Junior Shannon Mongalise |
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Looking to snap a two-game losing streak, the Niagara University softball team (9-17, 1-3) travels down the I-190 to meet Little Three rival Canisius College (10-10, 3-1) in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Demske Sports Complex.
The Purple Eagles had a rough weekend when they dropped three of their four conference games. The Golden Griffins are on a five-game winning streak after sweeping Marist on April 16. In the league standings, Niagara is seventh and Canisius second behind first place Iona (5-1).
Niagara has three players hitting .300-or-better. Freshman Tory Healy (Las Vegas, Nev.) leads the team, hitting .389 with 14 runs, 28 hits, five doubles, four home runs and 19 RBI. The second baseman also has a .653 slugging percentage and .436 on-base percentage.
Junior Shannon Mongalise (Bethel Park, Pa.) has been hot. The designated hitter is batting .400 in her last eight games and is hitting .354 for the season. She has eight runs, 17 hits, four doubles and nine RBI.
Sophomore Lisa Baker (West Seneca, N.Y.) is hitting .329 with 14 runs, 27 hits, three doubles, a home run and six RBI.
The Purple Eagles look to get better production from its pitching staff against the Golden Griffins. The freshman duo of Tiffany McCrory (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Brooke Viola (Los Alamitos, Calif.) have ERA’s of 3.66 and 5.69, respectively. McCrory has collected a team-best 50 strikeouts.
Entering Tuesday series, Canisius has five players hitting .300-or-better, including senior Beth Enk with a team-best .377. She also has a squad-leading five home runs.
Freshman Katie Miranto is hitting .356, senior Becky Owen .344, sophomore Jessica Martin and freshman Jenny Maheu .311 each. Owen tops the team in runs (13), hits (22) and stolen bases (7-9) while Martin has a squad-leading 17 RBI and Maheu a team-best five doubles.
The Golden Griffins return one of the better pitchers in the league in senior Andrea Bunten. The right-hander sports a 1.51 ERA, 6-5 record and 95 strikeouts. She has started 11 of 12 games, completed seven and foes are hitting .174.
Rookie Jessica Stackhouse has a team-best 0.73 ERA, 3-0 record and 17 strikeouts in eight appearances.
The two teams split last year’s series with Niagara winning the first game, 1-0, and Canisius the second, 5-1. The Purple Eagles last swept the series in 2003, winning 8-1 and 7-6 in nine innings at the Demske Sports Complex.
