Softball | April 17, 2015

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – La Salle travels to Saint Louis for a weekend set beginning with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and wrapping up with a 1 p.m. single game on Sunday.
 
La Salle Explorers (11-11; 7-2 A-10) at Saint Louis Billikens (25-15; 9-5 A-10)
Saturday, April 18, 2015 | 1 PM| | 3 PM| Billiken Sports Center
Live Stats | In-Game Tweets @ExplorerGameDay | Text Alerts
 
La Salle Explorers (11-11; 7-2 A-10) at Saint Louis Billikens (25-15; 9-5 A-10)
Sunday, April 19, 2015 | 1 PM| Billiken Sports Center
Live Stats | In-Game Tweets @ExplorerGameDay | Text Alerts
 
Scouting the Explorers 
This weekend will match the second and third place teams in the Atlantic 10. La Salle sits in second at 7-2 in conference playing coming off a weekend sweep of Rhode Island last weekend. Saint Louis is right behind the Explorers at 9-5 in conference.
 
The Explorers feature the second best team ERA in the conference thanks to a 3.41 ERA. They have held opponents to a.280 batting average while striking out 89 batters in 143.1 innings. Junior Mary Cate Scott ranks third in the league with a 2.19 ERA owning a 4-3 record in 54.1 innings while striking out 39 and allo9wing opponents to hit .250 off her. Freshman McKenzie Peace also made the top ten thanks to a 3.84 ERA and a 5-4 record on the year.  
 
At the plate sophomore Christina Bascara has been a major driver of the Explorer offense. Bascara ranks second in the conference with a .449 batting average, fourth with a.533 on base percentage and third in slugging percentage at .816. On the national level Bascara ranks ninth in the country with her batting average and is 42^nd averaging 1.14 RBI per game. The sophomore also leads the team with 22 hits, 18 RBIs and ten extra base hits.
 
Senior Linnette Siedler has been a table setter offensively all season ranking second on the team with a.346 batting average. She has scored 13 runs which ranks third on the team. Freshman Valerie Pineiro has provided some power to the Explorers lineup with five homers on the season to lead the team. She also ranks second on the team with 15 RBI and 32 total bases.
  
Scouting the Billikens
Saint Louis enters the weekend after dropping a midweek contest at SIUE, 0-5. The Billikens dropped two of three games at George Washington last weekend in their most recent conference action.
Sophomore Alex Nickel owns the hot bat for Saint Louis. She is ranked third in the league with a .437 batting average. She also leads the league with 55 hits on the year, 38 runs scored, and is tied for fourth with seven homers on the year. Freshman Allie Macfarlane has been a constant producer as well. She leads the team with 39 RBI and has 17 extra base hits on the year. As a team the Billikens are batting .294 with a .402 on base percentage.
In the circle junior Brianna Lore has handled the majority of the work for Saint Louis. She has thrown 128.0 innings with a 12-9 record. She ranks fifth in the conference with a 3.04 ERA and is second with 106 strikeouts on the year. She has allowed opponents to hit .249 off of her on the year while allowing only 57 walks.

Up Next
La Salle returns home to face off against Saint Joseph's in a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon before returning to the road for a weekend series against George Mason.