LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University softball prepares to host second-place Sacred Heart in a crucial series between the top two programs in the Northeast Conference standings April 13-14. Saturday marks Saint Francis' sexual assault awareness games and fans can join the team in support by wearing teal.
 
Saint Francis Quick Hits
» Grace Vesco became the 23rd active pitcher in the NCAA Division I to top 700 career strikeouts after her performances against Central Connecticut. She is 41st in the country with 115 strikeouts this season that ranks second in the NEC. She paces the conference with a 1.59 ERA and holds a 0.85 ERA through 41.1 innings pitched in conference play. 
» Kaylie Walters moved up to a second-place tie in single-season program history with 21 steals. She is two shy of breaking Jordan Seneca's program record of 22 set in 2017. Walters is tied for 17th in Division I in steals and is 25th in the country with 28 walks. Her .459 on-base percentage is third in the NEC.
» After another NEC Player of the Week selection, Olivia Ulam paces the NEC with 27 runs scored, 41 total hits, 15 doubles and 34 RBIs. She is tied for ninth in the country in doubles.
» Ashley Orischak has a home run in back-to-back conference series and also leads the NEC with a .511 on-base percentage. She leads the Red Flash with a .348 batting average and she is fifth in Division I with being hit by 15 pitches.
» As a team this season, Saint Francis leads the NEC with a .291 batting average and a 2.20 pitching staff ERA. The Red Flash are tied for 21st in Division I with 1.89 stolen bases per game.
 
Last Time Out
Saint Francis took a series sweep over Central Connecticut on the road. The series started with a 6-1 Red Flash victory behind a four-run first inning. Vesco threw a season-high 10 strikeouts and allowed one unearned run on just two hits in the complete game effort. Saint Francis followed the performance with a 2-0 shutout victory in game two. Rachel Marsden pitched a complete seven innings and allowed three hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. The Red Flash concluded the series with a dominant 16-1 victory in five innings. Saint Francis scored 11 runs and brought 15 batters to the plate in the first inning of the game. During the bottom half of the first, Vesco achieved her 700th collegiate strikeout in her only inning of work. Allie Braly pitched the final four innings of the game to earn her first collegiate victory. Head coach Beth Krysiak also earned her 100th victory at a collegiate coach – 75 at Division III member University of Dallas and 25 with Saint Francis.
 
Scouting Sacred Heart
The Pioneers hold a 17-19 overall and 9-2 conference record this season. Sacred Heart heads into the weekend second in the NEC standings. The Pioneers have conference series sweeps of Stonehill and Wagner, a 2-1 series win over Merrimack and split two games against FDU. The program is led by Carly Koltko's .343 batting average and five home runs, while her 21 RBIs rank second on the team. Cierra Bender adds a .340 batting average with a team-high nine doubles and 24 RBIs. Emily Heath leads the Pioneers on the mound with a 2.60 ERA and adds 62 strikeouts in 99.2 innings pitched. Sam Kowalski has a 2.89 ERA with a team-high 10 wins and 92 strikeouts in 104.0 innings pitched.
 
All-Time vs. Sacred Heart
Saint Francis owns a 29-18 all-time record over Sacred Heart since the first meeting in 2000 – an 8-0 Red Flash victory. Sacred Heart swept Saint Francis last season and outscored the Red Flash 23-10 in the three-game series. The losses snapped a five-game Saint Francis winning streak in the matchup history. Prior to last year's sweep, Saint Francis won 12-of-14 meetings between 2016-22.
 
Around the NEC
Saint Francis (12-0) took a series sweep over Central Connecticut (5-7) to remain undefeated in conference play. Sacred Heart (9-2) took the series win over Merrimack (8-4) with both Pioneers' victories in extra innings. LIU (8-4) swept FDU (3-7) and allowed just one run in the series. Wagner (2-7) earned a series win over Stonehill (2-13) for its first two conference wins in 2024. Merrimack defeated Stonehill 9-1 on April 9 as a make-up game. FDU and Le Moyne (3-8) split a made-up doubleheader on April 10. As the conference season continues, Sacred Heart visits Saint Francis, Stonehill visits Le Moyne, FDU visits Merrimack and Central Connecticut visits Wagner.

Next
Saint Francis starts a streak of seven straight road games in its trip to FDU April 20-21.