LOUDONVILLE, NY – For the first time in 380 days, Siena Softball will take the field for regular season competition on Friday, as the long and delayed wait for the 2021 campaign comes to an end. The Saints (0-0, 0-0) will begin their schedule 38-game campaign with a four game weekend series against MAAC foe Iona (3-1, 3-1) at Siena Softball Field, with doubleheader action set for 2 PM & 4 PM on Friday, March 26 and 1 PM & 3 PM on Saturday, March 27.
Live Twitter updates from tomorrow's season opening match will be available by following @Siena_Softball on Twitter. All four games will also be streamed live from the Siena Softball Twitter Page. Due to MAAC protocols prohibiting spectators at contests through the end of March, there will be no fans allowed at This weekend's contests.
Siena will not only take the field for the first time in over a year on Friday, but they will take the field at home in Loudonville for the first time since April 29, 2019, will kick off action with a conference opponent for the first time since 1994, and will start the season at home for the first time since the 1992 season. The Saints will also enter a new era in program history, with longtime assistant coach Casey Bump patrolling the third base line as the team's 11th head coach in program history. First year assistant coaches George Cooper and Stephanie Reinhardt have also signed on, with the team regrouping following the retirement of Bill Lajeunesse after 10 seasons.
The Green and Gold will take the field following the postponement of last weekend's scheduled weekend series at Fairfield to kick off the year. Siena is 5-24 in season openers and 8-21 in home openers since joining the MAAC in 1991, with its last season-opening win coming against Cornell in 2018, and the last victory in a home opener coming in 2017 over Fairfield. Iona leads the all-time series, 43-22 between the two programs, with both teams winning a game in the most recent doubleheader on March 30, 2019. The Saints and the Gaels have split each of the last three series with Iona securing the last sweep at home in 2016. Siena is beginning a season against Iona for the third time in its 56-year history, having also done so in 1995 and 1994.
Siena will enter 2021 looking to build upon an abbreviated 3-10 record from the 2020 season, which saw the team participate in non-conference action in North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee prior to the cancellation of the remainder of the season.
Picked to finish sixth in the 2021 MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll, the Saints are expected to return six starters and 15 total letter winners from last season. The roster is highlighted by 2019 Second Team All-MAAC selections Maddie McMahon and Isabelle DeChiaro, who serve as co-captains along with Taylor Rhinehart and Angelina Stile. DeChiaro led the team with a .516 batting average and 16 hits over 12 games last season, while Stile recorded a team-high eight runs, 11 RBI and a pair of homers, while ranking third in the MAAC in slugging percentage (.750). Rhinehart batted .324 while also pitching in six contests after transferring from Villanova. Back for a fifth year as the first fifth year player in the history of the program, McMahon enters the year ranked inside the program's all-time top-10 in even different offensive categories and was selected as a candidate for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award.
Aside from welcoming back four of five pitchers and eight of their top-10 hitters from last season, Siena also welcomes three incoming freshmen and a transfer for four total newcomers to the Capital Region. Kiley Wong-Li, Mikala Fletcher, and Isabella Pardo joined the team as part of the Class of 2024, while infielder Shannon Bonewit transferred in from East Stroudsburg University.
Iona enters the weekend having already completed a weekend of play, winning three of four over Niagara on the road last weekend. The Gaels were led offensively by graduate student Ciarra DeGuilio who went 7-16 with five runs, three doubles, a home run, and six RBI on the weekend. Junior Kara Zazzaro dominated inside the circle, going 3-0 with an ERA of 2.72 over 18 innings, with strikeouts over the three games. Picked to finish fourth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll, Iona saw junior Jessica Chilcott voted to the Preseason All-MAAC Team as a utility player. The Gaels returned all five players from last season, added nine freshmen, and are led by third year head coach Katie Jansson.
The season-opening action this weekend for Siena will kick off a scheduled 12-game homestand, with four-game series against Rider on April 2-3 and Canisius on April 13-14 set over the next two weeks.
