for 19 consecutive innings, by putting 11 runs on the board in its final two at-bats in a win over North Texas. The Red Flash pounded out nine hits in the two-inning outburst, highlighted by a three-run home run by Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove).

Slow Starts

The Red Flash have played from behind virtually all trip as Saint Francis's opponents have scored the game's first run in all nine games. Fortunately, Saint Francis has been able to battle back and get wins in four of them. The Red Flash have been outscored 7-1 in the first innings of its games and 20-1 through the first two innings of its games on the nine-game road swing.

Witthus Making Things Happen

Senior Kindra Witthus (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) was a catalyst for the Saint Francis rally on Wednesday night, starting the fifth inning rally by getting hit by a pitch. She added an rbi single in the sixth inning. Witthus has made things happen all trip long, batting .375 (6-for-16) with an on-base percentage of .600. She has scored six runs.

Weekend Schedule
Friday, Mar. 3
Saint Francis vs. Tulsa - 1:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. CT)
Saint Francis vs. UT Arlington - 6:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. ET)

Saturday, Mar. 4
Saint Francis vs. Incarnate Word - 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT)
Saint Francis vs. Tulsa - 1:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. CT)

Sunday, Mar. 5
Saint Francis vs. Incarnate Word - 10 a.m. ET (9 a.m. CT)