ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd softball team opens conference play this weekend at the Turley Athletic Complex, hosting No. 11 Saint Leo in a three-game series.
SATURDAY: Saint Leo (14-0, 3-0 SSC) at Eckerd (11-5-1), 5:00 PM
SUNDAY: Saint Leo at Eckerd, 1:00/3:00 PM
COVERAGE: Stats |
WatchABOUT THE LIONS: To say Saint Leo is off to a good start to 2016 would be an understatement. The Lions have won their first 14 games and are coming off a double-header sweep of No. 14 West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday. SLU may very well have the best pitching staff in the nation, coming into the weekend with a miniscule 0.23 team ERA and 102 strikeouts in 92 innings. Saint Leo has outscored its opponents 100-6.
LAST TIME THEY MET: Saint Leo swept a three-game series from the Tritons last season by scores of 11-1, 8-3, and 6-0.
BACK ON TRACK: The Tritons won a pair of games on Wednesday in very different ways. EC opened the day out-dueling Quincy (Ill.) in a pitchers' battle, 2-0, before turning the offense up in an 18-8 win over Lake Superior State (Mich.). In the win over LSSU, Eckerd scored 12 runs in the first inning alone.
DUAL THREAT: Freshman
Nikole Van Gennep has been a key part of the Tritons' 11-5-1 start in both the lineup and in the circle. At the plate, Van Gennep leads the team with a .412 batting average helped by seven multi-hit games. In the circle, she is 6-3 with a 1.36 ERA and two saves. She struck out a season-high seven batters in tossing a two-hitter on Wednesday against Quincy.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Eckerd has tallied 27 doubles, second-best in the Sunshine State Conference behind Florida Tech. Sophomore
Rachael Luckett leads the conference with eight doubles while
Chelsea Armstrong and
Kaycie Duncan are close behind with five and four respectively.
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