MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College softball team begins its 2021 campaign at New Haven on Sunday, Mar. 21. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m.

No. 17 SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE HAWKS
Roster | Schedule & Results | 2020 Statistics | News

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN CHARGERS
Roster | Schedule & Results | 2021 Statistics | News

The Hawks have not played an NCAA Division II competition in over 365 days ago, dating back to Mar. 7, 2020 when they defeated Saint Thomas Aquinas, 5-0. New Haven recently announced that fans from outside the campus community will not be permitted access to attend any athletic event.

Currently, Saint Anselm is the only team in the current National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Poll who has yet to play. Right now, the Hawks are ranked 17th in the nation.

The Hawks will enter their 40th season of competition in 2021 and battle the Chargers, who traditionally find themselves at the top of the NE10 standings.

HAWKS NOTES

• The Hawks are returning to action after finishing the shortened 2020 season with a 16-4 season, ending up 12th in the final NFCA National Coaches' Poll. Saint Anselm had its best start in program history with a 6-0 record in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The group concluded its Florida trip with three straight wins, including one over No. 24 Southern Indiana on Mar. 7.
• Winners of the 2019 Northeast-10 Conference postseason championship and the Northeast Division regular-season title, Saint Anselm is returning one of the strongest pitching staffs in the country heading into the 2021 campaign. Senior Morgan Perry (Bethany, Conn.) posted a 10-0 record with a 0.52 ERA and allowed just five earned runs in 67 innings of work last season, twirling nine complete games and striking out 94 of the 232 batters she faced. Sophomore pitcher McKenna Smith (Old Town, Maine) finished the season with a 4-1 record over 40 1/3 innings. She posted 10 or more strikeouts on three different occasions. Smith also finished the 2020 campaign as the national leader in strikeouts per seven innings with 13.19.
• Earlier in March, head Coach Jill Gagnon announced her captains for the 2021 season, including Perry, senior Shannon Colson (Rochester, N.H.), junior Bre Klaiber (Ironton, Ohio), and Erin Thompson (Newton, N.H.).
• Offensively, Colson is the top returning bat for the Hawks, recording a batting average of .312 in the 20-game schedule. The Hawks were ranked second in the conference in fielding percentage with .971, just shy of the top defensive unit from Adelphi (.977).
• Gagnon enters her eighth season as the helm of the Hawks program, posting a dominant 101-27-1 record across the past three seasons. She led Saint Anselm to the NCAA Division II Softball Championship in 2018 - the Hawks finished that campaign with 44 victories as the national runner-up.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS

• New Haven combined for 14 runs on 20 hits as they opened the season last week with a non-divisional doubleheader sweep of Stonehill, 4-1 and 10-2. One of two pitchers for the Chargers, Mia Iodice threw a complete game, allowing one run. She finished the game giving up just four hits and striking out six batters in the win. Nahtali Simpson led the Chargers on offense, finishing the day with three hits in four at-bats, including a double and a pair of walks.
• Prior to having their 2020 season suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chargers racked up a 3-3 record, including an extra-inning walk-off victory against crosstown rival Southern Connecticut, which was the final game before the shutdown.
• Through those six early games, Ava Fitzmaurice put up top numbers on both sides of the ball. She collected a team-high six hits and six RBI, with four of those hits going for extra bases, to finish with a .300 batting average at the plate. In the circle, she earned all three of the victories, finishing 21.2 innings of work with a 0.97 earned-run average. Overall, she surrendered just three earned runs on 26 hits while striking out a staff-best 12 batters.
• Leading the Chargers in her freshman year in 2019, Mya Case will play a big part in the offense. She earned NE10 First Team honors and was an All-Rookie Team selection, earning placement on the D2CCA All-East Region team as well. She finished out the season second on the team in 2019 with a .344 average, collecting 53 hits in 154 at-bats. She also drove in a team-best 35 runs.

ALL-TIME vs. NEW HAVEN

• In program history, the series is at 19-11 in favor of the Chargers. Saint Anselm claimed the last win between the two on May 3, 2019, when the Hawks earned a 5-1 win.
• Saint Anselm has won the past three straight games in the all-time series.
• The very first contest went to New Haven back in 1995, earning a 11-0 victory over the Hawks on Mar. 26.

WHAT'S NEXT?

• The Hawks will hit the road again on Wednesday, Mar. 24 for a doubleheader at American International College. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.