OPENING PITCH
After winning three of four games at Lafayette last weekend, the Colgate softball team clinched a spot in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament. The Raiders will play their final two regular-season games this Friday at Eaton Street Field as Army makes a return trip to Hamilton. The two-game series, which starts at 1 p.m., is a make-up date for the April 25th doubleheader washout. The scheduled doubleheader at Binghamton for May 8th has been cancelled. Saturday will serve as a possible make-up date for the two games with Army depending on potential weather issues in the Hamilton area.
WHATS AT STAKE
While this particular doubleheader doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things for Colgate, it certainly does for Army. Regardless of any combination of results, the Raiders are locked into being the fourth seed for the Patriot League Tournament. Colgate wins a tiebreaker with Holy Cross if it loses both games. Army needs to sweep Colgate to host the tournament. Should Colgate at least split Friday’s doubleheader, Lehigh will host the tournament for the 17th time in the last 20 years.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Colgate first started softball in 1979. Since that first pitch, the Raiders have compiled a 588-550-2 overall record. Colgate has appeared in three NCAA Tournaments back in 1999, 2003 and 2007.
THE HEAD COACH
Vickie Sax is in her 13th season at the helm of the program and holds a career mark of 311-281-1 since accepting the position. The veteran coach posted her 300th victory with a 4-0 blanking of Hartford on March 20 in Kissimmee, Fla. Since 1998, she has tallied nine seasons of 20 or more victories, including last season’s 25-18 record. In 2004, Sax piloted Colgate to a 34-17 record, a school record for wins in a single-season. She has been honored as the Patriot League Coach of the Year three times – in 2003; shared the honor in 2007 and outright won it again in 2009. With her two victories over Holy Cross, she reached the 20-win mark for the 10th time in her 13 years at the helm of the program.
BRIEF LAST WEEKEND RECAP
Colgate left Easton, Pa. with three wins after outscoring Lafayette 20-3 in the four-game series. With this result along with Lehigh taking three of four from Holy Cross, Colgate clinched a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. The Raiders split their Saturday games with a 9-0 victory and a 1-0 loss before sweeping the Leopards on Sunday 4-2 and 7-0. Nicole Siedhof (.400, 1 HR, 4 RBI) and Jennifer Ortega (.400, 0 HR, 1 RBI) paced the offense, while Emmie Dolfi (.364, 1 HR, 4 RBI) had a solid weekend against the Leopards. Stephanie Hartquist drove in a weekend best six runs on three extra base hits (two doubles and a homer). Courtney O’Connell (2-0, 1.07 ERA) was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week for her efforts. The freshman pitched her first complete game shutout of the year in the 9-0 victory. Senior Jesse McCarrick improved to 7-2 on the mound with a 7-0 win in the finale.
SCOUTING ARMY
Army heads into Friday’s doubleheader sporting a 30-18 overall mark and a 13-5 record in league action. Since their last trip to Hamilton, the Black Knights are 4-2 and that includes a split at Bucknell last weekend. Army’s offense, which possesses a team batting average of .290, has four regulars hitting over .300. Alexis AuBuchon (3 HR, 24 RBI) paces the attack with a team-best .359 average, while Erin McClain (3 HR, 30 RBI) is right behind her at .354. Rachael Duval (.347, 5 HR, 23 RBI) and Tiffany Held (.343, 2 HR, 31 RBI) round out the .300 hitters in the Black Knight lineup. Shawna Bleyl (13-4, 2.71 ERA, 4 Saves), the reigning Patriot League’s Pitcher of the Week, heads the Black Knights in the circle. Jessi Muckelroy (10-7, 3.95 ERA) is the other Army pitcher with double digit win totals.
ALL-TIME SERIES AND LAST MEETINGS
The two schools have met on the diamond 88 previous times with Colgate holding a slight 45-43 advantage in the series that started back in 1979. Earlier, the Raiders and Black Knights split a doubleheader with Colgate winning the opener 4-2, while Army prevailed in the second game 9-1. In the first game, Courtney O’Connell struck out a season-high seven batters and went the distance on a seven hitter to get the victory. Colgate broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the fourth on a run scoring double by Jennifer Ortega. The Raiders expanded the lead to 3-0 in the fifth, a frame highlighted by Emmie Dolfi’s first collegiate homer. In the second game, the freshman provided Colgate with its lone run with her second homer of the year in the fourth inning.
RESPONDING UNDER FIRE
With Michelle Hollebeke and Jesse McCarrick missing considerable time on the mound, Courtney O’Connell had a huge burden placed on her. However, the freshman has been more than up to the task. In her last three starts, she is 3-0 with a 1.40 earned run average. During this stretch, her season ERA has dipped from 5.54 to 4.64. Last weekend, she went 2-0 with a 1.07 ERA en route to being named the PL Rookie of the Week for her first time.
FRESHMEN HAVING IMPACT
Courtney O’Connell isn’t the lone rookie having an impact on Colgate’s lineup. Emmie Dolfi has hit safely in nine of her last 10 contests. During this stretch, the rookie is 10 of 30 with a double, three homers and seven RBI. Dolfi has already broken the single season putout record with 380, which bested the former record of 347 set by Melissa Rawson in 2001. Alana Dyson is closing in on two single-season Colgate freshmen records. When she scored her 37th run of the year last weekend, she tied Rawson’s record set in 2000. Dyson is one run from taking over the top spot. She is three hits away from tying Rawson’s record of 56 set in the same year and four from holding outright.
CAREER TOP 10 ADJUSTMENTS
With their respective performances this year, a few current Raiders have vaulted into the top 20 on the all-time lists. Jennifer Ortega has moved into fifth in homers (14), a tie for 12th in RBI 62), 15th in runs scored (72) and 17th in total bases (154). Fellow sophomore Stephanie Hartquist is 15th in RBI (59), tied for 19th in doubles (18), while junior Nicole Siedhof ranks tied for eighth in homers (9), 17th in RBI (57). Freshman Natalie Siedhof’s four homers are tied for 19th.
SINGLE SEASON LIST UPDATES
With at least four games left, a few Raiders have ventured into the top 10 on the single season lists. Stephanie Hartquist has moved into the top 10 in four categories – fifth in doubles (14), tied for fifth in RBI (39), eighth in hits (57), and is tied for 10th in runs scored (36). Jennifer Ortega has also moved into the top 10 in four statistical categories as well – tied for seventh in RBI (35), tied for 10th in runs scored (36), homers (7), and total bases (82). Other hitters to eclipse the top 10 include Alana Dyson (eighth in runs scored – 37 and tied for fifth in triples – 4) and Nicole Siedhof (tied for seventh in RBI – 35). Hartquist’s .419 batting average would be eighth on the list if the season ended before the Friday doubleheader.
INSEASON WEEKLY AWARDS
For the third time in her career, Michelle Hollebeke was named the Patriot League pitcher of the week on March 22. The sophomore went 5-0 on the week with a 0.50 earned run average. In her 28 innings of work, she scattered 15 hits and only allowed two earned runs, while walking five and striking out 12. She went the distance on a six-hitter in a 4-0 victory over Hartford in her last outing in Florida. She became the second Raider to receive league weekly honors this year. Jennifer Ortega was named the player of the week March 8. Courtney O’Connell added Rookie of the Week honors on May 3 following her efforts against Lafayette on the mound.
SETTING THE TABLE
The Raiders are getting on base .483 as a team in lead off situations (138-286). Colgate has five regulars who are reaching first base 50 percent of the time or higher while leading off an inning. Stephanie Hartquist has been impressive when leading off an inning as her .640 (16-25) average can attest, while Alana Dyson is 14 of 24 (.583), Jennifer Ortega (18-33 - .545), Natalie Siedhof (19-37 - .514) and Nicole Siedhof (14-28 - .500) all have reached base at least 50 percent of the time when leading off an inning.
RALLY ON TWO
Colgate hitters have combined to drive in 75 runs with two outs in an inning. All six of Stephanie Hartquist’s runs batted in last weekend came with two outs in a frame. The sophomore leads the team with 17, while Nicole Siedhof is second with 14 two-out RBI.
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Colgate brings the 38th best team batting average (.300) and 42nd best scoring offense (5.36 rpg) into Friday’s doubleheader versus Army. Individually, Colgate is well represented among the top 50 in several statistical categories. Stephanie Hartquist is tied for first with four others with six sacrifice flies on the year, while freshman Alana Dyson is second nationally with 0.43 sacrifice bunts per game and is tied for 34th with four triples. Hartquist is ranked among the top 50 in three other categories including being the 19th toughest player in the Division I ranks to strike out (once every 22.7 at bats), 28th in batting average (.419), and 41st in doubles per game (0.32). Nicole Siedhof is tied for 37th nationally with three sacrifice flies.
ON THE BASE PATHS
Last year, Colgate stole 42 bases in 59 attempts. Fast forward a year later, the Raiders have not only surpassed their stolen base output for 2009, but tied the school record with 58 on 76 attempts. Alana Dyson leads the team with 19 on the season, while Jennifer Ortega is second with 16. Colgate last stole 58 bases in 2000. Individually, Amanda Paolucci broke the single-season school record back 2000 with 21.