MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College softball team is embarking on an eight-game schedule at The Spring Games, hosted in Clermont, Fla. starting Friday, Mar. 3 and concluding on Monday, Mar. 6.

SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE HAWKS (5-1 as of 03/02/23)
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UNIVERSITY OF BRIDGEPORT PURPLE KNIGHTS (3-8 as of 03/02/23)
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No. 18 WASHBURN UNIVERSITY ICHABODS (17-3 as of 03/02/23)
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SAINT CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY HUSKIES (5-5 as of 03/02/23)
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TREVECCA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY TROJANS (5-7 as of 03/02/23)
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WAYNE STATE (MICH.) COLLEGE WILDCATS (1-8 as of 03/02/23)
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BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY BEAVERS (3-5 as of 03/02/23)
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The Hawks open against Bridgeport and No. 18 Washburn on Friday before taking on Dominican (N.Y.) and St. Cloud St. on Saturday. Saint Anselm will play Trevecca Nazarene and Wayne State (Neb.) on Sunday before another tilt with the Wildcats on Monday.

A bout with Bemidji State on Monday concludes the road trip for the Hawks, who carry a 5-1 overall record into play. Saint Anselm swept both Bloomfield and Mercy (N.Y.) at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic in mid-February, splitting a series with Molloy for its only blemish of the 2023 campaign.

Each of the games will be streamed for a fee via FloSports.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM

• Sophomore Ava Caputo (Waterford, N.Y.) leads Saint Anselm with a .450 batting average, collecting nine hits in 20 at-bats with seven runs driven in. She has also struck out just once as the team has combined for only 19 punchouts through six games.
• The team is batting .312 on the year, collecting 49 hits in 157 at-bats, while the opposition has hit a combined .187. Saint Anselm has also struck out just 19 times, drawing 15 walks on the season with a 38.4% on-base percentage.
• The tandem of sophomore Sophia DiPippo (Cranston, R.I.) and junior Haile Hicks (Jefferson, N.H.)has combined to allow just three earned runs. Across three starts, DiPippo has allowed zero earned runs while Hicks has conceded just three runs in 21 innings, striking out 23 batters to date with a 3-0 record in the circle.
• Hicks' 1.29 career earned-run average ranks sixth among active NCAA Division II student-athletes and ninth among all pitchers across NCAA Division I, II and III. DiPippo is one of just 17 qualifying pitchers nationwide to boast a 0.00 earned-run average as of Wednesday, Mar. 1.
• Saint Anselm ranks fourth nationally on the young season in team earned-run average (0.72), seventh in triples per game (0.67) and nine in WHIP (0.9). The Hawks' 83.3% winning percentage is 18th among the nation's NCAA Division II programs.
• Head Coach Jill Gagnon, in her 10th season at Saint Anselm, needs just three victories to reach 250 for her career. Transforming the Hawks softball program into a perennial power, she helped the program to the 2018 and 2021 NCAA Division II East Region Championships.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION (all statistics as of Thursday, Mar. 2)

• Bridgeport has compiled a 3-8 record and have lost three straight, including a 9-0 run-rule loss to the nation's top team in Rogers State on Thursday, Mar. 2. The Purple Knights racked up a 36-16 record last season, falling to Georgian Court and Franklin Pierce in a pair of one-run games in the NCAA postseason.
• Washburn, ranked No. 18 in the country, has 17 wins through its first 20 games in 2023. Pitcher Jaycee Ginter has carried a heavy load for the Ichabods, earning 12 victories across her first 17 pitching appearances this season. Marrit Mead is batting .476 to date, leading the team.
• Dominican (N.Y.) owns a 2-6 record so far in 2023 but is coming off a 9-1 run-rule victory over Gannon on Thursday. The Chargers are led by Samantha McDonald in an interim capacity and she guided the team to a 6-5 extra-inning victory over the Hawks' NE10 rival Assumption on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
• St. Cloud St. has a .500 record, posting five wins across its first 10 games. Last time out, the Huskies were swept by Emporia State in a doubleheader on the road. Last year, St. Cloud St. racked up a 36-18 overall record alongside a mark of 23-7 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.
• Trevecca Nazarene has lost four of its last five games – its one win in that span came over Davenport by a 10-0 score in six innings. The Trojans qualified for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference championship game in 2022, falling to Ohio Dominican and finishing with a 33-17 overall record.
• Wayne State has dropped three in a row and has compiled a 1-8 overall record – its one win came against Northwest Missouri State on Saturday, Feb. 25. Four of the team's first five game have ended in either five or six innings due to the run rule.
• Bemidji State has a 3-5 overall record in 2023 and will play its first game in Florida on Sunday, Mar. 5. All eight games the team has played this season were indoors – the team has victories over St. Cloud St., Providence (Mont.) and Carroll.

ALL-TIME vs. THE OPPOSITION

• The Hawks are 4-2 against Bridgeport in the all-time series but trail Dominican (N.Y.) by a 6-3 margin. The Purple Knights have made the last three NCAA postseasons, including the 2019 and 2021 NCAA Division II East Region Championships hosted by Saint Anselm.
• Saint Anselm lost to Dominican (N.Y.) last season by an 8-4 margin on Mar. 13 at The Spring Games.
• Saint Cloud State and the Hawks have split their two games in the series. The Hawks won a 4-3 game on Mar. 7, 2008 before most recently falling by a 7-3 margin on Mar. 3, 2016.
• Saint Anselm is just 1-4 versus Wayne State with the most recent game, a 2-0 shutout victory by the Wildcats, coming on Mar. 3, 2012.
• Washburn, Trevecca Nazarene and Bemidji State have never faced Saint Anselm.