LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University softball prepares for a matchup at Central Connecticut, who currently sits tied for fourth in the Northeast Conference standings, April 6-7.
 
Saint Francis Quick Hits
» Grace Vesco took home her second NEC pitcher of the Week honor this season after a 2-0 showing with a 1.08 ERA in 13.0 innings pitched against LIU. She is currently fifth in the NCAA Division I with 3.43 hits allowed per seven innings and is 36th with 103 strikeouts this season. She stands at 689 strikeouts in her collegiate career, which is 22nd among active Division I pitchers.
» Kaylie Walters earned her second NEC Rookie of the Week on April 2. She ranks 22nd in the NCAA Division I with 25 walks and 33rd with 17 stolen bases. Both of those marks pace the NEC. She is five steals away from tying the single-season program record.
» Olivia Ulam remains atop the NEC with 25 runs scored, 13 doubles and 28 RBIs. Her 13 doubles are tied for 13th in Division I.
» Lauren Aubry ranks second in the NEC among qualified players with a .364 batting average, while Ashley Orischak ranks 10th with a .337 mark. Orischak leads the conference with a .494 on-base percentage and is sixth in Division 12 with 12 hit by pitches.
» Through the first nine conference games, Red Flash players hitting in the 7-9 spots of the batting order have a combined .405 batting average.
 
Last Time Out
Saint Francis took a series sweep at home over then-second-place LIU March 29-30. The series started with a 4-1 victory after Orischak hit a three-run home run, the first home run of her collegiate career, in the second inning. Ashley Wruble followed with a solo home run, her first of the season, to account for the Red Flash runs. The second game of the doubleheader ended 6-4 after Saint Francis escaped a jam in the seventh inning. LIU had the bases loaded down two runs before Allie Braly produced the final two outs to earn her third save of the season. Saint Francis ended the series on Saturday with a 9-1 run-rule walk-off victory after a three-RBI game from Ulam. She hit the walk-off double in the sixth inning that drove home Walters. As a result of the sweep, Saint Francis started conference play 9-0 for the fourth time in program history.
 
Scouting Central Connecticut
The Blue Devils currently stand tied for fourth in the NEC with a 5-4 record during conference play and hold a 16-8 overall record. Central Connecticut swept its most recent series against Le Moyne after the Blue Devils were swept by LIU. The Blue Devils are led by Ava Cino's .417 batting average that sits atop the NEC. Cino is also top-10 in the conference with five home runs and 17 RBIs. Paige Stringer leads the NEC with eight home runs and ranks second with 26 RBIs. Kaylie Whittaker leads the pitching staff with a 2.85 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 81.0 innings pitched. Adrianna Green is second on the team with a 2.88 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched.
 
All-Time vs. Central Connecticut
Saint Francis owns a 34-20-1 record over Central Connecticut since the first meeting in 1991. Saint Francis saw a 15-game winning streak snap after a loss in the first meeting last season but won the remaining three between the teams in 2023. The Red Flash have won 18 of the last 19 games dating back to 2016. Prior to the recent Saint Francis success, Central Connecticut won 10-of-11 meeting between 2011-16. Seven of the last nine meeting between the programs from 2021-23 were settled by two or fewer runs.
 
Around the NEC
Saint Francis (9-0) took a big series sweep over LIU (5-4) to remain 1.5 games ahead of Sacred Heart (7-1), who swept Stonehill (1-9), for first place. Merrimack (5-2) is in third place after five straight conference wins. Central Connecticut (5-4) swept Le Moyne (2-7) and is in a fourth-place tie with LIU. Wagner (0-6) was swept by Merrimack in its last conference series. FDU (2-3) was the only conference team not in action last weekend. Conference play resumes on Saturday, April 6 with Wagner at Stonehill, Saint Francis at Central Connecticut, LIU at FDU. Merrimack hosts Sacred Heart for a three-game series starting Sunday, April 7.

Next
Saint Francis returns home for another crucial conference series April 13-14 against Sacred Heart.