MERCYHURST (3-18, 2-4 NEC) vs STONEHILL (4-23, 1-5 NEC)
Friday, April 3 – 1/3 p.m.
Saturday, April 4 – 12 p.m. 
Erie, Pa. 
TV: NEC Front Row
 
The Mercyhurst softball team will play their third NEC series of this season this weekend at home vs. Stonehill. The first games of the series are set for Friday, April 3 at 1 and 3 p.m. Game two will be played right before Easter on Saturday at noon. 

*All game times are subject to change due to forecasted weather projected to hit Erie. 
 
The First Two Months
The Lakers are 3-18 overall this season and 2-4 in NEC play. They began the season on Friday, Feb. 13 in South Carolina at the Scotsman Invitational. They opened with a pair of games against Albany and the tournament hosts, Presbyterian. Albany beat them, 6-0. The Lakers and Blue Hose played a 17-run thriller that the Lakers led for the first half of the game. Presbyterian came back and beat them, 10-7. On that Saturday, ETSU defeated MU 10-2 in six innings and then Presbyterian ran away with game two, 12-3. 
 
Mercyhurst then flew to Hawaii for the OUTRIGGER Classic. They fell to Portland State in the first game. However, Jazlynn Sanders had a two-RBI game in the second matchup with the Vikings as the Lakers picked up their first win of the season, 4-2. They fell to Portland State and Hawaii before nearly defeating Hawaii on their final day, losing 7-5. 
 
They then played a set of four games against the defending Horizon League champions, Robert Morris. The Colonials won all four, but a few Lakers had great performances against a team who was fourth in the nation on batting average at the time. Gabriella DeLuca pitched a complete game in the second contest, only allowing two hits. MU lost 2-0, but both runs were unearned. Karlie Kasten also had four hits in her four at bats. 
 
The Lakers hosted Wagner to begin NEC play. They beat the Seahawks 4-2 in game one in one of their best performances this season. DeLuca pitched a complete game and four strikeouts, with a run and RBI added to her tally. Mackenzie Gillis recorded two RBIs of the Laker's four runs. Wagner won the next two games of the series. 
 
The team then traveled to Kent State for the first-ever matchup between the two sides. Mercyhurst lead at three times throughout the day, but the Golden Flashes walked it off in both games. Bailey Cannon hit the first Division I home run of her career in this game. Her last home run was her freshman year when the team was in the PSAC. 
 
Most recently, the Lakers traveled to CCSU. The Blue Devils took games one and two, but Mercyhurst put up arguably their best game of the season in game three. They were down 4-1 in the top of the sixth before DeLuca, Sanders and Braylynn Kelly all hit home runs to lift the lakers to an 8-6 win. 
 
Matchup Insights
Mercyhurst is 1-3 vs. Stonehill all time. This is the second time these two have met since the Lakers joined the NEC and the third overall meeting. The first matchup was back in 2022 when the two sides were both Division II. The game took place in Florida over Spring Break. The Skyhawks took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second and went on to win, 3-2. 
 
The last matchup was a series in Massachusetts. Stonehill won game one 10-5 and game three 4-3. The Lakers managed to take a win in the second game, 8-5. In this game, Sanders had a massive impact on the win. She tallied four RBIs and four hits, including a three-run home run. Alexa North recorded 10 strikeouts, which was tied for her career high. The only other time goes back to the second game of her freshman year in an extra-inning win over Simon Fraser. 
 
Two Ks, Few Ks 
Kasten leads the way from the batter's box. In 51 at bats, the Elma, New York native has 20 total bases, 17 hits, eight runs, four RBIs, a batting average of .333, an OPS of .762, and a slugging percentage of .392. She also is 2/2 on stolen base attempts. Kasten sits 14th in the NEC in batting average. 
 
Kelly is second on the team with a .306 batting average. In 36 at bats, the Whittaker, Michigan native has 14 total bases, 11 hits, six runs, five RBIs, one home run, a slugging percentage of .389 and an OPS of .748. Kelly recently hit a three-run blast in an 8-6 win at CCSU. This was the first home run of her career. 
 
DeLuca Delivers
Gabby DeLuca is among the best pitchers in the NEC standings right now. She currently leads the NEC with the fewest hits allowed (37), runs allowed (26), and earned runs allowed (20). The Erie native has the seventh-lowest ERA (.494) and the eighth-lowest opposing batting average (.316). 
 
Prime Performers 
So far, Sanders, DeLuca, and Kasten have earned an NEC Prime Performer award. 

DeLuca had a stellar weekend in S.C that began her collegiate career in style. In this tournament, the Erie native had a .333 batting average, two runs, two RBIs, three and a two-run moon shot in just nine at bats. 

Sanders earned her Prime Performer award from the Hawaii tournament. Sanders had five hits, five RBIs, and she went yard in one of the games vs. Hawaii. 
Kasten, in four games and 13 at-bats vs. RMU, had nine hits, two RBIs, two stolen bases, one double, one run, total batting average of .377. She also recorded a fielding percentage of 1.000 and made seven catches from center field. Her best game of this four-game series was in game two, where she went four-for-four. 
 
Scouting Stonehill  

• The Skyhawks are 4-23 overall and 1-5 in NEC play.
• They sit in eighth place in the conference standings. 
• Their opening schedule was not kind them. Their first 23 games were on the road. 
• They fell to Wisconsin, Delaware, Indiana, and Florida Atlantic at the FAU Paradise Classic. 
• At the Austin Peay Governors Classic, they lost to Ohio, Austin Peay State, and Central Michigan. 
• They then fell UConn in a single game and dropped a doubleheader to Providence.
• Their first NEC series began on March 14, where they beat Wagner, 15-4, and earned their first win of the season. They dropped the next two games, 13-4 and 15-1, in a truly wild series. 
• (RV) Boston, Brown, and LIU all swept them after the Wagner series.
• The Skyhawks have won three of their last four. The team beat Maine once in a doubleheader split and recently swept Holy Cross. 
• Taylor Schoonmaker leads the team with a .408 batting average. This is fourth in the NEC. In 49 at bats, she has 28 total bases, 20 hits, 12 runs, five RBIs, and a home run. Her OPS is 1.088, which is fifth in the NEC. 
• Sarah Taylor leads the team and is tied for fifth in the conference with 19 RBIs. In 73 at bats, she has 34 total bases, 24 hits, nine runs, and a pair of home runs. 
• Alexa Hospodar has the lowest ERA in the circle with a 5.93. She has a 2-5 record, a WHIP of 1.98, and has allowed 35 earned runs this season.