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This weekend, the Purple Eagles softball team heads to Washington, D.C. for a five-game slate at the Capital Invitational, hosted by the George Washington Colonials.
Niagara will play a doubleheader against George Washington starting at 1 p.m. on Friday to open the weekend. From there, the Purple Eagles open Saturday with a 10 a.m. contest against the Colonials before taking on the Penn State Nittany Lions at 12:15 p.m. The tournament concludes with a Niagara-Penn State rematch on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Niagara took wins in four of seven games last week on its Florida road trip, scoring victories over South Dakota State and Bucknell and a doubleheader sweep of St. Bonaventure. Sierra Bertrand led Niagara to a 2-1 win over South Dakota State on March 6 to open the trip, pitching 5.2 innings and giving up just one run on three hits while striking out seven batters. On March 9, Niagara picked up a 9-3 win in the first game of a doubleheader against St. Bonaventure, led by Bridget Hogan’s 3-for-4 effort with two doubles and five RBIs. The Purple Eagles closed out the sweep of the Bonnies with a 4-2 win in game two, as Hogan led the way again going 3-for-3 at the plate. After a 2-1 loss to Bucknell on March 12, Niagara came back and earned the split with a 5-2 victory to wrap up the trip. Chanelle Ward gave Niagara a 2-0 lead on a two-run single through the right side, and after Bucknell tied the game, the Purple Eagles put up three runs in the top of the seventh to pull away for the win.
Jerri Ann Orfano led Niagara on the week with a .444 batting average, eight hits, and four runs scored. Jennifer Szilagyi went 1-2 in the circle, but led the team with a tremendous ERA of 1.67 in five appearances (three starts). She allowed just eight runs, five earned, in 21 innings in the circle. Bertrand was 3-1 for the week with a 2.16 ERA, nine runs against (seven earned), 14 hits, and 18 strikeouts in 22.2 innings.
Sophomore Jerri Ann Orfano leads the Purple Eagles and ranks second in the MAAC with a .462 batting average this season, going 12-for-26 from the plate through 11 games. She was a perfect 3-for-3 with three singles in Niagara’s 2-1 win over South Dakota State on March 6. Orfano also has three doubles and four RBIs this season. As a team, Niagara is sixth in the MAAC with a .231 batting average. Behind Orfano, the Purple Eagles are led by Bridget Hogan (.324), Sarah March (.278), and Kendall Watkins (.269) at the plate. Hogan is tied with Orfano for the team lead with three doubles, and she paces Niagara with eight RBIs this season. Defensively, Niagara leads the MAAC with a team ERA of 2.55, an opposing batting average of .251, and 6.7 hits against per seven innings. Niagara sophomore pitchers Jennifer Szilagyi (2.03) and Sierra Bertrand (2.28) rank third and fourth, respectively, in the MAAC for ERA. Bertrand is one of four pitchers to lead the MAAC with four wins, while Szilagyi is tied for fifth at three. Bertrand is first with a .173 opposing batting average and seventh with 26 strikeouts, and Szilagyi is one of six pitchers in the conference to throw a shutout this season.
George Washington enters its second home tournament of the season, the Capital Invitational, after going 1-4 at UC Santa Barbara’s Gaucho Classic last weekend. The Colonials are 3-0 against teams from the MAAC this season, defeating Monmouth 8-0 in five innings and downing Quinnipiac by scores of 11-2 and 10-2. Paige Kovalsky leads George Washington with a .389 batting average and six doubles, and Jenna Cone has a team-high eight home runs and 23 RBIs while batting .368. As a team, the Colonials are batting .323 and have seven batters averaging .300 or better. In the circle, George Washington is led by Sarah Costlow (5-3, 2.69 ERA, two shutouts, 26 strikeouts) and Kaitlin Buff (2-3, 5.50, 14 strikeouts).
Last weekend, Penn State played three games at No. 8 Washington from March 8-10. The Nittany Lions lost all three of those games, but did pick up a 6-2 win over South Dakota as a part of the University of Washington’s Husky Classic. Penn State’s early schedule is highlighted by a 7-3 win on Feb. 10 over then-No. 4 LSU. Penn State also has a 9-0 win over Cleveland State, which Niagara defeated 9-4 back on Feb. 12, as well as a 14-1 win over the University at Buffalo. Rebecca Ziegler is batting a team-best .358 for Penn State, and she also leads the Nittany Lions with seven doubles, two home runs, and 16 RBIs. Shelby Miller (.352), Kristina Brackpool (.313), and Mollie Sorenson (.304) are also batting over .300. In the circle, Marlaina Laubach (4-2, 3.76, one shutout, 37 strikeouts) and Madison Seifert (3-6, 3.59, 24 strikeouts) lead Penn State.
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