Game Time: Tue. Mar. 29, 2016 3:00 pm & 5:00 pm
Place: Eureka College Softball Field
NCAA Series: First game in series.
The Blue Angels continue their spring trip as they head to Eureka, Ill. to face the Red Devils of Eureka College. This season, the Red Devils are 12-2 winning seven of their last eight games. Eureka has many reasons for their early success this season, as they excel at fielding, hitting and pitching.
In 14 games, the Red Devils have committed just eight team errors while maintaining a .981 team fielding percentage. That confidence in the defense has allowed the Eureka pitching staff to breathe easy and concentrate on just throwing to the batters.
Ace pitcher Kalie George leads her team with a 2.20 ERA and a 7-1 record. With a shutdown performance against Rockford, George earned herself the St Louis Intercollege Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week. The one hit, one run performance gave George the leader in wins in the SLIAC as she is top five in ERA, wins and complete games.
Kerrigan Dura is among three Red Devils with a batting average over .450 stratosphere. Dura is also leading the SLIAC in many categories including batting average (.569), hits (29), slugging percentage (.941) and RBIs (26).
The Blue Angels are coming in at 0-4 after a pair of losses to Robert Morris University-Springfield (9-10). Due to spring break falling later in the academic calendar, and unplayable weather in the area until late March, MMU has had to play "catch-up" in terms of game time rhythm and speed as the rest of the region's teams have four to five times as many games played.
As the early season progresses, the Blue Angels are already showing sparks on offense. Ashley Contreras (So./College Station, Texas) has picked up right where she left off last season. Contreras continues to work the counts and the pitchers as she leads the team with four hits and a .400 batting average after four games.
Teammate Shandrieka Richardson (Sr./Atlanta, Ga.) has also been on top of her offensive game early on this season. Richardson is right behind Contreras with a .333 batting average, but leads the team with two base-by-balls and a .500 on-base percentage.
Stay tuned to mtmaryathletics.com and follow us on twitter @MtMaryAthletics for scoring updates.
