HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team begins a nine-day, 13-game trip to California this weekend with four games hosted at University of the Pacific starting Saturday.
All games will be available to view on live stats, and games against host Pacific will be streamed live via WatchStadium. The games against Boise State and Sacramento State will not be live streamed.
GAME SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 9 | Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Boise State, 10 a.m. PST |
Live Stats
Saturday, March 9 | Fairleigh Dickinson at Pacific, 2:30 p.m. PST |
Live Stream |
Live Stats
Sunday, March 10 | Sacramento State vs. Fairleigh Dickinson, 10 a.m. PST |
Live Stats
Sunday, March 10 | Fairleigh Dickinson at Pacific, 2:30 p.m. |
Live Stream |
Live Stats
ENTERING THE WEEKEND
The Knights (4-7) were rained out of last weekend's scheduled games at Morgan State, and have not played since ending their Louisiana trip in February with wins in four of five games at Southern.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE BAYOU
Junior
Madison Emerson led the Knights with 11 hits and batted .355 in 11 games in Louisiana to go with three runs scored and driven in as well. Freshman
Courtney Mahoney totaled five RBI, including four in a game in a win over Southern, and sophomore
Rylie Schmeh led the Knights with six RBI while also hitting a double and two triples. Three of the four hits by freshman
Amarys Miller-Godsey were doubles, including one that drove in the winning run of FDU's extra-inning win over Southern. In the circle, senior
Baylee Ports earned two complete game victories with one shutout vs. Southern, and sophomore
Abby England tallied 19 strikeouts in 16.1 innings to go with a 2.14 ERA, going 2-0 with a complete game victory vs. Southern.
TOURNAMENT INFO
FDU is one of four teams competing in the Louisville Slugger Tournament at Pacific, joining Boise State and Sacramento State as the teams traveling to Stockton, California. All games will take place at Bill Simoni Field on the campus of Pacific. Tickets are required to purchase for all games, and can be purchased in advance at
this link here or by contacting Pacific Box Office (tickets@pacific.edu).
PAST GAMES
FDU played Pacific and Sacramento State last season and also faced Sacramento State in 2014. The Knights both games last season to the respective teams, falling 5-0 to Pacific and 7-0 to Sacramento State. The Knights defeated Sacramento State back in 2014 in a 5-3 win in the Mustang Classic hosted by Cal Poly. FDU will be facing Boise State for the first time ever on Saturday.
SCOUTING BOISE STATE
The Broncos (14-2) have won 13 straight games entering the weekend and are currently ranked 24th in the Softball America national poll and are receiving votes in both the NFCA Coaches' Poll and the USA Softball Poll. Boise State is led by sophomore Alison Seng who leads the team with a .400 average and has reached base safely in 13 straight games (10-game hitting streak). Sophomore pitcher Gianna Mancha has only allowed one run in 14.2 innings in their recent weekend wins over UIC and Long Beach State. Boise State was picked to repeat as Mountain West Conference champions in the league preseason poll.
SCOUTING PACIFIC
The Tigers (4-9) were also rained out of last weekend's scheduled games against Bowling Green, LIU Brooklyn and UC Santa Barbara and have not played since Feb. 24. The Tigers have struggled to score runs this season, having been shut out six times already this season. Pacific is led offensively by junior Bradi Kooyman, who is hitting .306 with four doubles. Junior Hailey Reed leads the team with a 3.17 ERA in 28.2 innings pitched with 35 strikeouts. Pacific was picked to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference preseason poll after going 20-27 last season.
SCOUTING SACRAMENTO STATE
The Hornets (8-7) won two of three games at the UC Riverside Classic this past weekend, defeating host UC Riverside along with California Baptist while falling to UTEP. The Hornets enter the weekend having won four of their last five games after a 3-6 start to the season. Nene Alas is hitting .438 with five doubles and seven RBI to lead the Hornets offensively, and Sacramento State pitchers have a combined ERA of 3.50 this season with 56 strikeouts in 98 innings. The Hornets are the defending Big Sky conference champions with a 31-20 record and were selected to repeat in the Big Sky preseason poll earlier this year.
UP NEXT
After this weekend's tournament at Pacific, FDU will travel for doubleheaders on consecutive days at St. Mary's College and University of California Berkeley. The Knights play St. Mary's on Tuesday, March 12 starting at 1 p.m., PST, and they face the Golden Bears of Cal the following day starting at 2 p.m., PST. FDU then ends its trip through the Golden State with games at Sacramento State against the host Hornets as well as Marist on Friday, and they play three games the following two days at UC Davis against Marist, Santa Clara, and host UC Davis.
