Freshman Jennifer Yee leads the team with a .533 batting average. |
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – The Niagara University softball team (13-7, 0-0) opens the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference portion of its 2006 schedule when it hosts Rider University (9-8, 0-0) Saturday at noon in a doubleheader at Niagara Field.
The Purple Eagles are coming off a 5-1 record at the UMBC Classic last weekend and currently have the third-most overall wins entering league play. They are hitting .316 with 46 extra-base hits, including 15 home runs. The pitching corps has a 2.68 ERA and is striking out 4.5 hitters per game. Opponents are hitting .245 vs. the Niagara three pitchers.
At the plate of Niagara, MAAC Freshman of the Year candidate Jennifer Yee (North Delta, B.C.) continues to lead the team in hitting (.533), runs (18) and hits (32). She also has collected five doubles, a triple, three home runs and five stolen bases.
MAAC Player of the Year candidate Tory Healy (Las Vegas, Nev.) is hitting .459 and leads the team in runs (18), doubles (9), home runs (6) and RBI (25). She has recorded 55 total bases and sports a .902 slugging percentage. The sophomore first baseman is currently second on the single-season home run list, needing four to break her record set last season. Healy is also 12 RBI short of her single-season RBI record.
Seniors Nicole Sum (Burnaby, B.C.) and Shannon Mongalise (Bethel Park, Pa.) are also swinging the bat well. Sum is hitting .390 with 13 runs, 23 hits, six doubles and 14 RBI. Mongalise, who sat the first five games with an injury, is hitting .346 with five runs, nine hits and nine RBI.
On the mound, sophomore Tiffany McCrory (Albuquerque, N.M.) is 6-3 with a 2.04 ERA. In nine appearances and 44.2 innings of work, she averages a four-hitter and 4.2 strikeouts per game.
Freshman Katie Gleiser (Cheektowaga, N.Y./Maryvale) sports a 2.52 ERA and 4-1 record in nine games. She gives up 4.4 hits per game, strikes out 2.8 hitters per outing and walks less than a batter a game.
Sophomore Brooke Viola (Los Alamitos, Calif.) has started a team-best eight games and posted a squad-leading six complete games. The right-hander has a 3.60 ERA with a 3-3 record over 46.2 innings. Viola is giving up 5.6 hits and striking out 3.3 batters a game.
Rider has won its last two games and plays at Columbia today. The Broncs have three hitters batting over .300 and the team is hitting .289. Its pitching corps has a 4.09 ERA and opponents are hitting .266 off the Broncs.
Preseason All-MAAC pick Jen Cullen leads the team in batting (.404) and hits (23). Tiffany Day-Neutill it hitting .388 with a team-leading 14 runs and four doubles.
On the mound, Heather Beintema has a 2.29 ERA and 6-2 record in eight appearances. In 52 innings, she gives up 4.75 hits per game and averages 7.6 strike outs an outing.
Last year, Rider sweep the doubleheader in Lawrenceville, 7-6 and 3-1. The last time Niagara beat Rider was April 28, 2002.
