The Mount St. Mary's softball heads to California for 11 games over the next two weekends. The Mount opens the week by playing in the San Diego Classic, which is co-hosted by San Diego State and San Diego.
Friday, February 28
12 pm ET: Mount St. Mary's vs. San Jose St. (SDSU Softball Stadium)
7:30 pm ET: Mount St. Mary's vs. #1 UCLA (SDSU Softball Stadium)
Saturday, February 29
12:00 p.m. ET: Mount St. Mary's vs, CSUN (USD Softball Complex)
Sunday, March 1
12:00 p.m. ET: Mount St. Mary's vs. St. John's (USD Softball Complex)
2:30 pm ET: Mount St. Mary's at San Diego (USD Softball Complex)
MOUNT UPDATE: Mount St. Mary's went 0-4 at the Gardner Webb Tournament this past weekend, dropping three games by one run. The Mount fell to Northern Kentucky (4-3) and Eastern Illinois (3-2) in the seventh inning, and lost to host Gardner-Webb, 3-2, in the second game of a doubleheader. Kaia Bonshock leads the Mount with a .364 average, five doubles and eight RBI. Maggie Kane is hitting .318 on the year with a pair of two-base hits. Avery Neuhart leads the pitching staff with a 3.50 ERA in 18.0 innings of work.
ABOUT SAN JOSE ST.: San Jose State is 14-2 this season heading into a Wednesday matchup with Santa Clara. The Spartans have won 14 in a row after opening the year with a pair of losses. San Jose St. owns a 10-2 win over Long Island in six innings. Rayohna Sagapolu leads the team with a .426 average while Suzy Brookshire is hitting .364 with six home runs and 13 RBI. Shannon Haddad (8-1, 0.77 ERA, 54K, 45.1 IP) and Ilona Sullivan (3-0, 0.83 ERA, 22K, 25.1 IP) are leading the pitching staff.
ABOUT #1 UCLA: UCLA is the top-ranked team in the nation with a perfect 15-0 record this season heading into a Thursday night matchup with Texas. Aaliyah Jordan leads the team with a .550 average, 10 doubles and 21 RBI while Maya Brady leads the squad with six home runs. As a team, the Bruins are hitting .401 with 22 home runs. Megan Faraimo is 9-0 with a 0.73 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 57.2 innings of work while Holly Azevedo is 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA.
ABOUT CSUN: CSUN enters the weekend with an 11-3 record after winning all four games at the Grand Canyon Purple Classic last weekend. The Matadors are hitting .323 as a team this year, led by Megan Stevens, who is hitting .459 with three home runs and 17 RBI. Jessica Alexander is hitting .391 while leading the team with 15 runs scored and four home runs. Kenedee Jamerson is 7-2 with a 3.14 ERA in 49.0 innings of work to lead the pitching staff.
ABOUT ST. JOHN'S: St. John's enters the San Diego Classic with a 4-11 record this season. The Red Storm went 2-3 at the Texas A&M Invitational last weekend with a pair of wins over Binghamton. Gretchen Bowie is hitting .333 with three home runs and 12 RBI to lead the offense. Erin Brown has been the top pitcher, going 3-4 with a 3.17 ERA in 42.0 innings.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO: Toreros enter the San Diego Classic with a 7-8 record after losing a pair of games to Utah on Monday. San Diego is led by Sara Silveyra, who is hitting .381 on the year. Delaney Heller is the top pitcher with a 4-6 record and a 3.17 ERA in 11 appearances (8 starts).
THE ALL-TIME SERIES…The Mount has only played St. John's before, losing to the Red Storm, 3-0, in 2000. This will be the first time the Mountaineers have played San Jose State, UCLA, CSUN and San Diego.
THE MOUNT VS. RANKED OPPONENTS…The Mountaineers are 0-7 all-time against ranked opponents since moving to NCAA Division I in 1989. The Mount has never played the No. 1 team in the nation. The Mountaineers lost to No. 2 California, 12-0, on March 5, 2005, in Hawai'i. The Mount played four ranked teams in Arizona to open the 2016 season.
| Date |
Opponent |
Score |
| 3-4-05 |
#7 Alabama |
L, 10-1 |
| 3-4-05 |
#2 California |
L, 12-0 |
| 3-1-13 |
#4 Florida |
L, 8-2 |
| 2-26-16 |
#21 Minnesota |
L, 12-7 |
| 2-27-16 |
#19 Arizona St. |
L, 17-0 |
| 3-4-16 |
#10 James Madison |
L, 14-5 |
| 3-4-16 |
#15 Arizona |
L, 16-5 |
PRESEASON POLL: The Mount St. Mary's softball team has been picked to finish in fourth place in the annual Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. Long Island was selected as the preseason favorite, capturing seven of the 10 first-place votes. Defending champion Saint Francis U is picked to finish second, followed by Sacred Heart, the Mount, Bryant, Robert Morris, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, Wagner and Merrimack.
BONSHOCK OFF TO HOT START: Sophomore Kaia Bonshock leads the Mount with a .364 average, five doubles and eight RBI over the first eight games of the season. Bonshock is currently 10th in the nation in doubles per game (0.63).
STONER MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Senior Kaylee Stoner has 34 career stolen bases to move into fourth on the Mount's all-time list, and needs needs three steals to move into second place on the list. Patti Schaefer holds the program record with 67 career steals. Stoner also has 138 career hits, good for 10th all-time at the Mount. Her 85 runs scored are tied for 10th all-time at the Mount
HEAD COACH ANNA NAGRO: Nagro begins her 10th season at the helm of the Mount softball program, the longest tenure by a head coach in the history of the program. Last season, she guided the Mount to 26 wins, the second-most in program history. Mount St. Mary's advanced to the Northeast Conference Tournament for the first time since 2006, and posted their first NEC Tournament win, a 4-3 victory over Sacred Heart, since 1995. Her 156 coaching victories are the most in program history.
UP NEXT: The Mount will play six games at the USD Tournament, beginning with matchups against Villanova and San Diego on Thursday, March 5th.
