Flash Points:

• SFU Softball travels to the ECU Pirate Invitational this weekend.
• The Red Flash will compete against ECU, Ball State and Canisius.
• Saint Francis is 5-5 overall after defeating Georgia State and Maryland last weekend in Auburn.
• SFU's win over Maryland was its ninth over a Power Five program since 2015.
• The Red Flash already has 12 homers this year, reaching that mark in just 10 games for the first time in program history.

Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Video(ECU Games Only)

LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis Softball team is scheduled to play five games this weekend at the Pirate Invitational, hosted by East Carolina.  The Red Flash begins the invitational on Friday with matchups against Canisius (10 a.m.) and East Carolina (5:30 p.m.). The tournament continues Saturday with games against Ball State (10 a.m.) and Canisius (3 p.m.) before concluding on Sunday against East Carolina (11:30 a.m.).   
 
The Red Flash, led by Head Coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift, is 5-5 this season after earning wins over Georgia State and Maryland last weekend.  SFU hit four homers, including a grand slam by Kassidy Troxell (Navarre, Ohio/Perry), in the 8-1 win over Georgia State.  Abby Trahan (Kaplan, La./Kaplan) threw seven shutout innings, with a career-high 10 strikeouts, in a 1-0 victory over Maryland.  SFU suffered two tough losses against No. 13 Auburn, falling 4-3 on Friday and 5-0 on Saturday.  In Friday's matchup, SFU held a 3-1 lead going into the fifth inning and never trailed until the final at-bat.  SFU was down by only one run through five innings on Saturday.
 
East Carolina is 6-4 this season after going 4-1 at the ECU Pirate Clash last weekend.  Ball State won both of its games at the Troy Cox Classic, hosted by New Mexico State, last week to improve to 5-2 this season.  Canisius is 1-8, looking to break a six-game skid this weekend.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Saint Francis is 5-2 all-time against East Carolina, including a 1-0 win last season in Greenville and 11-0 and 4-1 victories over ECU at the Texas Tech Invitational.  SFU lost its only previous matchup with Ball State, 2-1, in 2008.  The Red Flash is 3-21 all-time against Canisius, but won its last matchup with the Golden Griffins, 9-1 in six innings, in 2016.
 
BEATING POWER FIVE PROGRAMS
The Red Flash's 1-0 win over Maryland last week was its ninth victory over a Power Five program since 2015.  Saint Francis has three shutout wins over Power Five teams in that span.  SFU has won its last three games against Big Ten teams.
 
Four of SFU's nine Power Five wins since 2015 are over Maryland, with three against Penn State and two against Texas Tech.
 
TROXELL NAMED NEC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Kassidy Troxell (Navarre, Ohio/Perry) was named NEC Co-Player of the Week on Monday, the first of her career, after batting .429 (6-for-14), with two homers, including a grand slam, five RBI and three runs.  She posted a slugging percentage of .857 and an on-base percentage of .500 on the weekend. 
In SFU's first game against Georgia State, Troxell went two-for-three with a solo homer.  She followed with a three-for-three performance against Auburn as the only player this year to reach base three times against the Tigers.  In the fifth inning of SFU's win over GSU, Troxell hit a grand slam to break a 1-1 tie, her first career grand slam.  Her slam was one of four SFU homers in that game.
 
COLLECTING DINGERS
After hitting 146 homers in the last two seasons, Saint Francis is one again on track to be among the top power teams in the nation.  With seven homers last weekend, the Red Flash already has 12 this year, reaching 12 in only 10 games, the least amount of games to reach double-digit homers in program history.  SFU's 12 homers ranks 12th in the NCAA. The Red Flash has seven more homers than any other NEC team and is the only NEC team with 10 homers and 10 steals this season.
Troxell and Cabell are tied for the team-lead with four homers each, matching Jordan Seneca (Plum, Pa./Plum) (2017) for the shortest amount of games to hit four homers.  Mikayla Bower (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) has two homers and Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) has one. 
 
STRONG IN THE CIRCLE
The Red Flash is off to a solid start in the circle this year.  Adrian Smith (Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) owns a team-best 1.88 ERA with a 2-1 record in five appearances.  Abby Trahan (Kaplan, La./Kaplan) has a 3.20 ERA in eight appearances, with three wins.  Trahan leads the NEC, and ranks 20th in the nation, with 40 strikeouts.  Trahan threw seven shutout innings, with 10 strikeouts, in the win over Maryland.

Smith has three performances this year where she has gone at least five innings and surrendered one or less earned run.  She opened the season with a seven-inning, seven-strikeout win over Presbyterian.  She also went 5.1 innings, allowing only one run against the Blue Hose, before firing seven innings and giving up just one unearned run against Georgia State.

Trahan has two such outings. In addition to her Maryland performance, Trahan threw 7.2 innings against Iowa State, while giving up an unearned run and striking out seven. She also had eight strikeouts over seven innings against Coastal Carolina.  Trahan had two solid performances against No. 13 Auburn this past weekend, not allowing a hit until the fourth inning in the first game, and retiring 12 of 13 batters during a stretch in the second game.
 
CHALLENGING NON-CON SLATE
SFU continues a challenging non-conference schedule this weekend.  The slate features games against No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 12 Auburn and No. 18 Oklahoma State. SFU will also play Arkansas, who is receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll.  As part of its non-conference schedule, SFU will play 16 games against Power 5 programs and 12 against teams who played in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
 
SCOUTING THE PIRATES
East Carolina, led by Head Coach Courtney Oliver, is 6-4 overall.  Last weekend, the Pirates went 4-1 as they hosted the ECU Pirate Clash.  ECU earned two wins over Towson (4-3, 4-3) and two over Saint Joseph's (3-0, 3-1), but fell 6-5 against UMBC.
 
ECU is batting .224 as a team and averaging three runs per game.  Junior Ashley Weingartz leads the team with a .308 average and has driven in four runs this year.  Sophomore Tate McClellan is batting .290 with four doubles and four RBI, while senior Karlie Smith has four doubles, a homer and five RBI.
 
The Pirates have a team ERA of 2.40 and allow an opposing batting average of .250.  Freshman Erin Poepping is 3-1 in six starts with a 2.42 ERA in 34.2 innings, while freshman Whitney Sanford has a 3-3 mark in six appearances with a 2.44 ERA in 28.2 innings.
 
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Ball State, coached by Megan Ciolli Bartlett, is 5-2 this year.  The Cardinals won both of the games they played at the Troy Cox Classic, hosted by New Mexico State.  After experiencing rainouts that forced them to cancel games against No. 4 Oklahoma and Boston, the Cardinals defeated Boston (6-5) and New Mexico State (3-2).
 
The Cardinals own a team average of .260 and average 4.9 runs per contest.  Sophomore Janae Hogg is off to an impressive start, batting .474 with two doubles, three homers, nine RBI and seven runs, while slugging 1.053.  Haley Dominique is hitting .364 with five RBI, while Hailey Demnianiuk is hitting .353 with two RBI.  Senior Maddy Labrador, a First Team All-MAC selection in 2017, has two homers and five RBI.
 
Ball State has a team ERA of 2.13 and allows an opposing batting average of .245.  Sophomore Alyssa Rothwell leads the team with a 1.27 ERA in six appearances.  Junior Aeshia Miles is 2-1 in three starts with a 2.21 ERA in 19 innings, while senior Carolyn Wilmes has a 3-1 mark with a 2.62 ERA in 16 innings covering four starts.
 
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIFFINS
Canisius, led by Head Coach Kim Griffin, is 1-8 this season.  The Golden Griffins are trying to get back on track, currently riding a six-game skid.  Last weekend at the Jacksonville Spring Tournament, Canisius fell 6-1 and 3-0 against North Florida, 5-0 against UT Arlington, 5-1 against Jacksonville and 1-0 against Providence.
 
The Golden Griffins are batting .190 as a team and averaging 1.1 runs per game.  Sophomore Ashley Barnett leads the team with a .267 average, two doubles and two RBI.  Preseason All-MAAC junior Lauren Castro has one double this year.
 
Canisius has a team ERA of 3.34 and allows an opposing average of .292.  Freshman Emily Nicosia is 1-3 with a 2.75 ERA in 20.1 innings over five appearances.  Senior Erika Mackie has made six appearances, with an 0-3 mark and a 3.61 ERA in 21.1 innings.