PDF Release
NEC Players of the Week: Jordan Seneca, SFU
NEC Pitcher of the Week: Ethel Santai, SFU
NEC Rookies of the Week: No Nominations
Previous NEC Releases: March 13 | March 6 | Febrruary 27 | February 20 | February 13 | Preseason Poll Release
NEC SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jordan Seneca, Saint Francis U
Jr., SS, Plum, PA/Plum
For the third week in a row and fifth time this season, Seneca was named the NEC Player of the Week after the Red Flash went 4-0 at the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Tournament hosted by Texas Tech to extended their school record win streak to 13 games. She helped the Red Flash rally from a five-run deficit on Thursday, hitting two grand slams in Saint Francis U's 12-10 win over Texas Tech in eight innings. In doing so, Seneca became just the 11th player in NCAA to accomplish the feat. Over the Red Flash's four games, Seneca belted three home runs, and finished with six runs and 10 RBIs to go along with a .444 average, .688 on-base percentage and astounding 1.444 slugging percentage. In leading SFU to a 25-8 record on the year, Seneca currently leads the nation with 15 homers and 45 RBIs.
NEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Ethel Santai, Saint Francis U
Sr., P, Pine Grove, PA/Pine Grove Area
Santai headlined Saint Francis U's 4-0 week at the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Tournament by throwing the program's first perfect game since 2008 in an 11-0 win over East Carolina on Saturday. The two-time NEC Pitcher of the Week retired the 15 batters with just 51 pitches. On the week, Santai posted a 3-0 record with a minuscule 0.46 ERA over 15.1 innings. Against Texas Tech on Thursday, Santai entered the game in the fourth inning and limited the Red Raiders to one run over 4.2 frames as the Red Flash rallied from an 8-4 deficit to post a 12-10 win in eight innings. In her last outing of the week, also against Texas Tech, Santai tossed 5.2 scoreless innings. She allowed one run on nine hits over 15.1 innings and at one point retired 25 batters in a row.
NEC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
No Nominations
AROUND THE NEC
SFU’s Jordan Seneca (Plum, PA/Plum) leads the NCAA with 15 home runs and 45 RBIs. Her average of 0.47 home runs per game ranks fifth, while her slugging percentage of 0.878 ranks 20th. Seneca also averages 1.25 runs per game, which ranks second nationally. Her teammate Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, PA/DuBois) ranks eigth with 45 hits and 1.21 runs per game.
Saint Francis U has won a school record 13 straight games. The previous record of 12 consecutive wins came back in 1998.
NEC Rookie of the Week Ethel Santai (Pine Grove, PA/Pine Grove Area) pitched the first perfect game by a Saint Francis pitcher since Laura Caldwell in 2008.
Saint Francis U received a vote in last week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll.
The Mount’s Rachel Heinze (Charlotte Hall, MD/St. Mary’s Ryken), who set a new NEC single-season record with 19 homers last year, has six blasts this season to boost her career total to 32 dingers.