LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University softball is set to concludes its home and non-conference portion of the regular season on Tuesday, April 25 at 1 p.m. for a doubleheader against Bucknell.
 
Saint Francis Quick Hits
» Grace Vesco set a new career program record with 53 wins after a victory over Central Connecticut. She also stands four strikeouts shy of breaking Laura Caldwell's 14-year strikeouts record of 575. With 171 strikeouts this season, Vesco ranks 20th in the NCAA Division I and fourth in single-season program history.
» Jordan Pietrzykoski paces the Red Flash with a .356 batting average and is the only player above .300. She also leads the team with 23 runs scored, three triples, 11 walks, 12 stolen bases and a .410 on-base percentage.
» Rachel Marsden continues to climb the career wins leaderboard with the 44th of her career, which is tied for fourth in program history. She also eclipsed 400-career strikeouts and with 402 she is 13 shy of fifth in program history. She leads the 2023 team with a 2.59 ERA on the mound and six home runs and 21 RBIs at the plate.

Last Time Out
Saint Francis took a 2-1 series victory in a low-scoring series against Central Connecticut. The Blue Devils won game one 2-1 before the Red Flash took game two 2-1 and game three 2-0. In game one, Vesco had a 13-strikeout performance to mark her fourth double-digit strikeout game in her career. She fell one strikeout shy of her career-high and tied her career-high in a seven-inning game. Game three was scoreless until a two-run single from Pietrzykoski in the sixth inning. During the game, Ashley Orischak recorded her first two hits of the season and scored the game-deciding run. The series victory kept Saint Francis in a first-place tie with LIU at 12-6 atop the Northeast Conference standings.
 
Scouting Bucknell
The Bison enter Tuesday's doubleheader with a 13-26 overall and 5-10 record in the Patriot League. Bucknell is on a current three-game winning streak after losing 10 of its 11 games prior to the run. Zoie Smith leads the team with a .376 batting average, 19 runs scored, 13 doubles and is second with 19 RBIs. Chase Knapp is the only Bison player with multiple home runs and Savannah Jones leads the team with 21 RBIs. The pitching staff is led by Madison Rouley's 2.48 ERA, six wins, four complete games and three shutouts in 65 innings pitched. Olivia Marinelli leads Bucknell with 51 strikeouts in just 41 innings pitched.
 
All-Time vs. Bucknell
Saint Francis is 17-31 all-time against Bucknell and has won three games in a row. The Red Flash previously defeated the Bison 5-2 this season on Feb. 24 in Greenville, N.C. Olivia Ulam and Ashley Wruble both hit first-inning home runs, while Marsden added one in the third inning. Bucknell's Smith hit her only home run of the season in the game. Prior to this season's victory, Saint Francis won seven of the previous nine meetings between the programs since 2016.

Next
Saint Francis concludes the regular season with a crucial three-game series at Merrimack April 29-30.