LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis softball team (40-8, 22-2 NEC) travels to Austin, Texas for the 2021 NCAA Tournament Regionals this weekend after winning the NEC Tournament Championship on Saturday. The Red Flash plays the 12-seed, Texas, on Friday at 5 p.m. ET.
 

The Event: 2021 NCAA Regionals
Location: Red & Charline McCombs Field (Austin, Texas)
Bracket: NCAA Tournament
Live Stats: texassports.com
Live Stream (Friday): Longhorn Network
 
NO. 11 TEXAS LONGHORNS
Texas enters the NCAA Tournament with a 39-11 overall record and a 12-6 record in Big 12 play, finishing third in the conference. The Longhorns fell in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament to Texas Tech by a 5-1 mark after taking one of two games in pool play to begin the tournament. Texas earned a 7-4 win against Iowa State while falling to Oklahoma State 3-2 in nine innings. During the regular season, the Longhorns earned series sweeps against Texas Tech, Iowa State, Kansas and Baylor while being swept by Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

This season, junior infielder Janae Jefferson leads the Longhorns offense in batting average (.435), runs (45), hits (64) and stolen bases (13). Including Jefferson, Texas has 11 players batting at least .300 who've started in at least 20 games. Senior outfielder Shannon Rhodes and junior catcher/utility player Mary Iakopo tie for a team-leading 15 home runs apiece. Sophomore pitcher Shealyn O'Leary leads the Longhorns pitching staff in wins (13), appearances (29), starts (20), complete games (11), shutouts (5), saves (3), innings pitched (131.2) and strikeouts (101), while boasting a 1.86 ERA.

NO. 10 OREGON DUCKS
Oregon enters the NCAA Tournament with a 37-15 overall record and a 14-10 record in Pac 12 play, finishing third in the conference. The Ducks finished the regular season with a sweep at California this past weekend, marking the first series sweep since the conference-opener against Utah on March 19 and 20.

This season, senior outfielder Haley Cruse leads the Oregon offense in batting average (.382), runs (41), hits (63), doubles (14), triples (2), total bases (102), slugging percentage (.618), on-base percentage (.452) and stolen bases (19). Junior pitcher Brooke Yanez leads the Ducks pitching staff in wins (20), appearances (33), starts (27), complete games (12), shutouts (6), innings pitched (161.0), strikeouts (235) and opponents average (.177).

TEXAS STATE BOBCATS
Texas State enters the NCAA Tournament with a 38-12 overall record and a 17-6 Sun Belt record, finishing second in the league. The Bobcats fell to South Alabama by a 4-3 margin in eight innings in the Sun Belt Tournament as South Alabama moved onto the championship game. Texas State opened the Sun Belt Tournament with a 2-0 win against Georgia State before shutting out UTA by a 4-0 mark. The Bobcats fell to the eventual champions, Louisiana by a 4-3 margin, in the third of four tournament games. Texas State closed the regular season with a sweep against UTA, which marked the Bobcats' fifth conference sweep of the season.

This season, sophomore infielder Sara Vanderford led the Texas State offense in batting average (.410), at-bats (144), runs (36), hits (59), doubles (16), home runs (12), RBI (45), total bases (111), slugging percentage (.771) and on-base percentage (.451). Freshman pitcher Jessica Mullins leads the Bobcats pitching staff (among pitchers with more than three innings pitched) in ERA (1.59), wins (20), appearances (36), starts (23), complete games (8), shutouts (4), innings pitched (158.2), strikeouts (166) and opponents average (.216).

LAST TIME OUT
Saint Francis captured its fourth-consecutive NEC Tournament Championship on Saturday with a 12-4 win against LIU in five innings. The Red Flash offense got things going with nine runs in the second inning, all being scored with two outs. Rachel Marsden earned the victory in the circle while eight Red Flash batters recorded a hit. Tayven Rousseau hit two home runs and Allyn Bezjak hit one, while both totaled four RBI.

SFU opened the tournament with a 7-0 shutout against Sacred Heart, as Grace Vesco earned her 13^th shutout and third no-hitter of the season. Back-to-back home runs from Jordan Pietrzykoski and Bezjak sparked a five-run first inning for the Red Flash as it capped scoring with a two-run shot off the bat of Lexi Hernandez in the sixth. On Friday, Saint Francis beat Central Connecticut 2-1 to advance to the NEC Championship game. CCSU scored first but a sacrifice fly from Bezjak tied the game in the fifth and a walk-off single from Bezjak ended it in seven.

Vesco was named NEC Tournament MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Bezjak, Hernandez and Mekenzie Saban.

NCAA RANKINGS
The Red Flash pitching staff is tied for third in the nation in shutouts (19), while ranking fourth in ERA (1.30) and 12^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.83). The Saint Francis offense ranks 23^rd in on-base percentage (.398) and 27^th in both scoring (5.88) and batting average (.311). The team has the 10^th-best win percentage (.833).

Individually, Vesco is tied for the most shutouts in the country (13) and is ranked fourth in hits allowed per seven innings (2.93), fifth in ERA (0.82), is tied for 10^th in wins (22) and is tied for 27^th in strikeouts (193). Saban is tied for third in doubles (20), tied for sixth in hits (74), ranks seventh in doubles per game (.42), 15^th in batting average (.454) and 19^th in runs per game (1.08). Marsden ranks 24^th in walks allowed per seven innings (1.10), is tied for 29^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.50) and ranks 34^th in ERA (1.43).

RED FLASH IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
This is the Red Flash's fourth NCAA Tournament appearance, previously qualifying in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Saint Francis holds a 1-6 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament, earning the victory against New Mexico State by an 8-4 margin on the second day of the 2017 Tucson Regionals. The Red Flash traveled to Tucson again in 2018 before making the trip to Ann Arbor in 2019.
 
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To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit francis.edu.