OPENING PITCH
After dropping five of its last six games on the road, Colgate returns home and plays its next six games at the friendly confines of Eaton Street Field. The Raiders will host in state rival Binghamton, Wednesday afternoon for a doubleheader beginning at 3:30 p.m. Colgate will then return to Patriot League play Saturday and Sunday as first-place Army comes to town. Both doubleheaders will start at noon.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Colgate first started softball in 1979. Since that first pitch, the Raiders have compiled a 584-546-2 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 307-277-1 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 captured one victory in its four-game series at Bucknell. After dropping the first two contests, the Raiders snapped a six-game winless skid with an 8-5 win in the third game. The Bison, who outscored Colgate by a 30-18 count, won two games in extra innings in the series. Offensively, the team hit just a shade below .300 on the weekend and had four regulars in the lineup hit over .350 versus Bucknell. Alana Dyson had back-to-back three-hit games and finished the weekend seven of 14 (.500) with two triples and five RBI. The freshman had her first three-RBI game in her career versus the Bison. Stephanie Hartquist (.467, 7 of 15, 4 RBI) extended her hitting streak by hitting safely in all four games. Melissa Babb-Renta (.462, 6 of 13) had her best weekend series of the year, while Nicole Siedhof (.364, 4 of 11) drove in four runs with a pair of doubles. Freshman Courtney O'Connell (1-2, 4.39) was forced to pitch 22.1 innings in the series.
SCOUTING BINGHAMTON
The Bearcats head into Wednesday's doubleheader on a four-game win streak, the last three wins coming in a sweep of America East rival Hartford. Binghamton outscored the Hawks 31-10 in the three-game set in Vestal last weekend. Offensively, the Bearcats are paced by a pair of sluggers in redshirt freshman Jessica Phillips (.330, 8 HR, 23 RBI) and junior Deannie Plemon (.323, 10 HR, 33 RBI). On the mound, sophomore Kristen Emerling (11-2, 1.52 ERA) and freshman Rhoda Marsteller (8-6, 2.45 ERA, 93 strikeouts in 100 innings of work) have combined for all 19 wins.
ALL-TIME SERIES AND LAST MEETINGS
Colgate and Binghamton have played 45 previous times with the Raiders holding a 33-12 advantage in the all-time series that got its start back in 1979. Colgate won the last meeting, a 14-6 decision in Norfolk last year on March 8 at the Norfolk State Tournament. The regular-season doubleheader that was scheduled for April 21 in Vestal was cancelled. Stephanie Hartquist went two for four from the plate and drove in four runs, while Jennifer Ortega knocked in a pair. Jesse McCarrick got credit for the victory in the five-inning affair. Colgate scored seven times in the fourth inning to take a 14-1 advantage.
SCOUTING ARMY
Army carries a five-game win streak and a 23-15 overall record into its doubleheader Tuesday versus Temple. The Black Knights increased their lead in the Patriot League standings by sweeping Holy Cross last weekend in West Point. Army has a two-game lead in league standings over Lehigh and Bucknell with a 10-2 mark. Erin McClain (.383, 2 HR, 27 RBI) leads the offense, while Alexis AuBuchon (.361, 2 HR, 16 RBI), Tiffany Held (.339, 0 HR, 24 RBI) and Rachael Duval (.310, 4 HR, 16 RBI) all have batting averages over .300. Shawna Bleyl (8-4, 2.77 ERA) heads the pitching staff from an earned runs average standpoint, while Jessi Muckelroy (9-6, 3.70 ERA) leads the team in wins.
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH ARMY AND MORE
The two schools have met on the diamond 86 previous times with Colgate holding a slight 44-42 advantage in the series that started back in 1979. Colgate and Army split the four-game series in West Point last season. The Raiders outscored the Black Knights by a combined margin of 26-15. Of the returnees offensively, Melissa Babb-Renta (.375, 3 of 8) drove in three runs over the weekend, while Jennifer Ortega matched the senior's output by knocking in three runs as well. Colgate hit .311 as a team versus the Black Knights. Michelle Hollebeke went 2-0 on the mound.
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.
ALL-DECADE TEAM
Michelle Hollebeke was recently named to the all-decade team of the Eagle-Tribune back in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The sophomore, one of seven hurlers named to the team, was 24-1 on the mound at Phillips Academy, including a 13-0, 0.64 ERA her junior season. She struck out 21 in a seven inning victory over Phillips Exeter as one of her highlight games in high school.
SISTER ACT
Natalie and Nicole Siedhof are the third set of sisters to play together at Colgate during Sax's tenure. Ironically, the second pair, hold the same first names (one spelled a bit differently) – Natalie and Nichole Rawson.
ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT HITTING STREAK
First, it was Jennifer Ortega's 14-game streak dating back to the 2009 campaign. Then it was Alana Dyson's 15-game streak that was snapped in the first game at Lehigh. Now, it's Stephanie Hartquist on the loose. The sophomore enters Wednesday's doubleheader versus Binghamton with a 23-game hitting streak. In this recent stretch, she is 34 of 73 (.466) with six doubles and 22 RBI. Hartquist has hit safely in 31 of her last 33 games. If the season ended right now, her .450 season average would rank second on Colgate's all-time single season list behind Melissa Rawson's .462 in 2003.
SILENT BUT DEADLY
Stephanie Hartquist heads into the weekend as one of the Patriot League's top hitters – ranking second (.450). The sophomore is a hit at the plate regardless of the situation. Hartquist is hitting .435 (20 of 46) with the bases empty, reaching over 60 percent of the time when leading off an inning (14 of 23, .609), .458 (22 of 48) with runners in scoring position, .722 (13 of 18) with runners on third and less than two outs and .475 (19 of 40) with two outs in an inning.
SETTING THE TABLE
The Raiders' have reached base 114 times in 236 opportunities (.483) when leading off an inning. Stephanie Hartquist has been impressive when leading off an inning as her .609 (14 of 23) average can attest, while Jennifer Ortega is 15 of 27 (.556). Colgate has two other regulars who are reaching base over fifty percent when leading off an inning - Alana Dyson (.550) and Natalie Siedhof (.516).
RALLY ON TWO
Colgate hitters have combined to drive in 66 runs with two outs in an inning, of 37 percent of all their runs batted in. Nicole Siedhof leads all hitters with 14 two-out RBI, while Stephanie Hartquist is second with 11.
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Colgate brings the 28th best team batting average (.307) into Wednesday's contests versus Binghamton. Individually, Colgate is well represented among the top 50 in several statistical categories. Stephanie Hartquist is tied for first with Delaware State's Tawney Reeger and Baylor's Jordan Vannatta with six sacrifice flies on the year, while freshman Alana Dyson is tied for second nationally with 0.39 sacrifice bunts per game and 23rd in triples per game (0.11). Hartquist is ranked among the top 50 in two other categories including being the sixth toughest player in the Division I ranks to strike out (once every 37 at bats) and 11th in batting average (.450).
RAIDER CAREER LIST UPDATES
Jennifer Ortega has entered the all-time top 20 list in Colgate history in three statistical categories. The sophomore ranks fifth all-time in career homers (12), 15th in runs batted in (55) and 16th in runs scored (68). Fellow sophomore Stephanie Hartquist is 17th in career RBI (52).
RECORD WATCH
Entering the doubleheader versus Binghamton, Colgate's team batting average is .307. The 2009 edition of Raider softball broke the single season record with an identical .307 team average. Emmie Dolfi is closing in on the single season putout record. The freshman has 322 putouts on the season and is 26 away from besting Melissa Rawson's record of 347 set back in 2001.
SINGLE SEASON LIST UPDATES
Alana Dyson and Stephanie Hartquist have already entered single season top 10 lists. Dyson's four triples are tied for fifth all-time and the freshman's 33 runs are ninth all-time. Hartquist's 32 RBI is tied for 10th. The sophomore, who has 50 hits on the year, is three away from entering the single season top 10 list.
ON THE BASE PATHS
Last year, Colgate stole 42 bases in 59 attempts. Fast forward a year later, the Raiders have already surpassed their stolen base output for 2009 with 52 in 67 stolen base attempts. Alana Dyson leads the team with 17 on the season, while Jennifer Ortega is second with 15. Colgate's team school record of 58 stolen bases was set in 2000. Individually, Amanda Paolucci broke the single-season school record back 2000 with 21. As a team, the Raiders are 50th nationally in stolen bases per game (1.44).
