Softball Gameday: Lady Bears at Mount Saint Vincent

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- After having three doubleheaders postponed, St. Joseph's (0-6) returns to the field for their first games of the year in the Empire State, looking for first wins of season as they play Mount Saint Vincent (7-2) in a twinbill on Tuesday, April 1st at 3:30 p.m.

Game Information

St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (0-6) at Mount Saint Vincent (7-2, 3-2 Skyline)

Tuesday, April 1st  • 3:30 p.m.
Van Cortlandt Park • Riverdale, N.Y.

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Storylines

• St. Joseph's looks to win their first games of the season after going 0-6 against tough competition down in Florida.
• The Lady Bears look to improve to 14-11 against Mount Saint Vincent in the all-time series.
• St. Joseph's tries to pick up their first road wins of the season with a pair of wins after going 6-6-1 away from home a year ago.
• The Lady Bears look to snap a three-game losing streak to the Dolphins that dates back to 2012.
• With a pair of losses, St. Joseph's would have their longest losing streak since 2008 when they started the season 0-10.
• Mount Saint Vincent looks to extend their three-game winning streak and remain undefeated at home with a sweep.
• The Dolphins look to match their win total from a year ago with a sweep of the Lady Bears.
• Cassandra Molinari tries to continue her hot start to the beginning of the season, coming in batting a team-high .467 with two runs scored.

Series History

St. Joseph's holds a 12-11 mark all-time against Mount Saint Vincent, but have lost the last three meetings, including being swept by the Dolphins in their home opener on March 22nd of last year. The Lady Bears dropped the opener 16-1 in five innings before falling 7-3 in the nightcap.

The Bear Facts

Last Time Out: Offense was hard to come by for St. Joseph's as they dropped a pair of 8-0 decisions to the University of Wisconsin-Superior and the College at Brockport in five innings to conclude their season-opening Florida trip at the Gene Cusic Classic on Thursday.

St. Joseph's returns home to New York after going 0-6 in Florida to begin the season. The Lady Bears look to get their bats going as they faced tough competition in the Sunshine State hitting only .167, while the pitching staff struggled as well, compiling a 13.21 ERA during the trip. The road has been kind to Coach Carbone and the Lady Bears as they have not had a losing record away from Preller since 2008 and have had only two seasons below .500 on the road since 2002.

Last week's HVIAC Player of the Week Cassandra Molinari has started the season off on a tear, batting a team-high .467 (7-for-15) with a team-high-tying two runs scored along with an RBI. The junior leads the Lady Bears with a .467 slugging percentage and .467 on base percentage and has recorded a hit in four of St. Joseph's first six contests. Last year's AD3I All-Independent First Team selection also has been a threat from behind the plate, throwing out four runners.

Also contributing at the dish is last week's HVIAC Rookie of the Week Kristin Ferrigno who has impressed in her opening games as a Lady Bear, leading the team with three RBIs and is second on the team with a .231 (3-for-13) batting average.

Leading St. Joseph's in the circle is junior Jackie Perillo who went 7-6 last season, but struggled to begin the season, going 0-3 with a 13.07 ERA in 15.0 innings down in Florida. Perillo also helps herself at the dish, hitting .231 (3-for-13) to begin the season. Freshman Jamilynn McGowan also starts in the circle for the Lady Bears and comes into today's action 0-3 with a 11.05 ERA.

Flipper Facts

Last Time Out: Mount Saint Vincent picked up an 11-7 victory over St. Joseph's (L.I.) on Saturday. The Dolphins were helped by four home runs on the day, including two by Mackenzie Heizer who went 4-for-4 with six RBI and three runs scored and picked up the win in the circle.

Mount Saint Vincent comes in playing their best ball of the season, having won three games in a row, scoring double-digit runs in each contest. The Dolphins, chosen to finish seventh in the eight-team Skyline Conference, have surprised early on with a sweep of Skyline preseason No. 2 pick NYU-Poly on March 22nd. With a sweep of the Lady Bears, Mount Saint Vincent would match its win total from a year ago and would help them in their pursuit of their first winning season since 2009 when they went 16-9.

Last week's Skyline Rookie of the Week Brittany Lee has had a good start to her rookie campaign, batting a team-high .500 (8-for-16) with nine runs scored and five RBI on the season. Last season's Second Team All-Skyline selection Danielle Maffei has swung the bat well, hitting .452 (14-for-31) with 10 RBI, seven runs and two home runs.

Dual-threat Mackenzie Heizer leads the Dolphins in the circle and is the team's leading run producer. The freshman is batting .448 (13-for-29) and leads the team with three long balls and 13 RBI. Heizer also has made four starts in the circle for Mount Saint Vincent, posting a 4-1 mark with a 4.41 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 27.0 innings.

Team Comparison

Lady Bears	Nickname	Dolphins
0-6	Record	7-2 (3-2)
HVIAC	Conference	Skyline
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Cassandra Molinari (.467)	Top Avg.	Brittany Lee (.500)
Kristin Ferrigno (3)	Top RBI	Mackenzie Heizer (13)
Jackie Perillo (3)	Top K	Mackenzie Heizer (45)
.167	Bat. Avg.	.376
.184	Slugging	.578
.252	OBP	.457
9	Runs	85
19	Hits	97
7	RBI	74
0	SB	7
13.21	ERA	4.23
.444	Opp. Avg.	.291
6/42	K/BB	73/18
.917	Field %	.941