LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University softball heads to FDU for a three-game series April 20-21 and will look to improve its Northeast Conference-leading 15-0 record.
 
Saint Francis Quick Hits
» Kaylie Walters set a new single-season program record with 24 steals through the first 39 games. Walters leads NCAA Division I freshmen with 0.79 walks per game and her steals are tied for the lead among first-year players.
» Olivia Ulam leads the NEC with 31 runs scored, 47 hits, 15 doubles, 39 RBIs and is tied for third in the conference with six home runs. She is one of 66 players in the country to record at least one RBI per game. Ulam is NEC Player of the Week in four of the first five weeks of the conference season.
» Ashley Orischak is tied for second in the NEC with a Saint Francis high .373 batting average and paces in the conference with a .529 on-base percentage. She has one home run in three straight conference series – her first in the stretch was the first of her collegiate career. 
» Grace Vesco leads the NEC with a 1.47 ERA and is second with 124 strikeouts. She has allowed one or fewer runs in her last eight appearances (42.1 innings) and lowered her conference ERA to 0.70.
» Saint Francis ranks 23rd in Division I with 74 stolen bases, which is already second in single-season program history. The program record is 108 stolen bases in 2017.
 
Last Time Out
Saint Francis continued its streak of undefeated conference play with a series sweep of Sacred Heart. The series started with a 9-0 Red Flash win after Saint Francis scored seven runs in the fourth inning. Eight of Saint Francis' nine runs scored came via home runs. In game two, Sacred Heart opened a 6-1 lead in the fourth inning before Saint Francis scored nine unanswered runs to earn a 10-6 victory. All-nine of Saint Francis' runs during the comeback effort came via home runs, led by three-run shots from Ashley Wruble and Savannah Nash. Saint Francis ended the series with an 8-0 win in five innings after four runs were scored in the third and fifth innings. Annabelle Farmer walked the game off with a single that drove one run and another scored on the play after a Sacred Heart error.
 
Scouting FDU
The Knights enter this weekend's series with a 5-10 conference and 16-22 overall record. FDU is on a current five-game losing streak and has dropped nine of its last 12 games. The Knights' offense is led by Ayden Stone's .345 batting average, four home runs and 14 RBIs. Megan Berg adds a team-high 14 runs scored and is top-three on the team with four doubles, one triple, two home runs and eight RBIs. Only five FDU qualified hitters are batting over .200 this season. The pitching staff is led by freshman Brooklyn Shroyer, who was named NCAA National Freshman of the Week on April 15. She has a 1.51 ERA with a conference-high 189 strikeouts, that rank second in the NCAA Division I, in 134.1 innings pitched.
 
All-Time vs. FDU
Saint Francis holds a 30-18 all-time advantage over FDU and the Red Flash are on a current four-game winning streak. The Red Flash have won 15 of the last 17 meetings dating back to 2016. Both of FDU's wins during that stretch came in a 2022 series win for the Knights. The programs first met back in 2001.
 
Around the NEC
Saint Francis (15-0) continued its dominant start to the conference season with its fifth straight sweep, this time against then-second-place Sacred Heart (10-5). Merrimack (8-4) took a series victory 2-1 over FDU (5-10) to sit in a three-way tie for second place with Sacred Heart and LIU (8-4) with a .667 conference winning percentage. FDU also lost a midweek game to Sacred Heart 2-1 on April 16. Central Connecticut (8-7) earned a series sweep of Wagner (2-10). Le Moyne (3-9) and Stonehill (2-13) had its series last week postponed. This weekend, Wagner visits Le Moyne, Sacred Heart visits LIU, Saint Francis visits FDU and Merrimack visits Central Connecticut.

Next
Saint Francis has a midweek matchup at Penn State on Tuesday, April 23 at 6 p.m.