STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team is set to begin its 2021 campaign on Thursday, March 25 when they travel to Stony Brook, N.Y. to take on Stony Brook in a doubleheader series with game one starting at 2:00 p.m. and game two around 4:00 p.m. This will be FDU's first contest since March 11, 2020.
Series Info
FDU (0-0) at Stony Brook (9-5)
Game 1: Thursday, March 25 at 2:00 p.m. – University Field
Game 2: Thursday, March 25 at 4:00 p.m. – University Field
No spectators will be permitted throughout the 2020-21 season
Coverage: Watch |
Live Stats
In-Game Updates: @FDUKnightsSB
All-Time Series
Stony Brook leads 11-2
Streak…L1
First Meeting…4/4/02 (Stony Brook 6, FDU 0)
Last Meeting…3/25/18 (Stony Brook 1, FDU 0)
NEC Season Format and Preseason Poll
There will be a 32-game conference schedule that will be played in a round-robin (four-game series) format over eight weeks from March 20-May 9. The NEC will only have four teams qualify for a double-elimination NEC Championship that will take place from May 13-15. FDU was predicted to finish seventh in the NEC Preseason Poll.
Scouting the Seawolves
Stony Brook (9-5) began its season on a five-game winning streak, lost three of the next five, and has won two in a row heading into the FDU doubleheader. Two of those Stony Brook games came against NEC opponent Sacred Heart with the Seawolves splitting the series with a win in game one and a loss in game two. Graduate student Melissa Rahrich leads the Stony Brook offense with a .409 batting average, three home runs, 11 RBI's, and 31 total bases. Rahrich has also pitched in seven games and has posted a 4-2 record in 40 innings with a 3.50 ERA. Senior Dawn Bodrug is the Seawolves ace and has pitched six complete games. Bodrug has posted a 5-2 record, a 1.54 ERA, and 81 strikeouts in 50.0 innings. Graduate student Jourdin Hering leads the team in at-bats with 53 and has 17 total hits so far this year.
More on the Seawolves
Scouting the Knights
FDU (0-0) will open the 2021 campaign with the series against Stony Brook before opening up conference play. Last season before COVID shut the season down, the Knights were 4-12 and were rounding out non-conference action. FDU went 2-0 against both Grambling State and Delaware State. Offensively, the Knights were led by graduate student
Madison Emerson who started all 16 games and led the team with a .348 batting average, an OPS of .910, 16 hits, and 24 total bases. Emerson also was tied for the team lead with two home runs with sophomore
Savannah Thornell who launched two homers and six RBI's. Junior
Riley De Laval also batted over .300 with an average of .306 and slashed 16 hits. Junior
Courtney Mahoney led the Knights in ERA with a 3.17, WHIP with a 1.47, and tied for the team lead in shutouts with two. Sophomore
Malori Bell posted a 3.61 ERA, which ranked second on the team in 21.1 innings and appeared in six games. Junior
Alayna Savaglio led the Knights in innings pitched with 32.2, strikeouts with 43, and held opponents to a .238 batting average.
More on the Knights
Coach Foye's Thoughts
"It's been 377 days since we last played a regular season game and we are all very excited to get back on the field this week. We return 16 players from last year's team so their experience should help us in our new 4 game conference format where we will play a total of 32 conference games this year."
"I believe one of the biggest assets to this year's potential success will be our pitching depth. We have six pitchers that we feel we can put out there in any situation. I have been very impressed with the team's focus and work ethic under such difficult circumstances and I believe this will only help us going forward this season."
What's Next
After Wednesday's doubleheader against Stony Brook, FDU will open NEC play on Saturday, March 27 against LIU at 1 p.m. for the first of a four-game NEC series.
