MOUNT ST. MARY'S SOFTBALL at DIAMOND DEVIL INVITATIONAL
Farrington Stadium, Tempe, Ariz. (Feb. 26-28)
SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 26: vs. Houston (1 pm ET, Live Stats); vs. No. 21 Minnesota (3:30 pm ET, Live Stats)
Saturday, Feb. 27: vs. Houston (5 pm ET, Live Stats), at No. 19 Arizona State (10 pm ET, Watch/Listen/Live Stats)
Sunday, Feb. 28: vs. Saint Francis U (1 pm ET)
TOURNAMENT WEBSITE
MOUNT UPDATE: The Mount opens the 2016 season at the Diamond Devil Invitational hosted by Arizona State this weekend. The Mountaineers finished the 2015 season with an 11-33 record. The top three returning hitters include Rachel Heinze (.278, 6HR, 19 RBI), Jessica Greenewald (.272, 22R) and Morgan Alisauckas (.267, 7HR, 25 RBI). On the mound, Marian Ruf (3-16, 5.49 ERA, 103.1 IP) and Sam Lichtner (4-6, 7.10 ERA, 68.0 IP) also return for head coach Anna Nagro.
THE OPPONENTS: The Mount will face a pair of ranked teams (No. 19 Arizona State and No. 21 Minnesota), NEC rival Saint Francis U and AAC member Houston at the Tournament.
About Arizona State: The Sun Devils enter the weekend with an 11-1 record after sweeping all five games in the Littlewood Classic last weekend. Taylor Becerra is hitting .520 while Chelsea Gonzales is hitting .484 with four home runs and 15 RBI. Three pitchers each have four starts (Dale Ryndak, 4-0, 0.68 ERA; Kelsey Kessler, 3-0, 1.79 ERA; Breanna Macha, 4-1, 1.56 ERA).
About Minnestoa: The Golden Gophers are 5-4 on the season, including a 1-0 win over No. 9/8 Oklahoma. Minnesota is coming off 5-4 and 2-0 losses to No. 13/15 Florida State. Sam Macken is hitting .433 with two home runs and eight RBI while Sara Groenewegen is 4-2 with a 2.14 ERA and 52 strikeouts.
About Saint Francis U: The Red Flash are 6-5 on the year after going 3-3 at the East Carolina Pirate Clash last weekend. Jordan Seneca (.417, 3HR, 15 RBI) and Haley Norton (.368, 2HR, 15 RBI) lead the offense while Ethel Santai is 2-3 with a 3.28 ERA.
About Houston: The Cougars are 6-5 on the year after a 12-0 loss to No. 14 Texas A&M on Wednesday. Katie St. Pierre is hitting .414 while Elise LeBeouf had three home runs. Three pitchers have split the starts with Julia Shrum posting a 2-1 record and a 2.71 ERA.
The All-Time Series: This will be the first-ever meetings with Arizona State, Minnesota and Houston. The Mount is 23-48 all-time against Saint Francis U with the Red Flash winning the past five matchups. The last Mount win over Saint Francis was a 5-2 victory in the opening game of a doubleheader on April 14, 2013, at the Mount's Our Lady of the Meadows Field.
Preseason Poll: The Mount was picked to finish in eighth place in the annual Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. LIU Brooklyn is the preseason favorite according to the league's coaches.
Tough Schedule: The Mount schedule features four teams ranked in the top 25 in the NFCA Coaches Poll. Those teams include No. 10 James Madison, No. 15 Arizona, No. 19 Arizona State and No. 21 Minnesota.
Season Openers: The Mountaineers are 2-3 in season openers under head coach Anna Nagro. The Mount lost last year's season opener to Georgia Tech, 10-0. In 2014, the Mount downed Bethune-Cookman, 3-2, in the season-opener.
Up Next: The Mount visits New Mexico State for two games on Tuesday, March 1, before playing at Texas-El Paso for two games on Wednesday, March 2. The Mount concludes its road trip by participating in the Arizona Wildcat Invitational next weekend.
