LOUDONVILLE, NY - After five road Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) contests to start the season, Siena Softball will have its first taste of home league action this weekend. The Saints (17-14, 2-3 MAAC) welcome the Sacred Heart Pioneers (16-15, 6-2 MAAC) for a three-game series starting with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Friday, and game three at noon Sunday.
Brett Bosley and Joe Lemery are on hand Friday ESPN+ broadcast, while Chris Watson and Lemery have the call Sunday. Live stats and live X updates can be found by clicking on the corresponding links.
Consistent conference starters
Alissa Eimont and
Kaycie Kennedy command a Siena staff ranked second in the MAAC with a 3.43 overall ERA, as well as with a .253 opponent batting average. Eimont - the reigning MAAC Tournament MVP - has gone the distance nine times this season, and her eight wins check in tied for third in the MAAC. Kennedy is enjoying a senior season with seven victories and a serviceable 3.15 ERA over 71.0 innings while holding hittiers to a .240 batting average - the seventh-lowest in the conference.
Gracie Goewey's red-hot sophomore season hasn't slowed down over the Saints' last three games as the Bend, OR, native has gone 4-11 at the plate with two home runs, a double, three RBI, and four runs scored. Overall, she's now at a team-leading six long balls on the season, as well as a .340 average and .596 slugging%. She also had a career day in the circle in game one against Stonehill Wednesday, striking out a career-high 10 batters en route to a complete game, one-hit shutout victory.
Senior
McKenzie Swinson inched closer to taking possession of the all-time program stolen bases record - needing just two to accomplish the feat. With that, the local from Averill Park, NY, has showcased her power this season with three home runs, while her current .494 slugging% is a career high. She's also the lone Saint to have a game with five or more RBI in a game this season.
In its first MAAC season, Sacred Heart's 6-2 record through eight league games is good for fourth in the standings through the early goings of the league schedule. The Pioneers enter the weekend as the second-highest scoring team in the conference with 152 total runs on the season. Elle Leckrone leads the team and ranks sixth in the MAAC hitting .424 (36-85), while Moregona Tepdpsop and Charlene Davis sport .300+ averages as well. In the circle, Sam Kowalski owns a top-five ERA in the conference at 2.51, and is 8-7 through 18 outings. Carah Sweet (3-1, 5.01 ERA) and Emily Heath (4-6, 6.06 ERA) have made six or more starts as well.
The Saints and Pioneers have met 39 prior times, with Siena holding a 23-15-1 edge in the all-time series. Meeting for the first time as MAAC opponents this season, the Saints have enjoyed a run of recent success against the Pioneers with seven wins over the last 10 meetings dating back to 2019. The teams met twice in 2024 on two separate occasions, once on Mar. 8 in Madeira Beach, FL, in which the Saints won 2-1 in 8 innings, and again on Mar. 21 in Fairfield, CT where Sacred Heart came out on top 3-2.
Siena returns to the road following its series against Sacred Heart for two games against Merrimack in North Andover, MA. Game one is set for 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Apr. 8.
