GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Embry-Riddle (15-11, 1-1) at No. 10 Thomas (26-7, 4-0)
DATE: Saturday, March 28, 2015
CITY: Thomasville, Georgia
SITE: Armory Field
FIRST PITCH: 11 a.m. EDT
LIVE STATS: ERAU Gameday Network
LIVE VIDEO: TU Stretch Internet Portal

Embry-Riddle (15-11, 1-1) vs. No. 24 South Carolina Beaufort (16-8, 4-0)
DATE: Sunday, March 29, 2015
CITY: Hardeeville, South Carolina
SITE: Richard Gray Sports Complex
FIRST PITCH: 12 p.m. EDT
LIVE STATS: ERAU Gameday Network
LIVE VIDEO: USCB Stretch Internet Portal

ABOUT EMBRY-RIDDLE
Home runs from Robi Zimmerman and Raquelli Bianco spurred the Embry-Riddle softball team to a pair of victories on Sunday over visiting William Woods University. Zimmerman hit a walk-off three-run homer in the first game to give ERAU a 3-2 win, while Bianco helped herself with a two-run shot in game two, a game that she also pitched a shutout, leading the Eagles to a 3-0 victory.

ERAU is hitting .266 as a team with an on-base percentage of .357 and a slugging percentage of .378. The Eagles have hit nine home runs and are a perfect 40-for-40 in the stolen base department. Embry-Riddle's pitchers have a 3.43 ERA with 118 strikeouts in 165.1 innings of work.

Anna Battison leads the team in batting average (.395), hits (30), on-base percentage (.483), runs scored (20) and stolen bases (20). Robi Zimmerman is batting .273 with four home runs and has driven in a team-leading 20 runs.

In the circle, Taylor Cowan has been effective in six relief appearances, tossing 17 innings with a 1-0 record and a 3.29 ERA, while Zimmerman is 6-6 with a 3.24 ERA in 13 starts and Raquelli Bianco is 8-5 with a 3.66 ERA in 13 starts.

ABOUT THOMAS
The Night Hawks are 26-7 on the season and 4-0 in Sun Conference contests. TU has won eight straight games, including sweeps at St. Thomas and Northwood last weeked to open conference play. Thomas jumped up two spots in the latest coaches' poll to take over the No. 10 ranking.

As a team, Thomas is hitting .334, slugging .497 and has an on-base percentage of .402. TU has hit 28 home runs and is 85-for-115 in stolen bases. The Night Hawks' pitching staff has a 2.64 ERA with 141 strikeouts in 225.2 innings pitched.

Thomas ranks second in the nation in stolen bases but is also second in the NAIA in caught stealings. The Night Hawks' 307 hits are fifth-most in the country and their 210 runs scored rank 12th.

Chandler Seay leads the team with a .414 batting average and 30 runs scored and is also 21-for-32 in steals, while Alex Vanwagner is hitting .396 and has a team-best 24 steals in 31 attempts. Carmen Nadal leads the team with 28 RBIs while Kelsey Connolly has a team-leading seven home runs to go along with 27 RBIs.

Vanwagner's 24 steals are third in the nation while Seay ranks seventh in the same category. Seay also ranks 12th with 46 hits and Connolly is 23rd in home runs.

Ashley Sikes has a conference-leading 12 wins and a 2.17 ERA in 14 starts, while Katie Lopes is 8-2 with a 2.04 ERA in 11 starts and Ashley Chapman is 6-1 with four saves, a 3.38 ERA and a team-high 55 strikeouts in 60 innings of work. Alexa Fair has a 4.91 ERA and leads the country with five saves.

ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA BEAUFORT
The Sand Sharks are 16-8 on the season and 4-0 in Sun Conference contests. USCB has won six straight games, including sweeps at Northwood and St. Thomas last weeked to open conference play. USCB moved up a spot in the latest coaches' poll to No. 24.

As a team, USCB is hitting .310, slugging .496 and has an on-base percentage of .374. USCB has hit 27 home runs and is 33-for-37 in stolen bases. The Sand Sharks' pitching staff has a 2.64 ERA with 113 strikeouts in 154 innings pitched.

USCB ranks eighth in the NAIA with 1.125 home runs/game and is 33rd in slugging percentage. The Sand Sharks also rank 39th in ERA and 40th in stolen bases.

Amber Williams leads the team with a .444 batting average while Taylor Triplett is hitting .405 with 10 RBIs. Maddie Byrd and Haley Brown are tied for the team lead with 19 RBIs; Byrd has hit seven home runs and Brown leads the club with 10 homers and 18 runs scored. Marissa Becker is batting .321 and is 12-for-12 in stolen bases to lead the team.

Brown is fourth in the nation in home runs while Byrd is 23rd in the same category and Becker is listed 34th in stolen bases.

Kristy Cook is 10-2 with a 1.59 ERA and leads the team with 54 strikeouts in 83.2 innings pitched. Ashlie Layman is 3-5 with a 4.74 ERA in eight starts and Kendall Jumper is 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA in three starts.

NEW FACES, NEW PLACES
The 2015 edition of the Embry-Riddle softball team will look much different than the previous two seasons. ERAU has a new head coach in Kelsi Dunne, a new assistant coach in Monique White, and six of the 13 players are brand new this year. Besides the new faces, the Eagles will be playing all of their home games at Daytona State College while the new baseball/softball facilities are completed.

CANADIAN THIEF
Sophomore catcher Anna Battison, a native of Tsawwassen, B.C., has made the most of her move to the leadoff spot this season. After going 5-for-10 on the basepaths in 2014, Battison has been impossible to throw out this season, with 20 steals in 20 attempts. Her 20 steals are the eighth-most by a player in the NAIA this season.

On March 18, Battison surpassed Sarah Huey's record of 15 steals to become the single-season record-holder in the stolen base department. Battison currently ranks second in program history in career stolen bases with 25, just two behind Huey's record of 27.

Battison's 20 stolen bases are a major of part of ERAU's 40 steals as a team, which ranks 26th in the NAIA. The Blue and Gold also have the most stolen bases in the nation among teams that have not been caught stealing this year.

SOLID AS A ROCK
Talia Barraco, the team's lone senior, was one of the most reliable players on the team in her first season at Embry-Riddle in 2014, earning her the nickname "Rock." This season, Barraco is hitting .246 and leads the team with eight doubles to go along with 16 RBIs and 13 runs scored.

DUAL THREATS
Robi Zimmerman has contributed at the plate and in the circle in each of her two seasons at Embry-Riddle. This season, Zimmerman is hitting .273 with four home runs and 20 RBIs, while also holding a 3.24 ERA and leading the staff with 54 strikeouts.

The Blue and Gold have another dual-threat athlete this year in Raquelli Bianco who will split time between the pitching circle and first base. This year, Bianco has registered 19 hits, including four doubles, three triples and two home runs, and has 16 RBIs, while holding a 8-5 record with a 3.66 ERA and four shutouts.

Taylor Cowan has developed into a third dual threat for ERAU, leading the team batting average against (.238) with a 3.29 ERA in 17 innings of relief work while collecting 14 hits and nine RBIs at the plate.

SHUTOUT STREAK
Raquelli Bianco has been on quite a run in the pitcher's circle lately, having tossed four straight complete game shutouts. The streak began on March 10th against Columbia (S.C.), when the junior allowed just two hits and struck out eight in a five-inning shutout. Eight days later, Bianco threw a five-inning three-hitter against Concordia (Mich.). Last weekend, Bianco threw a five-inning four-hitter against Warner and followed that up with a six-hitter against William Woods the next day. Including the seventh inning of her March 7th start against Michigan-Dearborn, Bianco has not allowed a run in 23 consecutive innings. During the streak, Bianco's ERA has dropped over a run-and-a-half from 5.25 to 3.66.

DEFENDING THE NEST
The Eagles have been tough to beat at home in the program's first two years of existence, compiling a 9-3 mark in 2013 and a 13-8 record in 2014. The Blue and Gold have continued that winning tradition in 2015 at the Daytona State College Softball Complex, Embry-Riddle softball's temporary home field. The Blue and Gold are 13-7 at the DSC field and 1-1 at the Port Orange City Center Sports Complex, making ERAU's overall program record at home 36-19, good for a .655 winning percentage.

RECORD-SETTING ROBI
Robi Zimmerman is putting her name at the top of a number of the program's all-time leader lists. As a three-year starter at first base and pitcher, Zimmerman is among the top 10 in the following categories:

Games
Games played - 106 (1st)
Games started - 102 (1st)

Hitting
Home runs - 10 (1st)
Runs batted in - 68 (1st)
Walks - 33 (1st)
At-bats - 295 (1st)
Doubles - 21 (2nd)
Total bases - 137 (2nd)
Sacrifice flies - 4 (T-2nd)
Hits - 86 (3rd)
Slugging percentage - .464 (3rd)
Hit by pitch - 3 (T-5th)
On-base percentage - .364 (6th)
Runs scored - 29 (6th)
Batting average - .292 (7th)
Sacrifice bunts - 8 (9th)

Pitching
Saves - 3 (1st)
Appearances - 66 (1st)
Starts - 55 (1st)
Complete games - 32 (1st)
Innings pitched - 315.0 (1st)
Strikeouts - 168 (2nd)
ERA - 4.00 (2nd)
Oppenents batting average - .312 (2nd)
Walks/7 inn. - 2.58 (2nd)
Strikeouts/7 inn. - 3.73 (2nd)
Wins - 21 (2nd)
Shutouts - 1 (3rd)

Fielding
Assists - 109 (3rd)
Fielding percentage - .965 (4th)
Putouts - 141 (6th)

EAGLES FOURTH IN PRESEASON POLL
After winning The Sun Conference regular season championship in 2014, the Eagles have been picked to finish fourth in the league in 2015 in a preseason poll voted on by all nine TSC softball coaches. Prior to winning the regular season title last season, the Blue and Gold were picked to finish third in the preseason poll.