Flash Points:

• SFU Softball looks for its first ever NEC Championship this weekend as it hosts the NEC Tournament.
• The Red Flash, the top seed, opens the tournament on Thursday at Noon against No. 4 seed Robert Morris
• Sacred Heart is the No. 2 seed and Wagner is the No. 3 seed.
• Saint Francis is 45-9 overall and finished the regular season with a 16-0 record in NEC play.
• SFU has won a program-record 18 straight games and 33 of its last 34 games.

NEC Tournament Central | NEC Front Row | Live Stats | Ticket Info
 
LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis Softball is hosting the NEC Tournament for the first time in program history as it welcomes Sacred Heart, Wagner and Robert Morris to the Red Flash Softball Field this weekend.  The tournament begins on Thursday as SFU, the top seed, battles No. 4 seed Robert Morris at Noon.  All games of the tournament will be broadcast on NEC Front Row, with John Cabral and Paul Dottino on the call.
 
The Red Flash, led by Head Coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift, is 45-9 overall and went a perfect 16-0 in the NEC in the regular season.  SFU was the first team in conference history to go undefeated in league play.  Saint Francis is just two wins away from tying the conference record of 47 wins by UMBC in 2002. 
 
SFU is one of just three teams in the nation that are undefeated in conference play this season, joining No. 4 Florida State (24-0 ACC) and No. 20 BYU (12-0 WCC).
 
Saint Francis is red-hot entering the tournament, winning a program-record 18 straight games and 33 of its last 34 games.  SFU is ranked 59th in the RPI, received six votes in this week's USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and was ranked 25th in the nation by HERO Sports.
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 11:
Game 1: No. 1 Saint Francis vs. No. 4 Robert Morris, Noon
Game 2: No. 2 Sacred Heart vs. No. 3 Wagner, 3 p.m.
 
Friday, May 12:
Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 10 a.m.
Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 1 p.m.
Game 5: Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 4 p.m.
 
Saturday, May 13
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, Noon
Game 7 (if necessary): Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 2:30 p.m.
 
Sunday, May 14: Makeup Day
 
NEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Saint Francis is hosting the NEC Tournament for the first time in program history.  The Red Flash went 16-0 in the NEC regular season to win the regular season title and earn the top seed in the NEC Tournament.  SFU is the first NEC team to go undefeated in regular season conference play.
 
The Red Flash has made the NEC Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1997-98.  Saint Francis will look to reach the championship round for the first time since 1998.  SFU is 19-29 all-time in the tournament.
 
NEC TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS
Sacred Heart is the No. 2 seed in the NEC Tournament after going 22-26 overall and 10-6 in the NEC in the regular season.  The Pioneers were seventh in the NEC with 2.83 runs per game and eighth in batting average, .234.  Junior Lauren Delgadillo leads the team with a .298 average, graduate student Andrea Sidor has hit three homers and senior Victoria D'Addario has driven in a team-best 18 RBI.  The Pioneers have the second-best ERA in the conference (2.54).  Senior Jamie Carlson is 12-12 with a 2.09 ERA in 28 appearances (23 starts), while sophomore Kristen McCann is 8-11 with a 2.54 ERA in 24 appearances (20 starts).
 
Wagner is the No. 3 seed after finishing the regular season with a 20-23 record, including 10-6 in the NEC.  The Seahawks rank fourth in the NEC in runs per game (4.14) and second in batting average (.297).  Senior Brianna Tredway is hitting a team-best .402 with 28 RBI.  Sophomore Karen Prihoda has a .399 average to go with four homers and 23 RBI, while freshman Kaila Smith has seven homers and 20 RBI.  Wagner's pitching staff has a team ERA of 4.60, ranking fifth in the conference.  Senior McKaleigh Goodale has a 6-12 record and a 3.83 ERA in 22 appearances (16 starts), while junior Morgan Brown is 10-7 with a 4.39 ERA in 25 appearances (18 starts).
 
Robert Morris is the No. 4 seed after going 19-31 overall and 9-7 in the NEC.  The Colonials rank fifth in the NEC in runs per game (3.78) and batting average (.285).  Senior Jordan Gurganus leads the team with a .392 average and 36 runs and ranks 13th in the nation with 73 hits.  Sophomore Abrielle McCartney is batting .336 with three homers and 23 RBI.  Junior Olivia Lorusso is hitting .320 with 10 doubles, 13 homers, 36 RBI and 31 runs.  RMU has a team ERA of 5.16, ranking eighth in the NEC.  Sophomore Kaitlin Ellzy is 8-7 with a 2.53 ERA in 22 appearances (15 starts), while sophomore Laura Coulter is 5-13 with a 5.73 ERA in 31 appearances (14 starts).  Freshman Madison Riggle is 6-9 with a 6.29 ERA in 24 appearances (18 starts).
 
RED HOT FLASH
With its doubleheader sweep over Wagner, the Red Flash has won 33 of its last 34 games, with its last two losses coming in extra innings against Tulsa (3-1 in eight innings on March 3) and Pitt (8-3 in nine innings on April 5).  SFU has not lost a game in seven or less innings since March 1 at North Texas.
 
Saint Francis has won 18 straight games, dating back to its series against LIU Brooklyn.  That is the third-longest active streak in Division I, only trailing Minnesota's 22-game win streak and BYU's 20-game streak. 
 
SFU is one of just three teams in the nation that are undefeated in conference play this season, joining No. 4 Florida State and No. 20 BYU.
 
The Red Flash has won 25 straight games away from home, including 17 road wins and eight neutral-site wins.  Saint Francis leads Division I with 22 road wins, a program record, this year.
 
Saint Francis is just the third NEC team to reach the 40-win mark.  UMBC won 47 games, an NEC record, in 2002 and 43 games in 2003. 
 
The Red Flash has improved its win total each of the last six seasons.  Saint Francis improved from 10 wins to 22 from 2011 to 2012, followed by 25 wins (2013), 26 wins (2014), 31 wins (2015), 34 wins (2016) and now 45 wins in 2017.
 
DUAL-THREAT
The Red Flash has shown some impressive speed and power this season, with 59 home runs and 99 stolen bases.  With its next home run and steal, Saint Francis will become the first team in the nation this season with 60 homers and 100 steals.  SFU has already set SFU and NEC season steals records.
 
Junior Jordan Seneca (Plum, Pa./Plum) has 21 homers and 20 steals this season.  She is the first 20-20 player in NEC history and the first player in the NCAA to do it since Longwood's Megan Baltzell in 2015.  Seneca is just the third player to accomplish that feat since 2010, with Michigan State's Lindsey Hansen posting a 20-20 season in 2011.
 
DOMINATING IN THE CIRCLE
The Red Flash pitching staff has been strong all season, with a dominating finish to the regular season.  Over its last 78 innings, dating back to its April 15 sweep at Mount St. Mary's, the Red Flash pitching staff has allowed just seven runs, with seven shutouts, 29 hits, and struck out 93 batters.  Nearly 40 percent of SFU's outs during the streak have been recorded via strikeouts.  The stretch includes six one-hitters and a No-hitter.
 
SENECA BREAKS SFU, NEC HOME RUN RECORDS
With 21 homers this year, junior Jordan Seneca (Plum, Pa./Plum) ranks third in the nation and has more than 90 Division I teams.  Seneca has topped the SFU-record 18 homers she hit last year and the NEC-record 19 homers by Mount St. Mary's Rachel Heinze last year.
 
Seneca also set a new SFU season RBI record, with 63, topping her 59 last season.  Seneca, seventh in the nation in RBI, is just one away from the NEC record, held by Monmouth's Heather Gordon (2007). Seneca has also scored 59 runs, totaling 122 runs that she has accounted for.  That is more than 17 Division I teams. 
 
Seneca has set a new SFU season walks record, with 43, and is just one steal away from the SFU season record.
 
Seneca became just the 11th player in NCAA history to hit two grand slams in a game in a 12-10 win over Texas Tech on March 17, leading to being named National Player of the Week by FastPitchNews.
 
Seneca, who has earned six NEC Player of the Week awards this season, has been mentioned in two different ESPNW articles.  She also ranks ninth in runs, 23rd in walks per game (0.81), 32nd in total bases (114), 38th in slugging percentage (.755) and 109th in on-base percentage (.470). 
 
RECORDS WATCH
Sophomore Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) has also set a bunch of SFU season records this year, including hits (66) and runs (61), while also being on-pace for the school's on-base percentage (.490) record.  McKee needs seven runs to pass the NEC season record, held by UMBC's Deanna Vecchio (2002).
 
Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) has 18 doubles this season, good for sixth in the NCAA, and just two doubles behind the SFU season record, held by Taylor Parsons (2015).
 
With 17 wins, senior Ethel Santai (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove Area) needs two more to tie the SFU season record, set by Patricia Galayda in 1999. 
 
As a team, SFU has 430 hits, 14 away from the SFU season record.  SFU also has 307 RBI, 33 away from the SFU season record, and 330 runs, 40 away from the SFU season record.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Saint Francis is ranked 59th in the latest RPI poll.  The Red Flash's ranking is a result of nine wins against RPI Top 100 teams, including wins over Fordham and Tulsa, who rank in the RPI Top 50.  The rest of the NEC has combined for three RPI Top 100 wins this year, with LIU Brooklyn owning all three.  SFU has played 17 games against RPI Top 100 opponents.  The Red Flash has captured national attention as well, picking up six votes this week in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and being ranked 25th in the HERO Sports Poll.  SFU is one of eight teams with 45 or more wins.
 
STRONG IN THE CIRCLE
The Red Flash pitching staff has been strong all season, holding an NEC-best 1.98 ERA and holding opposing batters to a .195 average.  In NEC games, SFU has a 0.96 ERA and an opposing batting average of .151.
 
Senior Ethel Santai (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove Area) leads the NEC with a 1.64 ERA.  She owns a 17-1 record, with nine complete games, and two saves.  She threw a perfect game in an 11-0 win over East Carolina on March 18, needing just 51 pitches to get through five perfect innings.  Santai threw a six-inning No-Hitter at Bryant on April 22, allowing just four baserunners and striking out five batters.  Santai has nine outings this year in which she has pitched at least five innings and allowed one or less earned runs. 
 
Fellow senior Ketarah DeVries (Forreston, Ill./Forreston) has a 13-5 record in 29 appearances to go with a 2.04 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 113 innings.  DeVries threw a no-hitter against East Carolina on February 17, striking out 12 batters and walking just one.  She has 11 outings of five or more innings and one or less earned run.  DeVries struck out 10 batters in a five-inning outing in the season opener against NC Central and allowed just one hit, while striking out 10, in a win at Penn State on April 26.  DeVries struck out 10 batters and retired 19 straight to end the game in SFU's second game at Mount St. Mary's.  DeVries threw a seven-inning one-hitter against Wagner in the regular season finale, retiring 19 straight batters to close out that game.
 
Freshman Abby Trahan (Kaplan, La./Kaplan) is 14-3 this season with a 2.20 ERA in 111.1 innings.  She has struck out 93 batters and walked just 20, while throwing five complete games. Trahan threw a six-inning No-Hitter against Cleveland State on February 19.  She has eight outings of five or more innings and one or less earned run.  Trahan earned her fifth NEC Rookie of the Week award after striking out 15 batters in seven innings last week, including nine strikeouts in four innings in a game one win vs. CCSU.