LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis softball team (19-6, 4-0 NEC) travels to Merrimack on Thursday and Friday for its first Northeast Conference road series of the season. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 11 a.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.
 

The Matchup: Saint Francis (19-6, 4-0 NEC) at Merrimack (6-8, 4-2 NEC)
Location: Martone-Mejail Field (North Andover, Mass.)
Date and Time: Friday at 11 a.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. (both doubleheaders)
Live Stats: merrimackathletics.com
NEC Front Row: Friday | Saturday
 
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Merrimack enters the series with a 6-8 overall record and a 4-2 record in NEC games after being selected to finish ninth in the NEC coaches' preseason poll. In its first conference series of the season, the Warriors split with Wagner before going on to sweep its doubleheader against Sacred Heart last weekend. Merrimack earned the 5-0 shutout in game one before winning game two by a 3-1 margin.

This season, sophomore utility player Courtney Lanpher leads the Merrimack starters on offense in batting average (.243), hits (9), doubles (2), walks (5) and on-base percentage (.349). Sophomore pitcher Katelyn Thompson leads the five-pitcher staff in ERA (2.84), appearances (7), saves (1) and opponents' batting average (.162) as she also totals 15 strikeouts through 19.0 innings of work.

SERIES WITH THE WARRIORS
This is the first-ever meeting between Saint Francis and Merrimack.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Red Flash started Northeast Conference play with its first home games of the year as SFU shut out Wagner in all four games last weekend. Saint Francis won the first game by a 3-0 margin, scoring all three of its runs in the third inning on a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly as Grace Vesco pitched the shutout. The Red Flash took the second game by a 1-0 margin as Brittney Crawford's home run in the fifth was the difference. Rachel Marsden earned the shutout in the circle for Saint Francis.

On Sunday, the SFU offense came alive to win both games in five innings. In the first game, Saint Francis scored five runs in the first inning to grab the early lead and added two runs in the second and three in the third to win by a 10-0 margin on 11 hits. Vesco earned her second shutout of the weekend. In the second game, the Red Flash earned a 17-0 victory with 15 hits. SFU scored two runs in the first, eight in the third and seven in the fourth as Christina Clark earned the shutout.

This season, the Saint Francis pitching staff ranks sixth in the nation in ERA (1.29), tied for 12^th in shutouts (9) and 29^th in strikeout/walk ratio (3.44). The SFU offense ranks 32^nd in on-base percentage (.401), 39^th in scoring (6.00 runs/game) and 50^th in the country in batting average (.302). The Red Flash is 40^th in the country in win-loss percentage (.760).

Individually, Vesco ranks second in the country in shutouts (7), tied for 10^th in wins (11), 13^th in hits allowed per seven innings (3.12), 20^th in ERA (0.90), tied for 26^th in strikeouts (97). On the offensive side, Mekenzie Saban is tied for sixth in doubles (10), Lindsay Ward is tied for fourth in hit-by-pitches per game (.50), Saban is tied for 47^th in runs per game (1.12) and tied for 49^th in hits (33).

Earlier this week, Lexi Hernandez was named NEC Co-Player and Co-Rookie of the Week. Vesco was named NEC Pitcher of the Week. Marsden joined Hernandez and Vesco as NEC Prime Performers. Vesco was also named an NFCA Top Performer.
 
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To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit francis.edu.