LIVE STATS (Quinnipiac) | LIVE VIDEO (Quinnipiac) | TWITTERLIVE STATS (Siena) | TWITTERHACKENSACK, N.J. - The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team will play a pair of midweek doubleheaders before the Knights open Northeast Conference play this weekend.
The Knights will travel to Hamden, Connecticut to face Bobcats of Quinnipiac on Tuesday and then travel to Loudonville, New York on Thursday to face the Saint of Siena. Both doubleheaders are scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
At the Columbia Classic; the Knights split its four games against host Columbia and Canisius. The Knights beat the Lions on Friday by the score of 14-9.
Madelaine Wilen (Bakersfield, Calif./Ridgeview) went 4-for-5 with three runs scored, two RBI and four steals.
Francine Villalobos (Danville, Calif./San Ramon Valley) has three RBI and went 3-for-5 at the dish. Fairleigh Dickinson was shutout by Canisius in the second game, 6-0.
Kellie Natham (Arcadia, Calif./Maranatha) hit a walk-off two-run double to the beat the Golden Griffins in the first game on Saturday, 4-3. The Knights then fell to the Lions in the second on a late-inning home run, 7-6.
Historically, the Knights are 3-22 all-time against Quinnipiac and 1-2 against Siena. The last win for Fairleigh Dickinson against Quinnipiac came back in 2013, 7-1. The win against the Saints for the Knights came back in 2012 by the score of 4-1.
Quinnipiac comes into the game with a record of 9-14 and is coming out a series against Maine that saw the Bobcats drop 2-of-3. The Bobcats are now 3-3 in their last six games -- the three wins coming against UMass Lowell, Florida A&M and Maine. Statically, Miranda Magana leads the squad in hitting at .311 on the season. Sarah Heimbach is second at an even .300. Keilani Finley is the leading run producer with a team-leading 13 RBI and tied for the lead in runs scored with nine. In the circle, Casey Herzog has the most wins (5) and Sydney Robey leads in ERA (3.21).
Siena plays two games against Army West Point -- on Tuesday -- before the Knights visit on Thursday for a doubleheader. Siena sits at 9-8 on the season are coming off a doubleheader sweep of Holy Cross on March 24. Madysen Cossack leads Siena in hitting at .341 on the season. Paige Hess is second on the team with a .327 clip. Cossack also leads the team in RBI with nine. Sammy Smaldone has crossed the plate the most with nine. Lauren Butts leads the Saint in ERA at 3.48 and is the owner of a 5-3 record.
Wilen has reached base in 13 straight games and also had a 10-game hitting streak snapped last Saturday against Canisius. The senior also broke the single-season record for steals last weekend and sits at 16 so far this season -- the only player in the NEC with more than 10.
Natham's two-RBI double made it four games this season that freshman has had multiple RBI's, which leads the team.
Reanna Cervantes (Upland, Calif./Upland) is the only Knight with four in a game and Villalobos is the only player with three in a game.
Cheryl Lopez (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville), who earned the win when Natham walked off, pitched three innings of relief against the Golden Griffins and allowed a single unearned run.
Holly Mercier (Corona, Calif./Santiago) drove in at least one run in three of the four games at Columbia weekend, including two in the Knights' 14-9 win over Columbia on Friday in game one.
Knights' Leaders; batting average, Wilen (.405); slugging percentage, Wilen (.595); on-base percentage, Wilen (.457); runs, Wilen (14); hits, Wilen (30); RBI, Cervantes (13); doubles, Wilen (9); home runs, Villalobos (2); total bases, Wilen (9); ERA, Lerma (5.59); wins, Lopez (3); innings, Lopez (53.0).
