LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis softball team (29-8, 14-2 NEC) is scheduled to host a makeup series with Central Connecticut (22-9, 20-4 NEC) on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday's doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. while Thursday's doubleheader is scheduled for noon. Thursday will also serve as senior day.
 

The Matchup: Saint Francis (29-8, 14-2 NEC) vs. Central Connecticut (22-9, 20-4 NEC)
Location: Red Flash Softball Field (Loretto, Pa.)
Date and Time: Wednesday and Thursday at noon (both doubleheaders)
Live Stats: sfuathletics.com
NEC Front Row: Saint Francis
 
SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS
Central Connecticut enters the series with a 22-9 overall record and a 20-4 record in NEC games. CCSU began conference play 16-0 before dropping the series at LIU to end the April schedule. Last weekend, the Blue Devils swept the series against Wagner, winning two of the four games in just five innings.

This season, senior infielder Kaitlin Paterson leads the CCSU offense in batting average (.429), walks (21) and on-base percentage (.544), while freshman infielder/outfielder Paige Stringer leads the team in home runs (11), RBI (34), total bases (72) and slugging percentage (.837). Her 11 home runs are a single-season program record. Freshman pitcher Kate Houghton leads the Central Connecticut pitching staff in ERA (2.79), though all five pitchers on staff have pitched at least 30 innings this season.

SERIES WITH THE BLUE DEVILS
Saint Francis leads 23-19-1 in the all-time series against Central Connecticut. The teams most recently met in 2019 when the Red Flash swept the doubleheader. SFU won the first game by a 12-6 margin as the Red Flash rallied after trailing 6-0 heading into the fifth inning and 6-3 entering the seventh. Mekenzie Saban and Jordan Frank each scored twice as Saban also tallied a multi-hit game. Christina Clark came into the game as relief and earned the win by giving up no runs. Saint Francis also scored 12 runs in the second game, allowing only one run, as the Red Flash scored three runs in the top of the first and never looked back. Saban had another multi-hit game in addition to scoring three runs.

SENIOR DAY
On Thursday, prior to the start of the first game of the day, Saint Francis will honor its two graduating seniors – Brittney Crawford and Tayven Rousseau. They've played on two NEC Championship teams in 2018 and 2019 and the subsequent NCAA Regionals. Crawford and Rousseau are each enjoying career seasons at the plate and have eclipsed 100 games in a Red Flash uniform.

Saint Francis will also honor Mikayla Focht before Thursday's doubleheader. Mikayla was a resident of nearby Duncansville and was committed to Saint Francis Softball before passing away in a tragic accident during her senior season of high school. Mikayla was a slugging shortstop for Hollidaysburg Area High School and was also selected to play in the World Cup of Softball held in the Netherlands.

LAST TIME OUT
Saint Francis last played a road series at Mount St. Mary's on April 13 and 14, going 3-1 to win the series at Mount St. Mary's and improve to 14-2 in NEC play. The Red Flash opened the series on April 13 with a 5-0 shutout, opening the game with a run in the first and capping scoring with a Saban home run in the seventh. Grace Vesco earned her 10^th shutout and 15^th win of the season. SFU held off MSM to win the second game by a 4-3 margin. Lauren Aubry drew a bases-loaded walk in the third that would prove to be the game-deciding run as Rachel Marsden picked up her 11^th win of the season and Vesco recorded the save.

On Wednesday, April 14, the Mount earned a 6-5 victory after Saint Francis scored the first five runs of the game, despite the Red Flash totaling 10 hits. SFU secured the series win with a 6-0 shutout in eight innings after the game was scoreless through seven. Crawford began the scoring with a bases-loaded RBI single while Marsden pitched the complete game, allowing just two hits, for her third shutout of the season.

As a team, the Red Flash pitching staff ranks fourth in the nation in ERA (1.29), is tied for 15^th in shutouts (14) and ranks 24^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.45). The Saint Francis offense ranks 27^th in the country in on-base percentage (.398), 29^th in scoring (5.89), 41^st in batting average (.302) and 49^th in stolen bases per game (1.59). The team is tied for 22^nd in winning percentage (.784).

Individually, Saban is tied for fifth in the country in doubles (16), 12^th in doubles per game (.43), 23^rd in runs per game (1.08) and is tied for 32^nd in hits (56). Vesco is tied for fifth in the nation in shutouts (10), ranks 10^th in hits allowed per seven innings (3.36), 15^th in ERA (1.04) and tied for 39^th in wins (15). Marsden is 27^th in the country in ERA (1.24) and 36^th in walks allowed per seven innings (1.17).
 
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To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit francis.edu.