Flash Points:

• SFU Softball travels to Arkansas for the Wooo Pig Classic this weekend.
• The Red Flash, 14-12, begins the classic on Friday with matchups against Omaha (3:30 p.m. ET) and Arkansas (8:30 p.m. ET)
• Saint Francis went 3-2 last weekend at the OSU Hall of Fame Classic, earning NEC Weekly Honors for Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton) and Abby Trahan (Kaplan, La./Kaplan).

Game Notes

LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis Softball team is set for the Wooo Pig Classic this weekend, hosted by the University of Arkansas.  The Red Flash begins the classic on Friday with matchups against Omaha (3:30 p.m. ET) and Arkansas (8:30 p.m. ET).  The invitational continues on Saturday vs. Tulsa (3:30 p.m. ET) and Arkansas (8:30 p.m. ET) before concluding on Sunday against Iowa State (11 a.m. ET).
 
The Red Flash, led by Head Coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift, is 14-12 this season.  On Friday, SFU began the tournament with a 10-1, five-inning win over Pacific, but fell 4-3 against Purdue.  On Saturday, SFU knocked off Drake, 3-1, but dropped a 7-1 decision to Oklahoma State.  In Sunday's game against UConn, SFU rallied for three runs in the seventh, two coming on a two-out triple by Jordan Frank (DuBois, Pa./DuBois Central Catholic), for a 4-3 win.
 
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
 

Friday, March 16	vs. Omaha	3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT	Live Stats
Friday, March 16	at Arkansas	8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CT	Live Stats
Saturday, March 17	vs. Tulsa	3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT	Live Stats
Saturday, March 17	at Arkansas	8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CT	Live Stats | SECN+
Sunday, March 18	vs. Iowa State	11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT	Live Stats

SERIES HISTORY
This will be Saint Francis' first ever matchup vs. Arkansas.  The Red Flash is looking for its first win over an SEC program in eight tries. 
 
SFU split two games with Omaha at the Mizuno Classic, falling 7-6 in 11 innings, but bouncing back for a 5-2 win.  SFU also played Iowa State earlier this season, falling 1-0 in eight innings. 
 
The Red Flash split a pair of matchups against Tulsa last season.  SFU dropped a 3-1 decision in eight innings on March 3, 2017, but earned a 4-0 win on March 4.
 
PATRICK-SWIFT REACHES 200 WINS
With the win over Drake, Head Coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift reached her 200th win at Saint Francis.  Since taking over the program in 2012, Patrick-Swift is 201-145, winning nearly 58 percent of the games she has coached at SFU.  Patrick-Swift, already the wins leader in SFU softball history, is now the first coach in program history to reach 200 wins.

In Patrick-Swift's tenure, Saint Francis has increased its wins total each of the last six seasons, including last year's program and NEC-record 49 wins.  Last year, Patrick-Swift led the Red Flash to its first ever NEC Title, first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and first NCAA Tournament win.
 
CABELL, TRAHAN EARN NEC WEEKLY HONORS
Senior Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton) earned her first NEC Player of the Week award this season, and second of her career by batting .474 last week.  She had nine hits, including three doubles, four RBI and two runs. In the opener vs. Pacific, Cabell had two RBI singles, totaling three RBI, and scored two runs.  She followed with three hits vs. Purdue.  She also had two doubles, including an RBI double, against Drake.  Cabell went 1-for-3 in each against Oklahoma State and UConn, adding a double against the Huskies.
 
Trahan went 3-2 with a 2.65 ERA in five starts.  In Friday's win over Pacific, Trahan threw four innings, giving up just one run on three hits.  She fired another complete-game, allowing a run on three hits, with five strikeouts.  She also threw a complete-game against Purdue, allowing four runs, one earned, with three strikeouts.  Trahan also went seven innings vs. UConn, giving up five hits and three runs, two earned, with three strikeouts.
 
COLLECTING DINGERS
After hitting 146 homers in the last two seasons, Saint Francis is once again on track to be among the top power teams in the nation.  With a pair of homers this past weekend, SFU is up to 25 on the season.  Saint Francis ranks 25th in the nation in home runs per game, with 0.96, and 17th in total homers. 

Senior Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton) ranks 28th in the nation with seven homers, which is more than 82 DI teams, including four NEC teams.  Mikayla Bower (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport), Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) and Kassidy Troxell (Navarre, Ohio/Perry) have four homers each.  Eight SFU players have at least one homer this season.
 
FRANK SPARKS LINEUP
Freshman Jordan Frank (DuBois, Pa./DuBois Central Catholic) did not register her first college at-bat until March 3 against Maine.  However, Frank has quickly established herself as a spark at the top of the lineup.  In her first career at-bat, Frank homered to center.  She followed that with her first career start and another homer vs. Omaha before hitting a leadoff double, off the top of the wall, in the fourth inning against No. 5 Oklahoma on March 7.  Frank hit a go-ahead two-run triple in the seventh inning in the win over UConn.  Among her six hits, in nine games with an at-bat, Frank has four extra base hits, four RBI, seven runs, a .682 slugging percentage and a .448 on-base percentage.   
 
STRONG IN THE CIRCLE
The Red Flash is off to a solid start in the circle this year, with a 2.78 team ERA and a .223 batting average against.  SFU's ERA ranks second in the NEC, despite eight games against Power Five teams, five games against ranked opponents and five games against 2017 NCAA Tournament teams.

Trahan is 11-8 with a 2.55 ERA in 21 appearances, with 13 complete games and two shutouts.  She ranks 15th in the nation, and first in the NEC, with 103 strikeouts, and 10th in the nation with 11 wins.  Trahan's 103 strikeouts already match her total from the 2017 season.  Trahan has six outings in which she has gone at least seven innings and allowed one or less run.  Trahan recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts in game one against Omaha and took a No-Hitter into the seventh in the second game against the Mavericks.

Adrian Smith (Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) owns a 3.32 ERA and a 3-4 record, including five complete games and two shutouts.  She has four outings in which she has gone at least five innings and allowed one or less run.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Arkansas, led by Head Coach Courtney Deifel, is 16-5 overall after falling in three games against No. 11 Georgia last weekend to start SEC play.  Despite last weekend's setbacks, the Razorbacks received 11 votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll this week.  The Razorbacks are averaging 5.8 runs per game and rank 10th in the nation with 26 homers.  Freshman Hannah McEwen is batting .391 with five homers and 29 RBI as one of six players with three or more homers.  Arkansas has a 1.91 team ERA, led by freshman Mary Huff's 0.51 ERA.  Huff is 9-2 in 15 appearances with 105 strikeouts in 68.1 innings.  She ranks eighth in Division I in ERA, fourth in hits allowed per seven innings (2.66) and 14th in strikeouts.
 
Omaha, coached by DJ Sanchez, is 12-14 overall.  The Mavericks went 2-3 at the Blue-White Classic, hosted by Hampton, last weekend.  Omaha earned wins over Hampton (11-2) and La Salle (5-1), but fell against La Salle (5-4) and Albany (4-2, 5-4).  The Mavs are averaging 3.9 runs per game, with Kelli Pattison leading the team with a .469 average to go with four homers and 19 RBI.  Omaha has a 4.20 team ERA.  Sydney Hampton is 8-6 with a 2.80 ERA in 17 appearances.
 
Tulsa is 15-10 this season under the direction of John Bargfeldt.  Last weekend, the Hurricanes went 2-1 at the Jayhawk Invitational, hosted by Kansas, until its final two games were cancelled. Tulsa collected wins over Green Bay (11-2) and UMKC (12-1), but fell 3-2 against Nebraska.  Tulsa dropped a 7-6 decision against Missouri State on Tuesday and won 6-1 against Illinois State on Wednesday.  Tulsa averages 5.2 runs a game, led by Juli Hollingsworth, who is batting .440 with a homer and nine RBI.  Shelby Estocado is hitting .410 with five homers and 23 RBI.  The Hurricanes have a 3.15 team ERA, led by Emily Watson's 2.13 ERA.  She is 8-4 in 12 starts, with 87 strikeouts in 75.2 innings.
 
Iowa State, coached by Jamie Pinkerton, is 15-13 this season.  The Cyclones went 3-2 at the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic last weekend, with wins over Lipscomb (6-1), Houston (4-1) and Penn State (3-0), but took 1-0 losses against Northwestern and Lipscomb.  ISU earned a 2-1 win over UT Arlington on Tuesday and split against North Texas on Wednesday, winning 7-3 and falling 9-6. Iowa State averages 3.2 runs per game.  The offense is led by Sami Williams, who is batting .394 with seven homers and 17 RBI.  The Cyclones have a team ERA of 2.86.  Brianna Weilbacher is 7-3 with a 2.13 ERA in 14 appearances, with 67 strikeouts in 65.2 innings.