The Bear Facts

Winners of 15 of their last 17, the St. Joseph’s (Brooklyn) softball team will face sibling rivals SJC Long Island this weekend in the penultimate series of the regular season. With an 11-4 conference record, the Bears find themselves tied with Farmingdale State atop the Skyline standings.

Ashleigh Hartwig extended her hit streak to 17 games after going 9-for-14 in the four-game set against Mount Saint Vincent; slugging 1.000, hitting a home run and a pair of doubles, scoring seven runs, and driving home eight. The junior followed back-to-back selections as Player of the Week with a place in the Skyline Weekly Honor Roll and maintains the conference lead in batting average (.603), hits (38), RBI (30), and homers (3). Her .603 average places her fourth in the nation in Division III while her slugging (.952), on-base percentage (.611) and RBI per game (1.58) all rank in the top 14 nationally.

Casey Bennett also homered for the Bears last weekend, her first career dinger. The middle infielder batted .500 on Saturday with three RBI and a pair of runs scored; finding herself second in the league with nine doubles and fourth in RBI with 18.

Earning wins for the Bears in the circle were Jessica Mecham, Sierra Bedrin, and Allison Kaspar. The trio all tossed complete games in their victories and combined for 10 strikeouts with Bedrin leading the way with a season-high five K’s.

SJC Brooklyn will look for their first win over Patchogue since splitting a pair of 1-0 results in a doubleheader back in 2012; with their rivals possessing a 15-5 all-time record against the navy and gray. 

The Bears will celebrate the career of their lone graduate Vanessa Quigley during Senior Day ceremonies prior to the opening game of Sunday’s twin bill. 

The Golden Eagle Gameplan

Entering the final stretch of the regular season with an 8-3 conference record, SJC Long Island is currently sitting fourth place in the Skyline standings as five teams jockey for the four spot in the Skyline Championship in two weekends. Coming off a stretch of 13 days without action, the Golden Eagles swept Old Westbury in their return to the diamond last weekend.

Second baseman Lauren Crawford slugged .889 against the Panthers, going 6-for-9 with a pair of doubles, four RBI, and six runs scored; highlighted by a 3-for-3 game in the series opener. Lindsey McKenna closed out the series batting 4-for-4 with a whopping six RBI, three runs, and hit a pair of triples. She went 6-for-8, averaging .750 against the Panthers, and totaled eight RBI to earn a Weekly Honor Roll nod.

Senior Lindsay Ness batted in three runs in the series finale, going 2-for-3 in the game and 7-for-10 against Old Westbury while junior Jenna DeFina – who leads the team with a .560 batting average, .593 on-base percentage, and 20 runs scored – batted .545 in three games, scoring six runs and collecting an RBI. She also leads the Skyline with 10 stolen bases with Crawford right behind her in second place with seven. Ness is first on the Golden Eagles in slugging (.649), RBI (16), and doubles (6).

Julia Ruocchio (2.63) and Patricia McGloin (4.57) sit in eighth and ninth in the conference in ERA. McGloin has tossed 38.1 innings this season while Ruocchio, who pitched a complete game last Saturday, has thrown 26.2 innings. McGloin’s 33 strikeouts place her fourth in the Skyline.

Following this weekend’s series, SJC Long Island will take on Manhattanville before ending their regular season against the 2019 Skyline Conference finalists, Mount Saint Mary.