LORETTO, PA- Saint Francis softball takes to the road again this weekend, heading back to North Carolina to participate in the Gardner-Webb Fairfield Inn and Suites Tournament.
 
The Red Flash (5-4) will take on Bowling Green (0-3) twice, East Tennessee State (6-1-2) twice and the host Bulldogs (6-2) once.
 
ABOUT THE RED FLASH
Saint Francis enters the weekend at 5-4 on the season after splitting four games (with one rain out) at the ECU Pirate Clash last weekend. SFU swept both games with Cleveland State and dropped games to Purdue and the host Pirates.
 
Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) has led the offense this season, who is hitting a scorching .536 (15-28) in nine starts this season. Norton has hit for impressive power with five extra base hits and a 1.593 OPS.  While Norton is leading the charge, it has been a balanced attack for the Red Flash with Mekenzie Saban, Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) and Mikayla Bower (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) join Norton in double digits in hits through nine games and all sport an average over .300. As a team, SFU has hit .306 through nine games.
 
In the circle, freshman Meadow Uncapher (Mount Pleasant, Pa./Mount Pleasant High School) has not allowed an earned run in her three starts over 16 innings. She threw seven shutout innings in a win over Cleveland State last weekend and took home the NEC's Rookie of the Week award. That makes it two weeks in a row for Red Flash pitchers to earn the Rookie of the Week award. Christina Clark (Avon, Ohio/Avon High School) took home the honor week one after a six-inning, one-run performance in a win over Georgia Southern. Lauren Bertig (Indiana, Pa./Indiana High School) took a tough-luck loss against Tennessee-Martin, allowing just one earned run over six innings while Mikayla Bower (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) has a team-high 20 innings in the circle and is coming off three innings of shutout relief against Cleveland State.
 
ABOUT BOWLING GREEN
Bowling Green garnered a first-place vote in the Mid-American Conference poll but was picked to finish eighth overall. BG brings back their entire pitching staff from a year ago when they went 26-26. Meredith Miller started all three games last weekend for the Falcons, allowing nine runs over 13 innings of work. BG hit just .157 (11-70) last weekend and scored just five runs in three losses.
 
ABOUT ETSU
The Bucs were picked to finish sixth in the SoCon despite winning the league in 2017 and making the title game last season. Pre-Season All-SoCon players Taylor Wright and Lauren Lee have led the offense for the Bucs who are off to a 6-1-2 start. Wright is hit­ting .429 this season through eight games and sporting an on-base percentage near 600. Kelly Schmidt is 3-0 with a 2.04 earned run average to date and has struck out 24 in 24 innings to date.
 
ABOUT GWU
The Bulldogs were picked sixth in the Big South this season, after finishing fifth last year. SFU will have to have an answer for Andria Booth, who is the active ca­reer leader in average and was a top-50 player to watch this season. Booth has lived up to the accolade, hitting .471 through six games this season. In the circle, Brooke Perry, a Purdue transfer, has been impressive. The redshirt sophomore is 4-1 with a 2.80 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 30 innings.
 
SERIES HISTORIES
Saint Francis has not fared well against the Falcons, dropping three of four all-time meetings but have not played since 2012. Against the Bucs, the Red Flash are 0-2 but haven't played since 2008. SFU has won the only meeting between them and the host in 2002.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
All five of the games this weekend will have live stats courtesy of stat broadcast and GWU. Unfortunately, no games will be live streamed this weekend. You can also follow on Twitter @RedFlashSB for updates and graphics.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Red Flash continue their road warrior ways next weekend as they start their Spring Break with a trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the 2019 Easton Crimson Classic. SFU will take on Southern Miss, Michigan State and the host Crimson Tide over the three-day tournament.