Bucknell University
Saint Francis (Pa.)
Softball Battles Saint Francis at Home in Tuesday Doubleheader
4/11/2022 3:27:00 PM | Softball
Setting the Scene
What: Bucknell (5-29, 1-8 PL) vs. Saint Francis (20-13, 8-1 NEC)
Where: Becker Field – Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Tuesday, April 12 at 3/5 p.m. (DH)
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
About Bucknell
• Bucknell hosts the Saint Francis Red Flash on Tuesday for a non-conference doubleheader that will be broadcast on ESPN+. Four of Bucknell's five wins this season have come against non-league opponents, including a 13-0 win over Saint Peter's at home last Tuesday.
• The Bison dropped all three games against Army over the weekend, but they put together late runs in games two and three before falling by a single run in each. Four of Bucknell's eight Patriot League losses have been by a single run.
• The Bison batted .253 in the Army series, and five Bucknell players posted three or more hits over the weekend. Nicole Rivait and Zoie Smith each posted four hits, while Chase Knapp, Juliette Basso and MaKenzie Hilling combined for six RBIs.
• Rivait remains Bucknell's leader in batting average (.343), hits (35) and RBIs (10). She also added her 10th double of the season, which ranks top five in the Patriot League.
• Hunter Vestal also put up a solid showing against the Black Knights on Sunday. The sophomore went 2-for-3 with a walk and a double in the bottom of the eighth inning. Vestal started the game at pitcher and allowed no earned runs in 3.2 innings of work.
• The Bison ended up throwing all five pitchers over the weekend. Bucknell owns a 4.81 team ERA this season, and Kelly Toomey has four of the five wins. Rookie Madison Roukey also has a win this season, pitching a shutout against Holy Cross two weeks ago.
Scouting Saint Francis
• The Red Flash is 20-13 overall this season and 8-1 in Northeast Conference play. Most recently, Saint Francis fell 3-1 to Pitt on the road on Wednesday, April 6.
• Saint Francis also faced Patriot League teams Boston U. and Holy Cross early in the season, falling 9-0 to the Terriers before beating the Crusaders 7-0.
• The Red Flash's Mekenzie Saban leads the NEC conference with a .453 batting average. Last Wednesday was Saban's first game without a hit since March 5. She's also second in the conference in hits (48), second in slugging percentage (.670) and first in on-base percentage (.520). Saint Francis is hitting .295 as a team.
• Saint Francis has a 2.64 team ERA. Juniors Grace Vesco and Rachel Marsden have each started 16 games, and both have ERAs hovering around 2.5.
Series History with the Red Flash
• Bucknell is 31-23 in all-time games against Saint Francis, dating back to 1987. The Bison won both meetings in 2020 but dropped a pair to the Red Flash in 2019.
• In the 2020 two-game series in Spartansburg, S.C., Rivait was 2-for-6 at the plate, and Knapp went 1-for-7 with an RBI. Bucknell won 10-2 in the first game and 5-2 in the second.
Up Next
The Bison travel to Hamilton, N.Y. for a three-game series against Colgate this weekend. Colgate is 4-2 in league play, and Bucknell went 1-1-1 against the Raiders last season. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
