DAVIS, Calif. - Seattle U softball begins the 2023 season this week, heading south for the NorCal Kickoff in Davis and Sacramento, California. The tournament that will be cohosted by UC Davis and Sacramento State, sees the Redhawks compete in five games over three days.
The Redhawks will start with four straight games on the UC Davis campus, taking on Pacific and UC Davis Friday as well as Rutgers and Santa Clara on Saturday. They will head to Sacramento on Sunday for their final contest of the weekend against Sacramento State. All five games will feature live stats, with the matchup against Sacramento State having live streaming on ESPN+.
FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS
- Friday, February 10 at 9:30 a.m
- Seattle U vs. Pacific
- Live Stats
- Friday, February 10 at 12:00 p.m.
- Seattle U vs. UC Davis
- Live Stats
- Saturday, February 11 at 9:30 a.m.
- Seattle U vs. Rutgers
- Live Stats
- Saturday, February 11 at 2:30 p.m.
- Seattle U vs. Santa Clara
- Live Stats
- Sunday, February 12 at 11:00 a.m.
- Seattle U vs. Sacramento State
- Live Stats
- ESPN+
TERRIFIC TRIO
Graduate student Olivia Viggiano and seniors Madison Kahwaty and Stefanie Madrigal were all picked to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) 2023 Preseason Team. This is the second consecutive year the Redhawks have had three players named to the Preseason All-WAC Team, with Madrigal and Viggiano being repeat recipients.
The Redhawks have gone six straight seasons with multiple players earning the honor and have had at least one athlete named for the last decade. Only the 2020 season did the Redhawks have more individuals earn Preseason All-WAC honors when five were selected.
PRESEASON POLL
Seattle U is picked to finish second based on the WAC preseason poll, receiving 109 overall picks and one first place vote.
MAKING HISTORY
Graduate student Olivia Viggiano will look to move her name up in the SU record book, currently tied for the first all-time in triples (11) and holds the second overall spot in stolen bases (48), fifth spot in at-bats (610) and seventh spot in hits (190). Viggiano already broke the all-time runs scored record, breaking the record of 123 set by Kaylee Ree in 2018.
TOP-TIER PITCHING
The Redhawks return two of the WAC's top pitchers from last season in senior Stefanie Madrigal and sophomore Grace Luderer. Madrigal was stellar for SU last season, earning Second Team All-WAC honors through ranking second in ERA (2.22) and fourth in wins (15). Luderer was named WAC Freshman of the Year and recorded the seventh most strikeouts (106) in the conference.
As a staff, Seattle U logged the best team ERA (2.96) by allowing the second lowest number of earned runs (158) and the fewest home runs (24). They struck out a total of 298 batters in 2022, which is second best in the conference.
NEW FACES
Seattle U added five new faces this past offseason, including talented transfer Sydney Frankenberger from Cal Poly. Frankenberger appeared in 83 games as an outfielder, hitting a combined .283 average over those three seasons. Freshman Sofia Carroll, Hadley Dunham, Brooklyn Jones and Ava Sin join Frankenberger on this season's roster.
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