LORETTO, PA- Saint Francis starts off a busy six-game week with a trip to the Buckeye State to take on the Kent State Golden Flashes on Wednesday afternoon. 

First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. with game two starting approximately 20 minutes after game one. 

ABOUT THE RED FLASH
The Red Flash were rained out at Fairleigh Dickinson last Friday. As a result,  they have had a well-earned 10-day break since their last game, a  doubleheader sweep of Wagner on April 14th. Wednesday's double header starts a busy six-game, three double header week for the Red Flash. Saturday, Saint Francis welcomes in Bucknell for a non-conference double header and Youth Day at the ballpark. On Sunday, the Red Flash meet up with current NEC leader LIU Brooklyn for a double header on Alumni Day. 

Saint Francis leads the Northeast Conference in several categories led by their 5.93 runs per game, which also sits 30th in the NCAA. The offense has been fueled by the extra-base hit as Saint Francis sits as the NEC leader and top-40 in the NCAA in homers (40th), doubles (27th) and triples (13th) per game. It has been a balanced offensive attack as eight players have at least five doubles on the year, led by sophomore MeKenzie Saban (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) who sits 7th in the NCAA with 17 doubles on the year. Five players have at least five home runs and five have at least two triples. As a result, there have plenty of runners in scoring position for the heart of the order and Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) and Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) have taken advantage, ranking 16th (Norton) and 29th (McKee) in the NCAA in RBI this season. It hasn't been all offense for the Red Flash as their pitching has thrown to a 4.45 E.R.A. in conference led by Christina Clark's (Avon, Ohio/Avon High School) 5-1 record and 2.95 earned run average. 

ABOUT THE GOLDEN FLASHES

Kent State comes into the double header at 23-20 and a solid 10-4 in the Mid-American Conference. The Golden Flashes hit .287 as a team, but don't rely on the long ball as Jen Cader leads the squad with five home runs. Bailey Brownfield leads the team with 17 doubles and 25 RBI. They are a consistent offense with four players hitting over 300. 

Andrea Scali has been strong in the circle, going 17-7 with a 2.33 earned run average and 203 strikeouts in 147 innings. Madi Huck has been the other main starter on the season and sits at 5-8 in 22 appearances and 15 starts. Scali has been especially stingy, allowing just under five hits per seven innings on the season to lead the MAC. 

SERIES HISTORY
Despite being only a few hours apart, the two teams have only met once before, back in 2015 when Kent State swept a doubleheader. The teams were supposed to meet last season in Loretto, but the games were rained out. 

FOLLOW ALONG
Wednesday's games will have live stats provided by Kent State, but no stream. The link is available on the softball schedule page, you can also follow @RedFlashSB on Twitter for in-game updates and graphics. 

LOOKING AHEAD
The Red Flash will host Bucknell on Saturday for Youth Day, first pitch against the Bison is set for 1 p.m.