Buccaneer Classic Up Next for Akron

Saturday, March 13

Johnson City, Tenn.

11:00 AM

University of Akron

Bradley

March 12 | Softball

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AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron women's softball squad continues its campaign this weekend as the Zips travel to Johnson City, Tenn., to compete at the Buccaneer Classic hosted by East Tennessee State on Saturday and Sunday, March 13-14.

Buccaneer Classic | Betty Basler Field

March 13 vs. Bradley | 11 a.m. | Live Stats
March 13 at East Tennessee State | 1 p.m. | Live Stats
March 14 vs. Bradley | 11 a.m. | Live Stats
March 14 at East Tennessee State | 3:30 p.m. | Live Stats

WHAT'S AHEAD:
The University of Akron softball squad will open tournament play battling Bradley at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 13, before facing host East Tennessee State at 1 p.m. The same teams meet again on Sunday, March 14, as the Zips encounter the Braves at 11 a.m. before closing tournament play versus the Buccaneers at 3:30 p.m.

SCOUTING AKRON:
Akron is in its 44th season of intercollegiate competition in 2021. Under the direction of second-year head coach Meaggan Pettipiece, the Zips returned 16 players from the Zips' 2020 squad and have added 12 newcomers to the 2021 roster.

Redshirt freshman OF Molly McChesney (Verona, Wis.) leads the offensive exploits for the Zips this season batting a team-best .458 on the strength of team-high marks in hits (11), at-bats (24), runs (6), total bases (13), triples (1), stolen bases (4), slugging percentage (.542) and on-base percentage (.480). Additionally, redshirt freshman C Laurel DeVoe (North Canton, Ohio) has posted a team-best five RBI.

A trio of Akron pitchers have tossed double-digit innings in the circle, including 14.0, 12.2 and 11.1 innings, respectively, from freshmen P Olivia Stefanoni (Hudson, Ohio) and Sheridon Wilber (Rock Creek, Ohio) and junior P Olivia Otani (Canton, Ohio). Stefanoni, Otani and Wilber has earned 19, 12 and five strikeouts, respectively.

This season, the Zips returned four of their top-six hitters from a year ago in redshirt freshman OF Tiffany Stevens (Toledo, Ohio), redshirt junior INF Sydney Jascoe (Commerce, Mich.) and seniors INF/OF Jessie Holzman (Medina, Ohio) and OF Madison Carter (Newnan, Ga.).

Stevens is Akron's top-returning hitter after batting .315 a season ago, with 17 hits in 54 at-bats, with eight RBI, six runs scored, five doubles and a pair of home runs. She boasted a .519 slugging percentage and .373 on-base mark.

Jascoe batted .300 en route to belting a team-high seven home runs, while also leading the Zips in RBI (21), and runs scored (16), while ranking second in hits (21) and total bases (46). Her .657 slugging and .388 on-base percentages are tops among returners this season.

Holzman finished the season with a .297 average recording 11 hits in 37 at-bats, four extra-base hits, while scoring eight runs and plating eight RBI.

Carter registered a .286 average on the strength of 12 hits in 42 at-bats, including three extra-base hits, and finished the campaign with eight runs scored and four RBI.

Jascoe was one of two returning Zips to start all 25 games in 2020, while senior OF Macky Mitchiner (Riverside, Calif.), who posted 12 hits, including five for extra bases, while ranking second on the squad with 11 RBI, started all 23 games in which she played.

Inside the circle, redshirt sophomore Lexie Petrof (Ligonier, Pa.) appeared in 16 games for the Zips, including 10 starts, going 55.1 innings and striking out 19 to maintain a 5.44 ERA. Redshirt junior Alexa DiFeo (Akron, Ohio) made five starts as part of nine overall appearances on the mound for the Zips, fanning 10 in 18.2 innings of work en route to owning a 5.25 ERA. Additionally, redshirt sophomore Lauren Frigyes (Paris, Ohio) worked 12.2 innings of relief, in which she struck out six and tallied a 10.50 ERA.

Joining the Zips roster in 2020 are 12 newcomers; freshmen UTIL Anna Aquino (Medina, Ohio), Auten, INF Madison Dudek (Uniontown, Ohio), INF Hannah Gartrell (York, Pa.), OF Kalli Macintosh-Houlder (Mississauga, Ontario), Otani, sophomores C Katelyn Reynolds (Cincinnati, Ohio) and C Teagan Rice (Louisville, Ohio) and freshmen UTIL Jillian Riegert (Worthington, Ohio), Stefanoni, INF Atlantis Taufa (Fullerton, Calif.) and Wilber.

SCOUTING BRADLEY:
Bradley is off to a 3-6 start to its campaign after earning a split of a doubleheader with DePaul on Monday, March 8. The Braves dropped the opener, 4-1, before winning the nightcap, 2-1. Sophomore INF Camryn Monteer owns a team-best .471 batting average on the strength of team-high marks in hits (8) and runs (5), while ranking second in RBI (2), total bases (8) and walks (2). In the circle, junior P Taise Thompson and freshmen P Camryn Schaller and Morgan Radford own 2.15, 5.07 and 6.46 ERA's having tossed 13.0, 15.1 and 13.0 innings, respectively.

SCOUTING EAST TENNESSEE STATE:
East Tennessee State owns a 5-3 ledger this season after splitting a doubleheader with Appalachian State on Tuesday, March 9. Sophomore Alana Collins is batting a team-best .357, while pacing the Buccaneers in hits (10), at-bats (28) and total bases (12). Senior P Kelly Schmidt, has twirled 21.2 innings in the circle for East Tennessee State, owning a 1.29 ERA on the strength of a team-high 16 strikeouts against only four walks.

SERIES HISTORY:
Akron is set to meet Bradley for the second and third times, respectively, in program history, with the Braves registering an 8-3 victory over the Zips in the only previous meeting between the schools on March 29, 1991.

Akron will square off against East Tennessee State for the eighth and ninth times in program history with series tied at 3-3-1. The two teams last met during the 2019 campaign when the Zips and Buccaneers battled to a 6-6 tie in the final game of the Blue Hose Invitational hosted by Presbyterian on Feb. 10, 2019 in Clinton, S.C.

A UNIQUE HONOR:
The Zips were honored this week by the NCAA as their sixth-inning inning-ending double play against Marshall in game one on March 3 was recognized as the No. 2 play in the Top-Five Plays of the Week by NCAA Softball. With one out in the bottom of the frame and a runner on first base, a hard-hit liner was snared by a diving Samantha Malik, who got to her feet and fired to Jessie Holzman to double up the runner at first base. WATCH HERE

AKRON NOTES:
• The Zips have been a member of the Mid-American Conference for the past 27 years after joining the league in 1993 from the North Star Conference.
• Akron's softball roster in 2021 is compiled of 28 student-athletes from all across the United States with eight different states and one Canadian Province represented. The Zips roster consists of 16 players from Ohio, three from Michigan, two from California and Pennsylvania, one from Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ontario and Wisconsin.
• The 2020 season marks the 44th season of intercollegiate competition for the Akron softball program.

UP NEXT:
Akron is scheduled to open Mid-American Conference play hosting Buffalo in a four-game series, March 19-21.