ANN ARBOR, MI- For the third consecutive season, the Saint Francis softball team has earned its way into the NCAA tournament by virtue of winning the Northeast Conference crown.
 
For the first time, the championship was not won on their home soil, instead, the Red Flash took the trophy home from host LIU Brooklyn with a 8-6 victory in the title game. And for the first time, the Red Flash are not at the University of Arizona in Tucson, instead playing in the Ann Arbor regional with host Michigan, James Madison and DePaul.
 
The Red Flash and Wolverines will square off for the first time in history on the softball diamond on Friday afternoon at 4:30 on ESPN U with Mark Neely and Danielle Lawrie on the call.
 
ABOUT THE RED FLASH
 
Thrice is Nice
SFU became just the fourth team in the 33-year history of NEC softball to three-peat. SFU joins LIU Brooklyn (87-90), Robert Morris (91-94), and LIU again (2006-08) as schools that have pulled off the feat.
 
Peaking At The Right Time
Saint Francis is playing their best softball of the year at the perfect time. The Red Flash are winners of eight of their last 10. Following getting swept by Sacred Heart at home, SFU has reeled off an 11-3 record in their last 14 games, including a 7-0 blanking of Sacred Heart in the NEC tournament.
 
In the Zone
Freshman right-hander Christina Clark (Avon, Ohio/Avon High School) has proven she's back to full strength after missing her entire senior season with a knee injury. Clark, who wears a precautionary brace on her knee, also missed this past fall season. Clark was named second-team All-NEC after posting a 2.43 ERA in conference and went on to win NEC Tournament MVP.
 
Twice as Nice
Seniors and twin sisters Sierra and Cheyenne
McKee enter the conference tournament with each having 59 hits on the season. If that wasn't even enough, the twins each have 236 career hits entering Thursday, tied for second in school history (Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove)-242). Both McKees were name to the Great Lakes Region Third Team on Thursday.
 
EXTRA! EXTRA!
Saint Francis is in the top-30 in the NCAA in doubles (12th) and homers (28th). Leading the way in doubles in Mekenzie Saban, the sopho­more is second in the NCAA with 23. Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) leads the team in homers with a career high 16, good for 33^rd in the NCAA. Norton earned Second Team All-Great Lakes Region honors on Thursday.
 
New Territory
While it may be the third-straight trip for the Red Flash in the NCAA tournament, SFU will and could be facing some unfamiliar opponents. Saint Francis has never played Michigan or DePaul on the softball diamond. The Red Flash and James Madison Dukes have met 11 times, playing between 2002 and 2015. James Madison owns a 9-2 record all-time between the teams.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
 
Michigan is making its 27th NCAA Tournament appearance (1992-93, '95-2019). Michigan has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament every season since 1995. The Wolverines play host to a regional for the 21st time but just the fourth time since 2011. The Wolverines are 82-17 all-time in the NCAA Regional round and have won 18 regional titles. Michigan captured its 10th Big Ten Conference Tournament crown with a 3-2 win over No. 12 Minnesota. Meghan Beaubien allowed two runs on eight hits and no walks to claim the win and Big Ten Tournament MVP honors. The Wolverines went 22-1 in conference play, turning in an RPI ranking of #16. The Wolverines are a balanced ball club that is ranked in the top-30 in the NCAA in several major categories including fielding (.978 fielding percentage-6^th), scoring (6.4/G-12^th) and earned run average (2.08-24^th). This game will feature two of the top three in the NCAA in doubles as Lexie Blair is third in the nation with 21 doubles, two behind Mekenzie Saban.
 
James Madison comes into the Ann Arbor Regional with a 47-7 mark after defeating No. 2 seed Elon 12-0 in five innings to take the Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA) title. James Madison carries the #14 RPI rating into the tournament. Junior pitcher Odicci Alexander was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2019 CAA Championship. The Dukes bring the NCAA's top scoring offense into Ann Arbor, averaging over eight runs a game, they averaged 11 runs per game in sweeping the CAA tournament. The Dukes are also second in the NCAA in slugging and batting average and have hit 93 home runs on the year, fourth in the NCAA. Odicci Alexander and Megan Good have shined both in the circle and at the plate. Both have hit over .340 and are one of three players on the team with over 14 homers and 50 runs batted in. In the circle Good is 19-5 with a 1.49 earned run average while Alexander is 22-1 with a 1.87 earned run average, both pitchers average over a strikeout per inning. The Dukes are 4-1 against DePaul with the last meeting coming in 2016.
 
DePaul won its third-consecutive BIG EAST Tournament title as the Blue Demons scored eight runs in the sixth inning to claim an 11-10 win over Villanova in the highest scoring title game in league history. Sophomore pitcher Natalie Halvorson was named the BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player after picking up both of the Blue Demons' wins in the circle. On the season Halvorson has gone 21-7 for the Blue Demons this season and is one of the two main pitchers on the staff. Krista Dalgarn has been an ace reliever, leading the BIG EAST with five saves. Offensively, the Blue Demons have a balanced lineup with four players hitting over .300, four players with at least 30 RBI and four players with at least seven homers. Jessica Cothern leads the team with nine homers and 50 driven in. DePaul is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament as 2019 is the 21st in program history. The Blue Demons hold a 45-41 record all-time in NCAA Championship play. The program holds four all-time appearances in the Women's College World Series, the last being in 2007.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Friday's contest will be on ESPN U as well as the watch ESPN app for smart tvs, tablets and smart phones.  Both the NCAA and Michigan will provide live stats for the event. You can also follow @RedFlashSB on Twitter for in-game updates and stats. All links are available on the softball schedule page.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The NCAA regional is a double elimination event. The winners of the games on Friday will play at noon on Saturday, the losers of Friday's game will play 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game on Saturday, at approximately 2:30.