HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson University softball team will break from Northeast Conference action to take on the Lions of Columbia in a midweek doubleheader scheduled for Tuesday, April 2 at 3 p.m. at the Columbia Softball Stadium in Manhattan.
The Knights are fresh off a split against 2012 NEC Champions LIU Brooklyn. The Knights fell to the Blackbirds, 4-0, in game one before responding with a 5-2 win. Sophomore Angelique Nieves (Union City, N.J./High Tech High School) went 5-for-6 with a double and two RBI against LIU, while freshman Madelaine Wilen (Bakerfield, Calif./Ridgeview High School) hit .571 in her first home series.
The duo currently leads the team at the plate: Wilen has hit .324 through 22 games, while Nieves sits just behind with a .323 average. Freshman Courtney Slye (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley High School) is also hitting above .300 with a .317 average and a team-leading four home runs.
As a team, the Knights are hitting .257 and have outscored opponents, 67-59, in 22 games.
Freshman Loren Stavrou (Long Beach, Calif./Wilson Classical High School) leads the pitching staff with a 4-1 record and a 1.69 ERA. Collectively, the FDU pitchers maintain a team ERA of 1.94 and have allowed only 41 earned runs.
The Lions of Columbia are 11-13 on the season and most recently dropped two games to Harvard at home and now have a 1-3 mark at the Columbia Softball Stadium.
As a team, the Lions are hitting .265 and have outscored opponents 94-84 in 24 games. They have four batters hitting over .300, including freshman Nicole Borchard who maintains a .346 average at the plate.
Sophomore Brooke Darling and freshman Emily Kenyon have been leaders in the circle for the Lions. Darling maintains a 2.27 ERA with a record of 5-4, while Kenyon has a 4-6 record and a 2.81 ERA. he team holds a collective ERA of 2.55.
In three games last season, the Knights went 3-0 against Columbia with an 11-3 win at the Rebel Spring Games and 4-1 and 4-3 wins in Hackensack.
The Knights will resume Northeast Conference action on Sunday, April 7 with a home contest against Robert Morris.
