Saint Francis Live Video | Saint Francis Live Stats
Robert Morris Live Video | Robert Morris Live Stats

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team (17-19, 7-5 NEC) will look to inch closer to its first-ever Northeast Conference Tournament appearance this weekend with a road trip to western Pennsylvania to take on Saint Francis University and Robert Morris. The Knights face the Red Flash on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Loretto, Pa., before traveling to Moon Township to take on Robert Morris on Sunday at 12 p.m. in the regular season finale.
 
Last Time Out
 In FDU's home finale last Sunday, the Knights turned in some of their best performances of the season to move into third place in the NEC standings. Junior Megan Reiner (Los Angeles, Calif./John Marshall) went the distance in both contests against Wagner, as she yielded just four earned runs while collecting her 14th and 15th complete games of the season. She struck out 17 Seahawks and walked only one batter to move to move to 13-7 on the season. On the offensive end, sophomore Madelaine Wilen (Bakerfield, Calif./Ridgeview High School) went 4-for-7 with two home runs, four RBi and three runs. Her second home run started a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth of game two, which propelled FDU to a thrilling 3-2 victory. For her efforts over the weekend, Wilen was named the NEC Player of the Week. Sunday was also senior day and fifth-year senior Liz Woidt (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) hit the go-ahead sacrifice fly RBI to cap the rally in the second game. The offense has woken up of late, with four players reaching the respectable 25-hit mark on the year, led by junior Angelique Nieves (Union City, N.J./High Tech High School), who has a team-high 34 hits. Junior Cindy Zamudio (Wilmington, Calif./Redondo Union) leads the game with a .345 batting average and has 30 hits, and Wilen passed Zamudio this past weekend in hits with 31.
 
Saint Francis University
2014 Season: 24-21 (6-6 NEC, T-5th in NEC Standings)
Where: Loretto, Pa. (Red Flash Softball Field)
When: Saturday - May 3, 2014 - 1/3 p.m.
Series History: SFU leads 14-12
Last Meeting: April 27, 2013 - FDU 2 SFU 1; FDU 2 SFU 1 (DH)
What You Need To Know: The Red Flash are on the outskirts of the final two playoff spots and is looking to sneak in after this weekend's matchup with FDU. SFU will give the ball to the reining NEC Rookie of the Week, Blaire Lauthers, who threw 17.1 innings combined against Sacred Heart and Lehigh while not allowing a single earned run to pass. The Doylesburg, Pa. native holds a 1.96 earned run average on the season and is holding opponents to a team-best .236 average. The anchor for the Red Flash is Alexis Bower, who has a respectable 2.44 ERA and has thrown 140.1 innings on the year. She has a 15-9 record and has tossed 12 complete games on the season. The Red Flash offense has six players with at least 30 hits on the year. Of the six, Chelsy Cosentino (.331) and Alexis Bower (.304) lead the way with 42 hits. Bower has 31 runs scored, seven home runs and 35 RBI, while Cosentino has 10 doubles, three home runs and 18 RBI.
 
Robert Morris
2014 Season: 24-23 (5-9 NEC, 8th in NEC Standings)
Where: Moon Township, Pa. 
When: Sunday - May 4, 2014 – 12 p.m./2 p.m. (DH)
Series History: RMU leads 20-6
Last Meeting: April 7, 2013 - RMU 1 FDU 0; FDU 3 RMU 2 (DH)
What You Need To Know: Robert Morris will look to be the spoilers for the Knights 2014 playoff run Sunday afternoon and is led by one of the best pitchers in the Northeast Conference. Nicole Sleith (14-9) hauls a 1.32 ERA while logging 164 innings this season. The southpaw pitcher has thrown 21 complete games in 25 chances, striking out 179 batters and yielding opposing batters to a stifling .179 batting average. Tess Apke leads all major offensive categories for the Colonials, including average (.354), runs (25), hits (52), doubles (9), home runs (7) and RBI (25). Other notable standouts for Robert Morris include Jordan Gurganus smacking 46 hits on the year and maintaining a .317 average, and Ashley Gerhart, who stands right behind Apke in most offensive categories with 21 runs, five doubles and four home runs. 

Up Next
The Knights will hope to be participating in next weekend's NEC Tournament in Smithfield, R.I. on top-seed Bryant's campus. The four-team tournament runs May 9-11.