Flash Points:

• Saint Francis Softball is set to begin the NCAA Tucson Regional tomorrow.
• The Red Flash, the No. 4 seed, will take on No. 1 seed Arizona on Friday at 11:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. MT) on ESPN3.
• SFU and Arizona are joined in the regional by No. 2 seed Mississippi State and No. 3 seed North Dakota State.
• The Back-To-Back NEC Champions are 39-17 overall and enter the tournament on a 19-game win streak.
• Saint Francis leads the nation with 83 homers and nine grand slams.

 Game Notes | ESPN3 | Live Stats | Preview | Scouting Report | Jordy Frank Feature
 
LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis Softball team is ready to begin NCAA Regional play in Tucson, Ariz.  The Red Flash, the No. 4 seed, opens the tournament on Friday against No. 1 seed Arizona at 11:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. MT) on ESPN3.
 
The Red Flash, led by Head Coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift, returns to the NCAA Tournament after repeating as NEC Champions.  Saint Francis went undefeated in the NEC Regular Season and NEC Tournament for the second straight season.  SFU enters the regional with a 39-17 record and a 19-game win streak, the longest active win streak in Division I.
 
Arizona, the No. 14 overall seed in the tournament, is 40-14 overall this year, including a 13-11 record in the Pac-12.  The Wildcats, coached by Mike Candrea, are ranked No. 10 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll.  The matchup will feature two of the top home run-hitting teams in the nation, with Arizona entering the contest with 73 dingers.

NCAA REGIONAL SCHEDULE

Friday, May 18	Game 1 Game 2	No. 2 Mississippi State vs. No. 3 North Dakota State No. 4 Saint Francis vs. No. 1 Arizona	9 p.m. ET 11:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, May 19	Game 3 Game 4 Game 5	Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner	5 p.m. ET 7:30 p.m. ET 10 p.m. ET
Sunday, May 20	Game 6 Game 7	Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner (if necessary)	7 p.m. ET 9:30 p.m. ET

BACK-TO-BACK NEC CHAMPIONS
Saint Francis clinched its second straight NEC Title with an 11-1 win in the NEC Championship game vs. LIU Brooklyn.  The Red Flash went 16-0 in the NEC Regular Season and 3-0 in the NEC Tournament for the second consecutive year. Saint Francis joined No. 3 Oklahoma as the only Division I teams to go undefeated in conference play through the conference tournament.
 
The Red Flash has won 38 straight NEC games, passing Florida (2008-09) for the fourth-longest streak in NCAA Division I history.  SFU's last NEC loss came on May 13, 2016 in the NEC Tournament vs. Robert Morris.  SFU's last NEC Regular Season loss came on May 5, 2016 against Central Connecticut State.  Of those 38 wins, 13 have come by run-rule and 11 have been shutouts.
 
NEC TOURNAMENT RECAP
Saint Francis began the NEC Tournament with an 8-5 win over LIU Brooklyn.  SFU hit five homers, with Norton's second bomb of the game breaking a 5-5 tie in the sixth.  Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) added a pair of insurance runs with a homer later in the inning. 
 
The Red Flash advanced to the NEC Championship game with a 9-7 comeback win over No. 3 seed Sacred Heart.  The Pioneers took a 7-3 lead in the second inning.  A two-run double by Taylor Hoover (Phillipsburg, Ohio/Northmont) cut the deficit in half in the fifth inning.  In the sixth, Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) launched a go-ahead grand slam.  Adrian Smith (Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) shutdown the SHU offense with 5.2 shutout innings in relief.
 
Saint Francis cruised to an 11-1 win in Saturday's NEC Championship against LIU Brooklyn.  The five-inning victory featured four homers by the Red Flash, with two by Cabell, one by Norton and one by Bower.  Smith threw a complete-game for her 11th win of the season.
 
Smith earned Tournament MVP honors after allowing just one earned run in 10.2 innings and striking out nine.  Hoover, Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) and Norton joined Smith on the All-Tournament team.  McKee and Norton both batted .500 on the weekend.  McKee went 5-for-10 with two homers, seven RBI and four runs, while Norton had six hits, with three homers, six RBI and five runs.  Hoover had a pair of clutch hits, with a game-tying homer in the first game against LIU Brooklyn and the double against Sacred Heart.
 
RETURNING TO TUCSON
The Red Flash will compete in the NCAA Tucson Regional for the second straight season.  In the program's first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament last season, SFU was the No. 3 seed in Tucson.  SFU fell 12-2 in the first game against South Carolina, but bounced back for an 8-4 win in game two against New Mexico State.  Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) hit a go-ahead grand slam in the fifth to lead the Red Flash to the first NCAA Tournament win in program and SFU Athletics' history.  SFU dropped a 3-1 decision in its third game, vs. South Carolina.
 
NATIONAL LEADER IN HOMERS
With 10 homers in the NEC Tournament, the Red Flash now has 83 homers this season, setting a new program and NEC season record. The Red Flash leads Division I, one homer ahead of James Madison and eight in front of Eastern Kentucky and Coastal Carolina.  SFU ranks second in the nation in home runs per game, with 1.48.

Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton) paces the NEC in homers (19) and RBI (57).  Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) has 15 bombs, while Mikayla Bower (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) has 11, Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) has nine.  Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) and Kassidy Troxell (Navarre, Ohio/Perry) have eight and seven, respectively.  Jordan Seneca (Plum, Pa./Plum) is right behind with six. Saint Francis is the only team in DI that has seven players with at least six homers.

The Red Flash leads all levels of NCAA Softball with nine grand slams, including a go-ahead slam by Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) against Sacred Heart in the NEC Tournament.  Cabell, McKee and Troxell each have two slams this season.
 
CHALLENGING NON-CON SCHEDULE
Saint Francis is ready for the level of competition in the NCAA Regional after playing 18 games against the RPI Top 100 this season. The Red Flash played five games against the Top 25 and nine vs. the Top 50, going 5-4 against teams between 50 and 100.  SFU's best RPI win of the year was a 3-1 victory against Drake on March 10. 
 
SFU also played 10 games against 2018 NCAA Tournament and 15 games against Power 5 opponents, winning five against Power 5 schools.  SFU has 13 wins over Power 5 programs since 2015.
 
TWINNING
Cheyenne and Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) are one of six sets of twins competing in the NCAA Tournament for the same school this season.  Both Nursing majors from DuBois, Pa., the McKees are the one of only two sets of twins that both earned All-Conference honors this season.  Liberty's Autumn and Amber Bishop were First Team All-Big South, while Cheyenne was the NEC Player of the Year and Sierra was selected Second Team All-NEC.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Arizona, led by Head Coach Mike Candrea, are 40-14 overall and 13-11 in the Pac-12.  The Wildcats, ranked 10th in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, finished fifth in the Pac-12 standings. 
 
Arizona is batting .300 as a team and averaging 5.1 runs per game. The Wildcats are one of the top power-hitting teams in the nation with 73 homers.  Alyssa Palomino, a First Team All-Pac 12 selection, leads the team with a .382 average to go with 18 homers and 40 RBI.  Jessie Harper, also a First Team selection, is batting .337 with 17 homers and 50 RBI, while Dejah Mulipola is hitting .312 with 12 homers and 34 RBI.
 
The Wildcats have a team ERA of 1.87, good for 14th in the nation.  First Team All-Pac 12 pitcher Taylor McQuillin is 24-10 with a 1.59 ERA in 39 appearances.  She has 255 strikeouts over 211.1 innings.  Alyssa Denham has a 1.70 ERA to go with a 10-3 record in 21 appearances.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Mississippi State, coached by Vann Stuedeman, is 36-21 overall and finished 7-17 in the SEC, placing 11th in the league standings.  The Bulldogs are the top team receiving votes outside of the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll.
 
The Bulldogs are batting .286 as a team and averaging 5.02 runs per contest.  Mia Davidson was named SEC Rookie of the Year after leading the team with a .371 average, 18 homers and 46 RBI.  Morgan Bell has 10 homers and 40 RBI to go with a .278 average.
 
Mississippi State is strong in the circle, ranking 21st in the nation with a 2.00 ERA.  Holly Ward is 15-7 with a 1.33 ERA in 35 appearances.  She has 164 strikeouts in 168.2 innings.  Emily Williams is 5-1 with a 1.74 ERA in 18 appearances, while Cassady Knudsen owns a 2.66 ERA and a 12-9 mark in 25 appearances.
 
SCOUTING THE BISON
North Dakota State, led by Darren Mueller, is 33-17 overall and went 10-3 in the Summit League regular season.  The Bison won the league title with a 6-1 victory over South Dakota State in the Championship Game. 
 
The Bison is hitting .260 as a team and averaging 3.7 runs per game.  Zoe Stavrou leads the team with a .326 average to go with three homers and 25 RBI, while Bre Beatty is hitting .325 with five homers and 30 RBI.  Vanessa Anderson has seven homers and 29 RBI with a .268 average.
 
North Dakota State has a 2.29 team ERA.  The staff is led by Summit League Player and Pitcher of the Year, Jacquelyn Sertic.  She ranks 14th in the nation with 25 wins this season.  Sertic is 25-9 with a 1.62 ERA in 35 appearances.  The senior ranks third in the country with 303 strikeouts.  KK Leddy is 7-7 with a 3.02 ERA in 21 appearances.