With a chance to take sole possession of first place in the Skyline this weekend, St. Joseph’s (Brooklyn) will face the College of Mount Saint Vincent in a four-game series, beginning with a doubleheader in Patchogue.

After batting 8-for-10 and slugging 1.300 last weekend against Purchase, Ashleigh Hartwig earned her second consecutive Skyline Player of the Week honor. Highlighted by a 4-for-4 game in the series finale against the Panthers in which she joined the 100-hit club, Hartwig racked up seven RBI, scored six runs, hit a double, and a pair of triples. The junior is riding a 13-game hit streak into this weekend’s series, the longest streak of her career.

Joining Hartwig in the conference weekly accolades was fellow junior Jessica Mecham, who earned Pitcher of the Week for the second time in her career. She picked up her first save of the season – tossing three perfect innings in relief – sandwiched between a pair of complete-game shutouts. In 13 innings, Mecham ended the weekend with 13 strikeouts, allowing just eight hits and a walk without giving up a run.

Hartwig finds herself second in the league with 49 at-bats, 29 hits, 22 RBI, and three triples, sixth in the league in batting average (.592) and slugging percentage (.939), and eighth in on-base percentage (.607). With 13 runs to her name, tied with Nicole Trani, Hartwig is third in that category; trailing Alexis Buchanan (13) and Sierra Bedrin (14) in that category.

Mecham is second in the Skyline with six wins and 49.2 innings pitched. Her 1.97 ERA and 22 strikeouts are good for fifth and eighth in the conference, respectively.

Led by first-year head coach Miguel Justiniano, the Mount Saint Vincent softball program will look to snap a seven-game winless streak this weekend against St. Joseph’s (Brooklyn). The Dolphins were swept last weekend by first-place Mount Saint Mary.

Abigail Laurendeau batted 5-for-10 (.500) in the series including a 3-for-3 game last Friday, also driving in a run. Erin Patterson batted .571 against the Knights, going 4-for-7 and scoring a run. Also scoring runs and recording RBI in the series, all occurring in Friday’s doubleheader, were sophomore Jocelyn Vega and freshmen Aimee Vega and Shaniya Serrano.

Jocelyn Vega went 2-for-5 on Friday, bringing home CMSV’s lone run of the front end of their twin bill as Aimee Vega went 1-for-3 in the nightcap.

Serrano combined to go 3-for-5 and scored a pair of runs. She maintains a team-leading .500 batting average and .545 on-base percentage on the year, cracking into the Skyline Top 20 in both categories. Sophomore Katie Hutter leads the Dolphins with 27 at-bats and her seven hits trail Laurendeau by one. Jocelyn Vega has the most RBI on the team with five. She also has as many hits and scored a pair of runs in 2021.

In 24 innings pitched, Hutter’s 5.54 ERA is good for 10th in the Skyline with junior Kimberly Medina right behind her with a 6.84 ERA. Hutter, who picked up the lone win for the Dolphins this season, fanned 14 while Medina has 10 K’s. 

The Dolphins hold a 16-8 lead in the all-time series that started in 2009. The Dolphins also hold a 7-2 edge since 2016 in Skyline meetings, including a win in the first round of the 2019 Skyline Championship, when the teams last met.