MERCYHURST (4-20, 3-6 NEC) at SAINT FRANCIS (2-29-1, 2-7 NEC)
Tuesday, April 7 – 2 p.m.
Wednesday, April 8 – 1/3 p.m. 
Loretto, Pa.  
TV: NEC Front Row
 
The Mercyhurst softball team is set to travel through Pennsylvania to face Saint Francis. Both sides are in the bottom half of the NEC standings and looking to jump above those around them. Game one is set for 2 p.m. on Tuesday and a doubleheader will be played the following day. 

March Results
The Lakers went 2-10 overall and 2-4 in NEC play in March. They 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. 
 
MU then closed the month at 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. 

Last Time on the Diamond
Most recently, the Lakers hosted Wagner. Sanders hit a go-ahead three-run home run to help defeat the Skyhawks 5-3 in game one. The final two games were chaotic. There were 20+ hits in each of them and Stonehill ended up winning 12-5 and 12-6. 

Matchup Insights
Mercyhurst is 0-3 vs. Saint Francis all time. This upcoming series will be just the second all-time meeting. SFU won 7-1, 10-1, and 15-4 in the matchups between this two last season. 
 
Notably, North hit a solo home run and recorded an RBI single that Kasten scored on in one of the contests last season. Emelie Pascual also hit a two-RBI double in that game. 

Two Ks, Few Ks 
Kelly leads the way from the batter's box. In 45 at bats, the Whittaker, Michigan native has 21 total bases, 15 hits, seven runs, seven RBIs, a batting average of .333, an OPS of .867, and a slugging percentage of .467. She is five for seven on stolen base attempts. Notably, Kelly hit a three-run blast in an 8-6 win at CCSU. This was the first home run of her career. Her batting average puts her at 16th in the NEC.
 
Kasten is second on the team with a .302 batting average. In 63 at bats, the Elma, New York native has 22 total bases, 19 hits, 10 runs, four RBIs, a slugging percentage of .349 and an OPS of .692. She is also a perfect four-for-four on stolen base attempts. 
 
DeLuca Delivers
Gabby DeLuca is among the best pitchers in the NEC standings right now. She currently leads the conference with the fewest hits allowed (41), runs allowed (30), and earned runs allowed (24). The Erie native has the twelfth-lowest ERA (.567) and the tenth-lowest opposing batting average (.317). 
 
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 the Reigning Red Flash   

• Saint Franics is 2-29-1 overall and 2-7 in NEC play.
• Last season, they won their seventh NEC title in eight years.
• They defeated the No. 1 LIU Sharks 6-0 in the championship game to advance to the NCAA Tournament. 
• This season, they lost of a lot of players to the transfer portal and graduation. 
• They began the year with tough losses to the likes of Ohio, South Carolina-Upstate, Towson, Utah State, Cal Baptist, Loyola Marymount, Cal State Bakersfield and Quinnipiac. 
• They narrowly lost to Hampton and Norfolk State while dropping a contest vs. Maine. 
• Their trip to Texas featured competition against UT Arlington, New Mexico State, North Dakota, UTSA, Texas State and Tarleton. 
• They opened NEC play on March 14 and 15, winning one of three matchups vs. New Haven, 6-3. 
• CCSU swept them before they traveled to Bucknell. The Bison beat them 25-2 before a chaotic game two. Somehow, the Red Flash came back from being down 10-0 to leading 11-10. The game was tied in extra innings, 12-12, before the game was called because they ran out of day light. 
• Most recently, SFU traveled to Le Moyne and fell in the first two games. They won their second game of the season in game three, 11-9. 
• Sofia Zielinski leads the team and is second in the NEC with a .425 batting average. Her 10 home runs are first in the NEC. She has 70 total bases, 34 hits, 20 runs, and an OPS of 1.359 (2nd in NEC) 
• Morgan Pasternak is third on the team with a .320 batting average. She is tied for first on the team with Zielinski for 29 RBIs.