Softball Gameday: Lady Bears vs. Valley Forge and Sarah Lawrence

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Joseph's (9-15) tries to get back to winning ways as they travel to Pennsylvania for a doubleheader at Valley Forge Christian College (2-23) on Saturday, April 26th at 1 p.m. before returning home to celebrate Senior Day and the careers of seniors Christina Quintana and Megan Moran on Sunday, April 27th versus HVIAC foe Sarah Lawrence College (0-20) at 1 p.m.

Game Information

St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (9-15) at Valley Forge Christian College (2-23)
Saturday, April 26th • 1 p.m.
Phoenixville, Pa.

Sarah Lawrence College (0-20, 0-1 HVIAC) vs. St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (9-15, 1-0 HVIAC)
Sunday, April 27th • 2 p.m.
Padavan-Preller Field • Bellerose, N.Y.
Live Stats | Program

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Storylines

• The Lady Bears look to snap a two-game losing streak and move to two games under .500 with sweeps of Valley Forge and Sarah Lawrence for the first time since they started the season 0-2.
• St. Joseph's tries to improve to 7-8 in true road games with a sweep of the Patriots and 6-3 in home games with two wins against the Gryphons.
• The Lady Bears meet Valley Forge for the first time in school history and try to remain perfect all-time against Sarah Lawrence.
• St. Joseph's looks to sweep the Gryphons on Senior Day after being swept by Briarcliffe on Senior Day a year ago.
• With a pair of sweep, the Lady Bears would finish 13-9 in the month of April and post a winning record in April for the sixth consecutive season.
• On Sunday St. Joseph's will honor the careers of seniors Christina Quintana and Megan Moran who have been a part of 77 wins over the careers coming into this weekend's matchups. Quintana comes in having played in 91 games, accumulating 30 career hits, 23 RBI and 18 runs scored. Moran has appeared in 100 games and is a career .314 hitter, entering with 44 career hits in 140 at bats. The outfielder/shortstop has scored 41 runs and driven in 27 runs over the course of her four-year career.

Series History

vs. Valley Forge: First Meeting

vs. Sarah Lawrence: St. Joseph's maintains a perfect 21-0 record against their conference foe in the all-time series that dates back to May 1, 2005. The Lady Bears took the last meeting 14-1 on May 5, 2013 in the HVWAC Invitational championship game.

The Lady Bear Facts

Last Time Out: St. Joseph's suffered a doubleheader sweep at the hands of borough rival Brooklyn College on Thursday afternoon at Padavan-Preller Field, dropping the opener 20-2 and the nightcap 16-2, both in five innings.

St. Joseph's comes in playing .500 ball over their last 18 games since returning from Florida, but have the opportunity to finish the month of April with a winning record with a pair of sweeps and move to two games under .500 for the first time since starting the season 0-2. After batting a subpar .167 in six games during their Florida trip, the Lady Bears bats have come alive as the team has hit .371 in 18 games and is averaging 6.6 runs per game, while the pitching staff has improved compiling a 5.72 staff ERA over the 18-game stretch.

One-time HVIAC Player of the Week Cassandra Molinari continues to be a constant force in the St. Joseph's lineup, leading the team with a .443 average in a team-high 70 at bats. The junior has accumulated a team-high 31 hits, while driving in 17 runs, recording 14 runs scored and six doubles for a team-high .529 slugging percentage. The catcher/second baseman has also been a consistent threat from behind the plate, gunning down nine potential base stealers on the year. Molinari is also creeping up on the 100-hit career milestone, coming into this weekend nine hits shy of becoming 12th Lady Bear to accomplish the feat.

Kristin Ferrigno, a two-time HVIAC Rookie of the Week, continues to do work for the Lady Bears at the plate batting .382 with a team-high 18 RBI in 68 at bats. The freshman has hit an impressive .418 (23-for-55) with 15 RBI in St. Joseph's 18 games since returning from Florida and has played a strong third base defensively as well. This week's HVIAC Rookie of the Week Briana Robles is on a tear since the team returned back to the Empire State, batting a blistering .500 (18-for-36) with 12 RBI and 11 runs scored.

Another rookie for St. Joseph's that has produced is this week's HVIAC Player of the Week Samantha Rossi who is batting .339 on the year with 16 RBI and has a team-high seven doubles in 62 at bats.

The pitching staff is made up of freshman Jamilynn McGowan and junior Jackie Perillo. McGowan leads the Lady Bears with a 5.95 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 64 2/3 innings and is 4-8 on the year. Perillo has a team-high five wins in the circle and sports an 8.40 ERA in a team-high 65.0 innings.

The Patriot Act

Last Time Out: Valley Forge dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Lancaster Bible on Wednesday, falling 13-0 in the opener and 10-2 in the second game.

The Patriots have struggled this season after starting the 2014 campaign 2-2, dropping 21 games in a row and need three wins over their last six games to match their win total from a year ago. Valley Forge has had its issues at the plate and in the circle this season, batting only .200 as a team and compiling a 11.06 staff ERA in 131.0 innings.

Samantha Reed leads the Patriots at the dish with a .360 average and is tied for the team lead with 19 runs scored. The sophomore has 11 RBI on the year and leads the team with six doubles on the season. Sarah Brugere adds a team-high 24 RBI and nine stolen bases, while batting .250 with 14 runs scored.

Leading Valley Forge in the circle is Molly Rupert who has both of the teams wins on the year and has a 9.82 ERA in 57.0 innings. Rachel Daniels has pitched a team-high 74.0 innings and has a 12.01 ERA and 0-13 record on the season.

Welcome to Gryphondor

Last Time Out: The Gryphons lost both games of a doubleheader to Drew University on Thursday, suffering a 22-0 setback in game one and a 14-1 defeat in the nightcap.

Sarah Lawrence enters today's contest on a 21-game losing streak dating back to last year and have lost all but one of the games via the run-rule. The Gryphons have trouble offensively as they hit only .187 on the year and have only scored 44 runs in 20 games. The pitching staff hasn't been much better, coming in with a 12.95 ERA and allowing opponents to hit .465 against them.

Pacing Sarah Lawrence offensively in most statistical categories is Mackenzie Gassett who leads the team in batting average (.390), hits (16), RBI (6), runs (11) and triples (3). Lauren Gray also adds a team-high six RBI, while Rebecca Kuntz is a dual-threat for the Gryphons, batting .244 on the year and has pitched a team-high 49.0 innings with a team-best 12.14 ERA.

Team Comparison

*Statistics for games played through Friday, April 25th

Lady Bears	Nickname	Patriots	Gryphons
9-15 (1-0)	Record	2-23	0-20 (0-1)
HVIAC	Conference	NCCAA	HVIAC
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Cassandra Molinari (.443)	Top Avg.	Samantha Reed (.360)	Mackenzie Gassett (.390)
Kristin Ferrigno (18)	Top RBI	Sarah Brugere (24)	Mackenzie Gassett & Lauren Gray (6)
Jamilynn McGowan (31)	Top K	Rachel Daniels (49)	Rebecca Kuntz (38)
.332	Bat. Avg.	.200	.187
.406	Slugging	.264	.222
.398	OBP	.281	.249
128	Runs	94	44
196	Hits	116	74
106	RBI	72	28
11	SB	32	21
7.38	ERA	11.06	12.95
.341	Opp. Avg.	.408	.465
65/119	K/BB	82/145	56/88
.938	Field %	.870	.823