LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis softball team (9-4) travels to Boiling Springs, North Carolina this weekend to face Gardner-Webb and Toledo twice each. The Red Flash is scheduled to play Toledo at 11 a.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. on Sunday. Saint Francis will face the host team, Gardner-Webb, at 3 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday.
 

The Matchup: Saint Francis (9-4) vs. Toledo (6-5)
Location: Brinkley Stadium (Boiling Springs, N.C.)
Date and Time: Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m.
Live Stats: Saturday | Sunday

SCOUTING THE ROCKETS
Toledo enters the weekend with a 6-5 record after going 3-3 at The Spring Games last weekend. The Rockets earned victories against Stetson (6-3), North Dakota (5-4) and South Dakota (8-0, five innings) and dropped games against Middle Tennessee (10-2), Florida Gulf Coast (9-1, five innings) and New Mexico State (4-2, eight innings). The Rockets are scheduled to play Gardner-Webb on Friday at 4 p.m.

This season, ­­­­­sophomore infielder Riley Mohr leads the Toledo offense in batting average (.600) and on-base percentage (.692), though she's only appeared in half of the games. Senior infielder Dayna Denner has been the Rockets' power-hitter, with seven of her team-leading 12 hits going for extra bases.

Sophomore pitcher McKenna Schmidt leads the pitching staff in ERA (0.70) and is a perfect 2-0 with a shutout. Senior Erin Hunt has pitched the majority of the innings for the Rockets, completing all six games she's started for a 4-2 record and 2.12 ERA over 43.0 innings of work. Hunt has recorded 55 strikeouts.

SERIES WITH THE ROCKETS
Saint Francis leads the all-time series with Toledo 3-2. The teams most recently played in 2019, each taking one game that season. On March 16, Saint Francis won by a 9-7 margin, using a six-run fourth inning and holding off the Rockets' response. Jordan Frank went 2-of-3 with three RBI, a home run, two runs and a walk, bringing it the runs that would decide the game with her two-run shot.
 

The Matchup: Saint Francis (9-4) at Gardner-Webb (0-4)
Location: Brinkley Stadium (Boiling Springs, N.C.)
Date and Time: Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at noon
Live Stats: Saturday | Sunday

SCOUTING THE RUNNIN' BULLDOGS
Gardner-Webb looks for its first win of the season, entering the weekend at 0-4 after losing all four games in the series with NC State. The Runnin' Bulldogs are slated to face Toledo twice before playing Saint Francis.

This season, senior utility player Weslyn Almond leads the Gardner-Webb offense in batting average (.417), at-bats (12), runs (1), hits (5), total bases (5), slugging percentage (.417), on-base percentage (.462) and stolen bases (2).

Redshirt senior pitcher/infielder Brooke Perry has pitched the majority of the innings for Gardner-Webb so far this season, coming into the weekend with a 6.46 ERA through 13.0 innings pitched with 15 strikeouts.

SERIES WITH THE RUNNIN' BULLDOGS
Each team has won one meeting in the all-time series. Gardner-Webb won the 2019 game by a narrow 2-1 margin while Saint Francis earned the 6-0 shutout in the program's first meeting in 2002. In 2019, Mekenzie Saban scored the lone run for the Red Flash after leading-off the inning with a double.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Saint Francis won its first game of the Thundering Herd Round Robin last weekend, shutting out Bowling Green 1-0, to improve to a 9-1 record and the best start in program history. Grace Vesco threw her second no-hitter of the season and added nine strikeouts while Lexi Hernandez drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth with two outs and two on base. The Red Flash fell by a narrow 2-0 margin against Marshall on Saturday before losing 4-3 to Valpo and 2-1 to Marshall on Sunday.

Vesco was named NEC Pitcher of the Week for her efforts at the Thundering Herd Round Robin. She was also named an NFCA Top Performer for the third-straight week. Lindsay Ward was named an NEC Prime Performer for the second-straight week.

The Saint Francis pitching staff ranks 26^th in the country in ERA (1.71), 30^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.68) and is tied for 41^st with three shutouts. Vesco is tied for fourth in the country with three shutouts, ranks 12^th in hits allowed per seven innings, allowing an average of 2.57, tied for 16^th in wins (6) and tied for 34^th in strikeouts (53). Saban is tied for 13^th in the country with six doubles.
 
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To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit francis.edu.