LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University softball prepares for its first away series at Stonehill on March 21-22. The games were moved up two days due to inclement weather in the Massachusetts forecast over the weekend.
 
Saint Francis Quick Hits
» Olivia Ulam was named the Northeast Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season on March 20. She leads the NEC with 20 runs scored, 11 doubles and is tied for the lead with 20 RBIs. Her 11 doubles rank tied for 10th in NCAA Division I.
» Ashley Orischak leads Saint Francis with a .346 batting average and she ranks second in the NEC with a .500 on-base percentage.
» Grace Vesco ranks third in the NEC with a 1.95 ERA and is second with 83 strikeouts. She ranks 12th in the country with 3.64 hits allowed per seven innings.
» Rachel Marsden paces the NEC with eight wins and is top-10 with a 2.51 ERA and 56 strikeouts.
» Saint Francis owns five of the top six individual runs scored leaders in the NEC and has scored 25 more runs than any other conference program.
 
Last Time Out
Saint Francis took a series sweep over Le Moyne to start conference play. The first game went to extra innings after a Le Moyne two-run rally in the seventh inning before Madelyn Wilson hit a walk-off solo home run in the eighth. The Red Flash followed in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader with an 11-3 run-rule victory in five innings. The weekend concluded with an 8-0 win on Sunday in six innings behind back-to-back three-run performances in the fifth and sixth frames. During the weekend, Orischak went 5-for-5 and was hit by two pitches to reach base in all-seven of her plate appearances. Nine different players recorded at least two hits during the three-game series.
 
Scouting Stonehill
The Skyhawks carry a 4-11 overall and 1-2 conference record as of March 20. Stonehill is scheduled to play a doubleheader at Providence on Wednesday starting at 3 p.m. Stonehill lost its first two conference games to LIU and then defeated the reigning NEC Champions 4-3 in 10 innings. Natalie Bottiglieri leads qualified Skyhawks' hitters with a .302 batting average and eight runs scored. Shannon Conte paces the program with two doubles, one triple, one home run and eight RBIs. Skylar Brandemarte leads Stonehill with a 4.24 ERA in 36.1 innings pitched, followed by Alexa Hospodar's 4.40 ERA in 35.0 innings pitched. The Stonehill pitching staff carries a combined ERA of 5.69. The Skyhawks are in their second season of reclassification to the NCAA Division I level.
 
All-Time vs. Stonehill
Saint Francis hosted Stonehill March 20-21, 2023 in the first series between the programs in history. The Red Flash took all-three games by run-rule and outscored the Skyhawks by a combined 35-1. The most recent game ended in a 16-0 Red Flash victory.
 
Around the NEC
Saint Francis took a 3-0 record after a conference-opening sweep of Le Moyne. Sacred Heart also earned a 3-0 record over the weekend with three victories over Wagner. Central Connecticut started conference play 2-1 after a series victory over FDU. LIU also took a 2-1 record in a series win over Stonehill. Merrimack was the only NEC team not in conference action on opening weekend. In week two conference action, Le Moyne visits Merrimack, Saint Francis visits Stonehill, Sacred Heart visits FDU and LIU visits Central Connecticut.

Next
Saint Francis heads back home for a crucial series against LIU March 29-30.