LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University softball has its final three-game series of the season at Merrimack with a doubleheader on Friday, April 28 at 12 p.m. and one game on Saturday, April 29 at 10 a.m. Both teams are currently top-four in the Northeast Conference and separated by one game.
 
Saint Francis Quick Hits
» Grace Vesco set a new program record with her 576th-career strikeout, which came one game after she also set the career wins record. Her 175 strikeouts this season rank 19th in the NCAA Division I and leads the NEC by 58 over teammate Rachel Marsden. Vesco's .179 batting average against leads the conference and her 2.60 ERA is fifth.
» Jordan Pietrzykoski ranks second in the NEC with a .360 batting average and leads the conference with 50 total hits and three triples. She also ranks tied for second with 12 stolen bases and tied for sixth with 24 runs scored.
» After a historic 18-hit performance against Bucknell, Saint Francis raised its team batting average to .261 and is tied for the conference lead. The Red Flash also lead the conference with 9 triples – five more than any other team in the conference.  

Last Time Out
Saint Francis took a doubleheader sweep of Bucknell and won all-three games against the Bison this season. In a 1-0 game one victory, Vesco recorded four strikeouts and set a new program record with 576 in her career. Bucknell loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh inning but Vesco recorded the final out for her 22nd career shutout. In a 13-4 five-inning run-rule victory in game two, Saint Francis recorded 18 hits – tied for the most in a single game over the last decade. Seven different players recorded multiple hits, led by 3-for-3 efforts from Sydney Baker and Lexi Hernandez. Five players drove in at least two runs and five players scored two runs. During the game, Pietrzykoski achieved the 150th hit of her Saint Francis career and the victory for Marsden moved her tied for third in program history with 45 in her career.
 
Scouting Merrimack
The Warriors enter the final weekend with a 15-25 overall and 11-7 conference record. In its most recent conference games against LIU, Merrimack took a critical 2-1 series victory. Ellen Hubbard leads the NEC with a .414 batting average, which is 54 points higher than any other player. She adds a team-high 31 runs scored, 23 walks and a .514 on-base percentage. Courtney Lanpher is the only other Merrimack hitter over .300 with her .352 batting average and adds 26 runs scored, 10 doubles, six home runs and 18 RBIs. Bry Michitson leads the pitching staff with a 3.53 ERA, 11 wins, 13 complete games and 83 strikeouts in 127.1 innings pitched. Madie Fornwalt is second on the team with a 6.48 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 75 innings pitched.
 
All-Time vs. Merrimack
Saint Francis is a perfect 7-0 over Merrimack since the Warriors reclassified to Division I in 2019. All-seven games were played in the 2021-22 seasons. Saint Francis has two run-rule victories and one shutout win in the seven games played. Four of the seven games were decided by three or fewer runs.
 
Around the NEC
After a 2-1 series victory over Central Connecticut, Saint Francis improved to 12-6 in the conference and the Blue Devils fell to 11-7. LIU dropped two of its three games against Merrimack that dropped the Sharks to 12-6 and improved the Warriors to 11-7. Wagner earned a series sweep of Sacred Heart and improved to 9-9, while the Pioneers fell to 8-10. Stonehill took a 2-1 series victory over Fairleigh Dickinson, which marked its first two wins in conference history. Saint Francis travels to Merrimack, LIU travels to Sacred Heart, Wagner travels to Fairleigh Dickinson and Stonehill travels to Central Connecticut in the final weekend of NEC regular season action.
 
What's At Stake
Saint Francis controls its own destiny atop the NEC standings seeking the rights to host the postseason tournament. The Red Flash hold the tiebreaker against LIU (12-6) and Central Connecticut (11-7) after 2-1 series victories over both programs this season. LIU controlled its own destiny before its series loss to Merrimack (11-7), who also has a chance at the No. 1 spot. Wagner (9-9) has a chance at an NEC postseason spot with a sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson and one of Central Connecticut or Merrimack being swept.

Next
Saint Francis looks ahead to the NEC Tournament with the location and opponent to be determined at the conclusion of this weekend's games.