General Mar 02, 2020

Lions Ledger: Five Programs in Action to Start the Week

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RECORDS: Saint Leo 4-6 | Erskine 1-1 | UT Martin 0-0 | St. Petersburg 1-3
Saint Leo opens up the home portion of its schedule by hosting a pair of tri-matches Monday and Wednesday. The Lions will take on both Erskine and UT Martin on Monday before hosting UT Martin and St. Petersburg on Wednesday.
Redshirt sophomore Anna Garrett and junior Nina Vattovaz continue to lead the Saint Leo lineup at No. 1 as they have compiled a 5-3 record through the first 10 matches of the season. The second most successful duo is freshman Marissa Rakauskas and sophomore Arlaina Stephenson who have gone 4-2 as a group including 2-1 at No. 3 and 2-1 at No. 4.
Erskine is 1-1 this season with a loss at Florida Southern and a 5-0 neutral site victory over St. Johns River C.C. UT Martin has yet to compete this season but the Lions faced them twice last season and won both matches. St. Petersburg competed in the same Stetson Spring Fling last weekend as the Lions. SPC's lone victory came over Saint Leo as the Lions fell 3-2.

RECORDS: Saint Leo 3-13 | Minnesota Crookston 5-4
Saint Leo returns home to start a stretch of six-straight nonconference home contests. The Lions will open up the homestand with a 6 p.m. contest versus Minnesota Crookston.
Senior Amir Wright continues to lead the Lions in batting average at .419 from his lead-off spot. Wright has the lone batting average above .300 for the Lions whom have had regular at bats this season. Junior Sam Crail continues to lead the team in RBI with 16 while senior Jake Vander Wal sits in second with 14.
The Lion pitching staff is being led by sophomore Ruddy Gomez who has earned both of Saint Leo's two wins this season. He now has a 5.60 ERA and has seen a team-high 27.1 innings of action. He leads the team in strikeouts with 32 and has nearly double his nearest teammate in that category. Sophomore Jestin Jones had a strong outing this weekend and now leads the team in ERA among those who have seen 10.0 innings or more of action at 4.32. He has 14 strikeouts in 16.2 innings of work.
Minnesota Crookston enters Monday's game having won four of its last five contests. The Golden Eagles most recently defeated Gannon 15-1 over in Winter Haven yesterday, March 1. They have faced one Sunshine State Conference opponent in Florida Tech and won 15-12 in Melbourne.
Senior Mason Ruhlman leads the offense with a .419 batting average which includes a team-best 12 RBI, 10 runs scored, two doubles and a pair of home runs. Three Golden Eagles are tied with two home runs each while junior Brock Reller boasts the second most RBI with eight.
Sophomore Conner Richardson leads the Golden Eagle pitching staff with a perfect 3-0 record and near perfect 0.50 ERA. He has seen 18.0 innings of action while allowing just one run on 14 hits. He has four strikeouts versus four walks. Senior Jayden Grover leads the team in Ks with 24 while ranking second behind Richardson in innings pitched with 17.1.
HISTORY: The Lions most recently met up with Minnesota Crookston back in 2016 when Saint Leo won a slugfest 19-15 over the Golden Eagles in Saint Leo.

RECORDS: Saint Leo 13-6 | Tiffin 2-6 | Wilmington
Saint Leo enters the midweek matchups after winning the SSC series over Palm Beach Atlantic 2-1 with a twinbill sweep Saturday. On the weekend, Maddy Lynn led the Lions from the plate with a .500 average (4-for-8) while Emily Pilon proved to be the major contributor. Pilon drove in a team-leading 3 RBI thanks to a 2-RBI HR and an RBI double.
Kacie Kelly is the team leader in six categories including average (.434), hits (23), runs (16), doubles (4), home runs (1), and walks (11).
After picking up a win and a save on the weekend Kayla Betts continues to lead the Lions pitching staff with the low ERA of 0.72. The freshman stands at 4-1 on the season with four saves. Madi Mott is the team leader in strikeouts (56) and number of innings pitched (54.0).
Tiffin travels to Saint Leo with a three-game skid including a 17-9 five inning loss to Concordia-St. Paul and a 7-1 loss to Gannon in central Florida Sunday.
The Dragons are led by Brooklynn Esser from the plate with a .450 batting average with nine hits on the season. Esser has a team leading six runs scored.
Sarah Klein has logged the most innings of working the circle for Tiffin with 20.1 while holding a team leading 13 K's.
Wilmington is currently 0-2 on the year and will face Rollins (Monday 2, 5 / 7 pm) and Tampa (Tuesday 3, 5 / 7 pm).
In two games played, Rosa'Lynn Burton is the leader with four base knocks in seven at bats with two runs scored.
Haley Downin has logged the most innings of work at 9.1 while Alexnadra Ballester and Downin are tied with four strikeouts on the young season.
HISTORY: Saint Leo and Tiffin will meet for the sixth and seventh times where the Green and Gold have prevailed over the Dragons all five previous meetings. The last matchup on March 6, 2019, the Lions swept the doubleheader 10-2, 5-0 in game one and 5-2 in game two. This will be the first meeting between Saint Leo and Wilmington.

RECORDS: #5 Saint Leo 4-1 | #9 Hawaii Pacific 7-4
Saint Leo finished fifth at the ITA Indoor Championships. The no. 5 Lions dropped a 4-0 match to no. 2 Columbus State but bounced back in the final two days of the event. The Green and Gold downed no. 14 Flagler 4-2 followed by a 4-2 win over no. 4 Wingate.
Aurel Ciocanu, who is ranked 21st nationally in singles play, had a great week. The junior won out a three-set third singles match against Flagler's Jiri Jenicek (6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5)). He and doubles partner Willem Van Den Akker earned a huge upset at first doubles against the Bulldogs of Wingate. The dynamic duo took down Josep Canyadell and Daniel Belsito, who are fifth-ranked nationally together, in a 6-1 decision.
The no. 9 Hawaii Pacific Sharks took third place at the ITA Indoor Championships. The Sharks topped Flagler 4-1 in the quarterfinals but dropped a 4-0 decision to Columbus State in the semifinals. Hawaii Pacific upset no. 3 West Florida in the consolation match, 4-3.
Hawaii Pacific took third place at the ITA Indoor Championships. The Sharks topped Flagler 4-1 in the quarterfinals but dropped a 4-0 decision to Columbus State in the semifinals. Hawaii Pacific upset no. 3 West Florida in the consolation match, 4-3.
Matej Panik clinched the match at fifth singles, defeating Juan Cabrera, who is ranked 30th.
HISTORY: Last year, no. 3 Saint Leo met no. 6 Hawaii Pacific in Altamonte Springs, Fla. Bruno Faletto paced the Lions over the Sharks in a 4-3 victory. Faletto and Leonardo Vega clinched the doubles point in a 7-6 (5) battle. Faletto claimed the team match win in first singles; 7-6 (3), 6-2.

RECORDS: Saint Leo 3-3 | Seton Hill
Saint Leo looks to bounce back in the final home game of the three-game stint at University Turf Stadium. On Friday, senior goalkeeper Erin Davis had a tremendous game, earning 17 stops in order to reach a career milestone of 300 saves.
On the season, Ashlee Wilsynski paces the Green and Gold offense with 22 points (16g, 6a) followed by Jane DeLuca with 19 points (15g, 4a). Ashley Salvett leads the team with her 34 draw controls on the year.
Seton Hill comes into Wednesday's game with a 2-2 record. The Griffins started the year by notching wins against Bloomsburg and Jefferson, before dropping games to Shippensburg and no. 8 Florida Southern. Kristi Kada leads the team in goals with nine, with her teammate, Jaclyn Frank, paces the Griffins in assists with four on the young season.
HISTORY: Last time these two teams faced each other, Saint Leo won in a thriller 14-13 in double overtime. Janee DeLuca netted the game-winner at 2:10 to cap a five-point game scoring four goals and an assist.