Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Softball team returns to action and opens Skyline Conference play this weekend when it travels to Manhattanville on Saturday and then St. Joseph's-Brooklyn on Sunday. Live Stats will be available for Saturday's set with the Valiants with Live Stats and Video provided for the twin bill at the Bears.
 
At A Glance: Mount Saint Mary will be in action Saturday at Manhattanville for the first time since dropping a road non-conference set at Ramapo on March 22. The Knights begin the weekend with an 1-8 overall record.
 
Alicia Killeen (Nesconset, N.Y.), who went 4-for-4 in the opener at Ramapo, is hitting .286 for the Mount in 28 at-bats and is tied for the team lead in hits with eight. Olivia Ferara (Middletown, N.Y.) joins Killeen with eight safeties for the Knights to go along with three runs scored.
 
Samantha Bendig (Tampa, Fla.) is tied with Killeen for the team lead in RBI with five with Riley Norwood (East Haven, Conn.) pacing the Knights with four runs scored and a .294 batting average.
 
Christen Hansen (Cypress, Calif.) holds the team's lone win on the season and has worked a team-high 20.0 innings in the circle. She is working to a 2.80 earned run average and is allowing opponents just a .247 batting average. Bridget Morris (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) leads the way with 12 strikeouts in 18.1 innings with Nicole Rosner (Brewster, N.Y.) posting a 2.94 ERA in 16.2 innings of work.
 
Scouting Manhattanville: The Valiants split a non-conference doubleheader with NYU on Wednesday and enter Saturday's set with the Knights at 6-10 overall and 2-0 in Skyline Conference play.
 
Sarah Harker is hitting .408 in 49 at-bats to lead the way, pacing the Valiants in hits with 20 while equaling the team-high in RBI with 11. Giovanna Liggett joins Harker with 11 RBI and has connected on four home runs, hitting .364 with an .818 slugging percentage to go along with a team-high 15 runs scored.
Amaya Esparza also checks in with 11 RBI for Manhattanville, blasting three home runs. Samantha Walsh is hitting .294 with 10 runs and 10 RBI while Jayleen Torres checks in with a .314 batting average and 11 runs scored.
 
Charli Shinstine has won four of the team's six games in the circle, working a team best 64.2 innings. She holds a 3.90 earned run average and has fanned 73 batters while allowing opponents just a .238 batting average.
 
Recent History: Since 2014, Mount Saint Mary and Manhattanville has met 11 times with the Valiants posting nine victories. Manhattanville won three of the four meetings in 2021, with the Knights scoring a 1-0 win on the road in game one of a doubleheader on April 25.
 
Previewing The Bears: St. Joseph's brings a 9-2 overall record into a Friday twin bill with Yeshiva and had an eight-game winning streak stopped with a 9-0 game two loss to Rutgers-Newark on March 26.
 
Ashleigh Hartwig is hitting .586 for the Bears in 29 at-bats, leading the team with 13 runs scored and tied for the team lead in RBI with 13. Bella Hurtado has also driven in 13 runs for St. Joseph's and is hitting .485 with eight runs scored.
 
As a team, the Bears are hitting .409 with 43 of their 126 hits as a unit going for extra bases.
 
Autumn Poppett is 4-0 has worked a team-high 26.0 innings in the circle and fanned 21 while working to a 1.35 earned run average. Brianna Kilimet has fanned 18 in 13.2 innings of work and is posting a 1.02 ERA.
 
Recent History: In 12 meetings since the star of the 2016 season, Mount Saint Mary holds a 9-3 advantage in the head-to-head series with the Bears.
 
What's Next: The Knights begin a busy week on Wednesday when they host New Paltz starting at 3:00 p.m.