LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University softball opens the 2024 conference season March 16-17 against Le Moyne at home. The series begins on Saturday with a doubleheader at 1 p.m.
 
Saint Francis Quick Hits
» Savannah Nash leads Saint Francis into conference play with an NEC-high 17 RBIs and adds a .338 batting average.
» Grace Vesco ranks second in the conference with a 2.04 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 68.2 innings pitched. She paces the league with a .152 batting average against that is .038 lower than any other NEC pitcher.
» Kaylie Walters is tied for fifth in Division I with 21 walks that are 10 higher than any other NEC player. She is tied for 24th in the country with 13 steals, which is nine shy of tying a single-season program record.
» Aliya Garroway heads into conference play as the reigning NEC Player and Rookie of the Week. She has a .353 batting average in limited at bats this season and is 5-for-6 (.833) in pinch-hit scenarios.
» Rachel Marsden is the reigning NEC Pitcher of the Week and is top-five in the conference in ERA (2.49), wins (seven), innings pitched (70.1), strikeouts (53) and batting average against (.213).
» Olivia Ulam leads the team with nine doubles, is tied for the lead with 16 runs scored and two home runs and is second with 16 RBIs.
 
Last Time Out
Saint Francis went 1-3 at the Razorback Rumble hosted by Arkansas with every game settled by three runs or less. The weekend started with a 7-6 loss to Nebraska after the Huskers scored three runs in the seventh. Saint Francis scored four in the top half of the seventh before Nebraska walked it off in the bottom half. Saint Francis was in a scoreless tie in the third inning against No. 18 Arkansas later in the day before the game was canceled due to rain. On Saturday, Saint Francis started the day with a 6-3 win over Nebraska in extra innings. The Red Flash scored two runs in the sixth and four runs in the eighth to complete its comeback. A 6-4 loss to Northern Iowa followed later in the day after Saint Francis' comeback effort fell short. The Red Flash were down 5-0 in the sixth and scored four runs in the final two innings. Saint Francis has runners on second and third in the seventh inning before a groundout ended the game. The weekend concluded in a 2-0 loss to South Alabama on Sunday. Saint Francis loaded the bases in the fifth inning before the frame ended on a Sydney Baker flyout to the warning track. All-five Red Flash opponents during the weekend ranked top-70 in Division I RPI.
 
Scouting Le Moyne
The Dolphins started their first Division I season with a 6-12 record in its first month and are on a current four-game winning streak. Le Moyne earned victories over Delaware State, Lafayette, Norfolk State and St. Bonaventure. Four of Le Moyne's 12 losses were by run rule. Alyssa Dybacz leads the program with a .429 batting average, five doubles, four home runs and 16 RBIs. Her home runs and RBIs are both top-five in the NEC. Frankie Larobardiere (.408) and Aubrey Benderski (.404) also hit over .400 for the Dolphins. Larobardiere adds four home runs and 11 RBIs, while Benderski has two home runs and nine RBIs. Laura Bennett leads the pitching staff with a 4.50 ERA, three wins and 49 strikeouts in 51.1 innings pitched. Le Moyne has an NEC-high .291 team batting average and an NEC-low 6.12 combined ERA.
 
All-Time vs. Le Moyne
Saint Francis and Le Moyne will meet for the first time in program history after the Dolphins reclassified to Division I this past summer. The last Northeast Conference program to reclassify to Division I, Stonehill, dropped all-three games to the Red Flash last season by a combined 35-1 scoring margin.
 
Around the NEC
During the first month of the season, only Central Connecticut (10-3) and Saint Francis (13-11) held a record above .500. LIU (11-11) sat at .500, while FDU (8-9) followed behind one game below .500. Conference opening weekend features LIU hosting Stonehill, Saint Francis hosting Le Moyne, Sacred Heart hosting Wagner and Central Connecticut hosting FDU. Merrimack will face Brown in a Saturday doubleheader in non-conference action.

Next
Saint Francis travels to Bucknell on Wednesday, March 20 for a non-conference doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.