LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University softball hosts Central Connecticut in its final home conference series of the season April 21-22. Saturday, April 22 marks Saint Francis' Senior Day and the Red Flash will honor Madeline Barnes, Emily Nunez and Jordan Pietrzykoski.  
 
Saint Francis Quick Hits
» Pietrzykoski is seventh in the Northeast Conference with a .344 batting average and leads the conference with three triples. She is also top 10 with 23 runs scored, seven doubles and nine stolen bases. She has 14 multi-hit games this season, which is six more than any other Red Flash player.
» Rachel Marsden continues to lead Saint Francis with six home runs and 21 RBIs and both marks are top five in the NEC. On the mound she is top six with a 2.77 ERA and 106 strikeouts.
» Grace Vesco remains tied for the program record with 52-career wins and sits 24 strikeouts shy of the record with 551. Her 150 strikeouts rank tied for 27th in the NCAA Division I and are 37 more than any other pitcher in the NEC.

Last Time Out
Saint Francis dropped all-three games at Sacred Heart by a combined 23-10 margin. The Red Flash opened a 4-0 lead in the second inning of game one before Sacred Heart scored 11 unanswered runs across the next four innings to earn an 11-6 victory. In game two Saint Francis led 2-0 in the third inning before the Pioneers scored seven runs in two innings and earned a 7-4 win. In game three, Sacred Heart scored the first run in the fourth inning before five unanswered to clinch its series sweep.
 
Scouting Central Connecticut
The Blue Devils enter the series with a 17-12 overall and 10-5 conference record this season and has won four of its last six games. This season comes in the wake of an 8-41 overall and 4-20 conference record in 2022. Paige Stringer is fourth in the NEC with a .375 batting average and Ava Cino is ninth with a .326 mark. Kim Howard leads the team with five home runs and 20 RBIs, both top 10 in the NEC, while Stringer adds four home runs and 17 RBIs. On the mound, Central Connecticut is led by Kaylee Whittaker's 2.95 ERA, 88 strikeouts and .209 batting average against in a conference second-best 151.2 innings pitched.
 
All-Time vs. Central Connecticut
The Red Flash hold a 31-19-1 all-time advantage over the Blue Devils since the first meeting in 1991. Saint Francis has defeated Central Connecticut 15 straight times dating back to 2016, which included three run-rule victories. In last season's 2-0 victory, Vesco recorded a 13-strikeout no-hitter – the fourth of her career at the time. In the first game last season, a 13-2 five-inning win, Olivia Ulam hit the first home run of her collegiate career.
 
Around the NEC
LIU claimed the top spot in the NEC with two weekends remaining after a sweep of Stonehill to improve to 11-4. After being swept by Sacred Heart, Saint Francis fell to 10-5 and the Pioneers improved to 8-7. Central Connecticut took two out of three games against Fairleigh Dickinson to improve to 10-5, while the Knights fell to 6-9. Merrimack took two out of three from Wagner to improve to 9-6 and drop the Seahawks to 6-9. Saint Francis hosts Central Connecticut and LIU hosts Merrimack in two crucial NEC series. Sacred Heart visits Wagner and Fairleigh Dickinson travels to Stonehill to round out NEC play.  

Next
Saint Francis is scheduled to host Bucknell for a doubleheader on April 25 at 1 p.m., which will mark the final home and non-conference games of the regular season.