BROOKLYN, NY- Saint Francis (26-28, 10-6) is the number three seed in the upcoming Northeast Conference tournament to be held at top-seeded LIU Brooklyn on Thursday through Saturday.
 
Thursday's opening round games will feature the top-seeded LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds taking on fourth-seeded Mount Saint Mary's starting at noon. The second-seeded Sacred Heart Pioneers will be the home team against the Red Flash with first pitch starting no sooner that 3:30 p.m.
 
RED FLASH TOURNAMENT HISTORY
 
This is the fourth-straight year the Red Flash have qualified for the NEC tournament. SFU returns to Brooklyn, the site of the 2016 tournament, after hosting each of the past two seasons. Overall, Saint Francis is 25-30 all-time in the NEC post-season, winning the tournament in both 2017 and 2018.
 
ABOUT THE RED FLASH
Saint Francis enters the tournament at 26-28 overall and 10-6 in the Northeast Conference. SFU is playing some of their best softball of the season, going 8-2 in their last 10 games and winning five of their last six. During the run, the offense has been clicking, averaging nearly seven runs a game while the pitching has sported a solid 3.60 earned run average.
 
As a whole in NEC play, the Red Flash have hit .318 as a team in NEC play, second in the conference to LIU Brooklyn (.349) and average 6.2 runs per game, second to LIU Brooklyn (6.5). Eight players hit better than .300 in NEC play, led by Mekenzie Saban, who hit a stellar .476 in conference.
 
In the circle, Saint Francis carries a team earned run average of 4.33 heading into the tournament. Freshman Tina Clark led the NEC in innings pitched both overall (155) and in NEC play (58), while going 6-2 in NEC play with a strong 2.43 earned run average.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
The Red Flash will tangle with Sacred Heart in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday. The Pioneers took two tight games earlier in the year in Loretto, winning 3-1 in nine innings and 4-2. Sacred Heart finished the campaign at 28-25 and 11-5 in the NEC.
 
The Pioneers bring a strong pitching staff into Brooklyn, led by reigning co-pitcher of the year Emily Orosco. On the year the senior went 11-5 with a 2.56 era. She kicked it up a notch in conference, going 6-1 with a 1.60 earned run average, tops in the NEC.
 
Offensively, the Pioneers hit .282 as a team in conference play. Hailey Desrosiers led the NEC with a .406 average across the entire season and was one of three players who hit better than .350 in conference play.
 
Top-seeded LIU Brooklyn hosts the tournament for the first time since 2016 and went 14-2 in NEC play and is 33-16 overall. The Blackbirds led the NEC in both offense and pitching over the course of the conference season. The Red Flash split with LIU Brooklyn earlier in the season in Loretto, falling 11-3 and winning 9-5. LIU had three players hit over .400 in conference and fourth who hit .370. Kiana Cisneros led the league with a sizzling .490 average in conference play. Alina Castillo hit .471 in league play while leading the league with 19 RBI in NEC play.
 
Elena Valezuela was a perfect 7-0 in NEC play with a 1.77 ERA. Tallie Woodson and Victoria Lowe went a combined 7-2 in NEC play for a squad that had a 2.49 team earned run average.
 
Mount Saint Mary's rejoins the tournament for the first time since 2006 after going 9-7 in league play and 25-26 overall. The Mountaineers and Red Flash split in Maryland this season losing 9-1 and winning 10-7. The Mount was one of three teams to hit better than .300 in league play, hitting at a .314 clip, good for third in the league. They were also one of three teams to have a sub-3.00 team era in NEC play, checking in at 2.97, also third in the league.
 
Offensively, it's another balanced offensive attack, six players hit better than .300 on the season. Shelbee Holcomb led the way with a .379 average while Lindsay Heinze led the team with 10 homers and Morgan Alisauckas drove in a team-best 40 runs.
 
In the circle, Amanda Berkley led the way, going 8-3 in the NEC with a 2.29 earned run average. Katie Olson also saw action in nine games with four starts, providing 34 innings with a solid 3.29 era.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
The Northeast Conference will stream the entire tournament on NEC Front Row. Joe Visale and Craig D'Amico will provide the play-by-play and color commentary. LIU will also have live stats for all games. You can also follow the Red Flash on Twitter @RedFlashSB for in-game graphics and updates.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
It is a double elimination tournament, so all four teams will be in action on Friday regardless of Thursday's results. The winners of Thursday's games will meet in the first game on Friday, with first pitch at 11 a.m. The losers of Thursday's games will meet in the second game of the day on Friday with first pitch at 2:30 p.m.