Akron Hosts Saint Francis and Marshall in Mid-Week Doubleheaders

Wednesday, March 24

Akron, Ohio

1:00 PM

University of Akron

Saint Francis

Akron Hosts Saint Francis and Marshall in Mid-Week Doubleheaders

March 23 | Softball

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AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron women's softball squad will step out conference for a pair of doubleheaders this week as the Zips welcome Saint Francis and Marshall to Lee R. Jackson Field on Wednesday and Thursday, March 24-25, respectively.

Saint Francis/Marshall | Lee R. Jackson Field

March 24 vs. Saint Francis | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Stream
March 24 vs. Saint Francis | 3 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Stream
March 25 vs. Marshall | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Stream
March 25 vs. Marshall | 3 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Stream

WHAT'S AHEAD:
The University of Akron softball squad will open its week hosting Saint Francis in a pair of games on Wednesday at 1 and 3 p.m., before battling Marshall on Thursday in a doubleheader at 1 and 3 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 .429 on the strength of team-high marks in hits (15), runs (8), total bases (17), triples (1), stolen bases (6), slugging percentage (.486) and on-base percentage (.459), while ranking second in at-bats (35). Additionally, redshirt freshman C Laurel DeVoe (North Canton, Ohio) has posted a team-best two home runs and seven RBI.

A quintet of Akron pitchers has tossed double-digit innings in the circle, including 26.1, 25.2, 18.1, 16.2 and 12.2 innings, respectively, from junior P Olivia Otani (Canton, Ohio), freshman P Olivia Stefanoni (Hudson, Ohio), redshirt sophomore Lexie Petrof (Ligonier, Pa.), freshman Sheridon Wilber (Rock Creek, Ohio) and redshirt junior Alexa DiFeo (Akron, Ohio). Stefanoni, Otani, Petrof, DiFeo and Wilber have earned 35, 25, 15, nine 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, Petrof appeared in 16 games for the Zips, including 10 starts, going 55.1 innings and striking out 19 to maintain a 5.44 ERA. DiFeo 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), INF Carley Auten (Pickerington, Ohio), 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 SAINT FRANCIS:
Saint Francis stands at 13-6 on the year after a doubleheader sweep of Youngstown State on Saturday, March 20. Junior INF Lindsay Ward owns a team-best .396 batting average, while senior INF Mekenzie Saban maintains team-leading totals in at-bats (64), runs (21), hits (25), doubles (8) and total bases (39). In the circle, sophomore P's Grace Vesco and Rachel Marsden own 0.95 and 1.51 ERA's having tossed 66.1 and 46.1 innings, respectively.

SCOUTING MARSHALL:
Marshall enters plays this week owning a 9-3 record following a three-game series sweep of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) last weekend. Senior INF Ally Harrell leads the offensive efforts for the Thundering Herd posting a team-high .444 batting average, while senior C Katie Adams paces Marshall in at-bats (34), hits (13), doubles (5), while ranking third in RBI (7). In the circle, redshirt sophomore P Cailey Joyce, sophomore P Ashley Blessin and senior P Laney Jones maintain ERA's of 1.14, 1.94 and 2.95 in 12.1, 21.2 and 21.1 innings pitched, respectively.

SERIES HISTORY:
Akron is set to meet Marshall for the 39th and 40th times, respectively, in program history, with the Zips leading the series, 20-18. Earlier this season on March 3, the Thundering Herd registered a pair of victories over Akron, 7-4 and 8-0 in Huntington, W.Va.

Akron is playing Saint Francis for the 22nd and 23rd times, respectively, in program history, with the Zips leading the all-time series, 12-9. The Red Flash swept a doubleheader from Akron on March 31, 2015 at Lee R. Jackson Field in the last encounter between the two programs.

A WEEK AGO:
Akron opened Mid-American Conference play registering a split of a four-game weekend set with Buffalo at Lee R. Jackson Field. The Zips dropped the opener, 4-0, on Friday, March 19, before taking the first game of a twinbill, 3-0, on Saturday, March 20. The Bulls recorded a 7-2 triumph in the nightcap of the doubleheader, before Akron claimed a 4-2 triumph in the series finale on Sunday, March 21.

The Zips dropped a 4-0 decision to Buffalo in the league opener for both schools on Friday as each team recorded five hits in the affair with the Bulls pushing across the game's first run with a single tally in the fourth inning and three more in the six to secure the victory.

Laurel DeVoe led the Zips' offensive production in the contest going 2-for-3 at the plate, while three other Akron players added one hit apiece.

Olivia Stefanoni struck out eight Buffalo batters over 4.0 innings in the circle, while Ally Marcano tossed a complete game to earn the win for the Bulls.

On Saturday, Akron earned split with Buffalo on the strength of a 3-0 triumph in the opener.

The Zips made the most of their opportunities in the first game as Akron broke open a scoreless contest with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, before plating another tally in their final at-bat in the bottom of the sixth to take a 3-0 decision.

Back-to-back doubles from RF Tiffany Stevens and redshirt freshman 2B Maggie Sons (Dalzell, Ill.) opened the home half of the fifth inning. A sacrifice bunt from senior SS Samantha Malik (Orlando, Fla.) drove in Stevens for what proved to be the game-winning run. A delayed double steal saw Sons cross the plate with the second run.

A pinch-hit two-out home run over the wall in left field from DeVoe capped the scoring in the tilt for Akron.

Olivia Otani allowed only four hits over five innings to notch the victory for the Zips, while Lexie Petrof pitched the final two frames to earn her first save of the season.

In game two, the Bulls scored a single tally in the top of the first inning to assume a 1-0 lead. Buffalo left the bases loaded in the frame thanks to the pitching of Sheridon Wilber and some a strong throw from Madison Carter to double-up a runner at third base after a fly out to left field.

Akron responded with a two-run surge in the bottom of the second fueled by a two-run home run by Malik, her first of the year.

The Bulls fired back a salvo of their own with a pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings to assume a 5-2 advantage. Buffalo tacked in single tallies in the sixth and seventh frames to secure the victory.

Molly McChesney went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Zips in the nightcap, while Malik collected a team-high two RBI.

Akron wrapped a successful opening securing a 4-2 victory past Buffalo in the series finale at Lee R. Jackson Field on Sunday.

The Zips took an early 2-0 advantage in the affair on the strength of 3B Madison Dudek (Uniontown, Ohio) blasting a 2-0 offering over the wall in left field for her first career home run, a two-run shot, to give Akron a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

Buffalo cut the Zips' advantage to one on a one-out RBI single in the top of the third inning.

Senior CF Macky Mitchiner (Riverside, Calif.) opened the bottom of the third inning with a lead-off double, before McChesney drew a walk. A groundout advanced both runners into scoring position where Dudek delivered a successful bunt single down the third-base line to drive in Mitchiner and move McChesney up 60 feet to third base. DeVoe reached on an RBI fielder's choice to plate McChesney with the Zips' fourth run of the game.

Stefanoni kept the Bulls off-balance for four innings allowing only one hit, while striking out five en route to earning the victory, before yielding the circle to Otani, who tossed the final three innings to notch her first save of the season.

Buffalo mounted a threat in its final at-bat as the Bulls collected back-to-back one out singles before loading the bases with a two-out walk. A single to center field plated a second run for Buffalo. A heady defensive play on the hit from Mitchiner, who fired the ball in from center field to redshirt junior 1B Lauren Holdsworth (Howell, Mich.) in the middle of the diamond, who tossed to a charging Sons catching the runner between second and third base where Dudek applied the tag to end the game.

Dudek finished the tilt 3-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and a run scored, while McChesney and Mitchiner accounted for the Zips' other two runs scored.

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 travel to Bowling Green, Ohio, for a four-game weekend series at Bowling Green, April 2-4.