MOUNT ST. MARY'S (12-28, 3-5 NEC) vs. LIU BROOKLYN (18-24, 6-2 NEC)
Saturday, April 23, 2016, 12 p.m. (DH)
Our Lady of the Meadows Field, Emmitsburg, Md.
LIVE STATS
MOUNT ST. MARY'S at SAINT FRANCIS U (25-18)
Sunday, April 24, 2016, 12 p.m. (DH)
Red Flash Softball Field, Loretto, Pa.
LIVE STATS | VIDEO
MOUNT UPDATE: The Mountaineers split a doubleheader at George Mason on Wednesday, taking the opener, 8-3, before falling in game two, 8-0. Rachel Heinze sparked a seven-run third inning to lead the Mount to the 8-3 win. She belted a three-run homer, her 17th of the season to break the Northeast Conference single-season record, to give the Mount a 3-2 advantage. Marian Ruf added a two-run double, Marisa Mayes an RBI single and Jessica Greenewald a bases-loaded walk. Ruf picked up the win in the circle, allowing three runs in the complete-game effort to move to 6-9 on the season.
ABOUT THE BLACKBIRDS: LIU Brooklyn has won five games in a row to improve to 18-24 overall and 6-2 in the Northeast Conference. The Blackbirds posted a 6-4 win at Stony Brook on Wednesday with Erynn Sobieski, the reigning NEC Pitcher of the Week, earned the win. Victoria Zamora leads the NEC with a .386 average while she leads the Blackbirds with five home runs, 24 runs scored and 20 RBI. Whitney West is hitting .343 with four triples and 20 runs scored. Sobieski is 12-16 with a 3.73 ERA in 35 appearances and 159.2 innings of work.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: LIU Brooklyn holds a 42-11 lead in the all-time series with the Mount that began in 1984. The Mount has won four of the past seven matchups, but the Blackbirds swept last year's doubleheader. The Mount is 7-13 all-time at home against LIU Brooklyn.
LAST YEAR'S DOUBLEHEADER: The Mount St. Mary's University softball team lost a pair of Northeast Conference games at LIU Brooklyn last year, falling by scores of 10-2 and 9-5. Rachel Heinze went 2-for-5 at the plate with a home run and a double to lead the Mount's offense in the two games. In the opening game, the Mount scored twice in the top of the first, but LIU answered with two runs in the first, two in the third, four in the fourth and two more in the fifth to earn the win. In the second game, the Mount scored four times in the top of the fifth to take a 5-3 lead, but the Blackbirds responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning to earn the win. FULL RECAP.
ABOUT THE RED FLASH: Saint Francis U leads the Northeast Conference with a 5-1 league record and a 25-18 mark overall. The Red Flash host Bryant on Saturday before facing the Mountaineers on Sunday. The Red Flash are hitting .296 as a team while belting 49 home runs as a team. Hayley Norton (.357, 10 HR, 44 RBI) and Jordan Seneca (.325, 13 HR, 44 RBI) lead the high-scoring offense. In the circle, Ketarah DeVries is the top pitcher, going 9-3 with a 2.67 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 78.2 innings this season.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Saint Francis won a pair of games over the Mount earlier this season in Arizona, and now hold a 50-23 lead in the all-time series that began in 1987. The Red Flash have won the past seven games in the series with the Mount's last win coming in a 5-2 victory on April 14, 2013, at Our Lady of the Meadows Field. Mount St. Mary's is 9-20 all-time on the road against the Red Flash.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: The Mount played the Red Flash at both Arizona State and Arizona this year in early season tournaments. The Mount fell by the score of 10-1 on February 28 at Arizona State and 10-2 in the game on April 5 at Arizona. Megan Baker went 3-for-6 in the two games while Rachel Heinze was 2-for-5 with a home run.
HEINZE BREAKS NEC SINGLE-SEASON HOME RUN RECORD: Rachel Heinze's three-run home run in the third inning at George Mason was her 17th of the season, breaking the Northeast Conference's single-season mark of 16 set by Wagner's Andrea Lazzari in 2009. Earlier this season, Heinze broke the Mount's single-season record of 11 set by Liz Christiansen in 2010. She now has 24 career home runs, just one shy of matching Christiansen's Mount record of 25 set from 2009-13. Heinze is sixth in the nation with 0.43 home runs per game while her 17 homers are tied for fourth in NCAA Division I.
MAYES LEADING WAY: Marisa Mayes leads the Mount with a .368 average this season. The senior second baseman has a four-game hit streak, and is hitting .410 over the Mount's past 26 games. Mayes has 10 multiple-hit games this season.
IN THE CIRCLE: Marian Ruf has been solid for the Mountaineers in the circle, going 6-3 with a 2.74 ERA over her past 10 appearances. She has six complete games over that stretch, including a 3-0 shutout over Bryant this past Sunday. For the season, Ruf is 6-9 with a 6.39 ERA in 76.2 innings of work. In addition to her pitching, Ruf is hitting .305 this season and is tied for the team lead with eight doubles.
HOME COOKING: The Mountaineers are 8-2 this year at Our Lady of the Meadows Field. The Mount is hitting .369 at home this year with 15 home runs in the 10 games. Holly Buckel (.519, 4 HR, 11 RBI), Rachel Heinze (.448, 7 HR, 13 RBI), Marisa Mayes (.441, 10 runs) and Jessica Greenwald (.400) are all hitting .400 or better at home this season. Marian Ruf is 4-1 with a 1.96 ERA in five starts at home as well.
THIS AND THAT: Shea McFarland is hitting a team-best .385 over the past 10 games, while posting a .500 on-base percentage over that stretch…Holly Buckel is hitting .390 over the past 20 games for the Mount…Lindsay Heinze is tied with Rachel Heinze with a team-best 12 RBI over the past 15 games.
UP NEXT: The Mount visits Delaware on Tuesday, April 26, for a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader.
