SAN JOSE, Calif. - Seattle U softball marks its second nonconference tournament of the 2024 season this weekend, heading to the Bay Area for the Silicon Valley Classic, cohosted by San Jose State and Santa Clara. The three-day tournament will have contests take place at the Spartan Softball Stadium and Santa Clara Softball Stadium with the Redhawks taking part in five games. Each contest will feature live stats with the matchup against the Spartans being streamed live on the Mountain West Network and the game with Santa Clara being streamed live on ESPN+.
FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS
- Friday, February 16 at 11 a.m
- Seattle U (3-2) vs. Cal Poly (5-0)
- San Jose, Calif.
- Live Stats
- Friday, February 16 at 1:30 p.m.
- Seattle U at San Jose State (1-4)
- San Jose, Calif.
- Mountain West Network
- Live Stats
- Saturday, February 17 at 10:00 a.m.
- Seattle U vs. Cal Poly
- Santa Clara, Calif.
- Live Stats
- Saturday, February 17 at 3:00 p.m.
- Seattle U at Santa Clara (2-3)
- Santa Clara, Calif.
- ESPN+
- Live Stats
- Sunday, February 18 at 11:00 a.m.
- Seattle U vs. Nevada
- Santa Clara, Calif.
- Live Stats
STRONG OPENING WEEKEND
The Redhawks enjoyed a strong start to the season this past weekend in Orlando, Florida, taking three of five contests. Seattle U opened with a 6-3 win over UConn in the first game of the season, with Sydney Frankenberger sending home the game winning run on a two out, two RBI single in the top of the sixth. Stefanie Madrigal was opened up the season where she left off last year, throwing 6.1 innings and allowing just one earned run.
After dropping the next two contests, SU bounced back against Georgia State Saturday afternoon, winning 5-1, thanks to a stellar collegiate debut in the circle for Avari Morris. The freshman from Henderson, Nevada, gave up her only hit of the contest with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Frankenberger smacked the best hit of this game for Seattle U, sending a two run, home run to right center field.
Nicola Simpson ended the weekend with the Redhawks first complete game shutout, helping to take down UConn for the second time, 5-0. The transfer from Tennessee allowed just three hits overall and struck out six Huskies to grab her first win in a Redhawks uniform. Simpson also provided some run support for herself at the plate, knocking a infield single to the second baseman in the third inning for two RBIs. Jasmine Wehn made the most of her pinch hit at bat in the sixth inning, sending a ball over the right field fence for a two run, home run.
Freshman Mikee Morris also enjoyed a strong start to her collegiate career, hitting .417 (5-for-12) with a triple and two runs over the five games. Morris's also made numerous great plays at shortstop to help her pitcher whe it was needed, recording a team-high 18 assists.
PRESEASON HONORS/PRESEASON POLL
Stefanie Madrigal and Tai Wilson were honored by the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) this past week, with the former being named the Preseason Co-Pitcher of the Year and the latter joining her on the All-WAC Preseason Team. The Redhawks have gone seven straight seasons with multiple players earning Preseason All-WAC honors and have had at least one athlete named for the last 11 years.
Madrigal becomes the first Redhawk to earn Preseason Co-Pitcher of the Year honors, marking her third consecutive season on the All-WAC Preseason Team. The native of San Jose, California, took another step forward during the 2023 season, leading the squad with the nation's 37th most wins at 19. Madrigal played some of her best softball on the biggest stage at the WAC Tournament, taking the ball in all five contests and allowing just one run in the first two.
Wilson earns the award for the first time after a breakout 2023 season in which she finished in the top-10 in batting average (.438), runs scored (23) and hits (35) during conference play in route to an All-WAC First Team award. The junior outfielder led the Redhawks with 72 hits (30th nationally), a batting average of .396 (54th nationally) and an on base percentage of .456 (142nd nationally). Wilson's overall hits total and batting average rank as the Redhawks' fourth and eighth best single-season performance.
Seattle U was picked to finish third as voted on by the 10 WAC coaches, receiving 66 points and one first place vote. The Redhawks have been picked to finish third overall or better in eight straight years.
NATIONAL AND CONFERENCE RANKINGS
Team batting average (.268) - fourth in the WAC
Team ERA (3.72) - fourth in the WAC
Team fielding percentage (.954) - fourth in the WAC
Team on base percentage (.345) - third in the WAC
Team scoring (3.20) - fourth in the WAC
Doubles (two) - Taylor Fitch, first in the WAC
hits (seven) - Sydney Frankenberger, third in the WAC
Total bases (10) - Sydney Frankenberger, third in the WAC
Hits allowed per seven innings (one) - Avari Morris, #3 in the nation and first in the WAC
Strikeout to Walk ratio (7.00) - Nicola Simpson, third in the WAC
Toughest to strikeout (17.0) - Sydney Frankenberger & Katie Walling, #26 in the nation and third in the WAC
SERIES-AT-A-GLANCE
Cal Poly: The Redhawks lead the all-time series, 3-1
San Jose State: The Redhawks trail the all-time series, 3-8
Santa Clara: The Redhawks lead the all-time series, 10-4
Nevada: The Redhawks and Wolf Pack and are tied in the all-time series, 4-4
HOW TO FOLLOW
All 14 Seattle U home contests this season will be broadcast on ESPN+. For road games, related links to video stream and live stats will be posted on the softball schedule page on goseattleu.com. Fans are encouraged to check the Seattle U Softball team's official Twitter feed @seattleusb for updates of games in progress as well as news and notes. Greg Sexton and former Redhawk, Katie Favilla (Antich), mark their third season on the call.
Stay connected with Seattle U softball and get all the latest team updates by downloading the GoSeattleU mobile app available now for free in the App Store or Google Play.