WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross softball team is set to play five games starting Thursday when they take on non-conference opponent Central Connecticut at home on Freshman Field with first pitch slated for 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. The Crusaders then will travel to Patriot League opponent Boston University for a three game set, two games on Saturday at 12:00 and 2:00 p.m., and a single contest on Easter Sunday at noon. All games will be streamed live through ESPN+

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT HOLY CROSS (11-23, 3-6 PL):

• The Crusaders were upended three times this past weekend at Lehigh by scores of 4-1, and 5-3 Saturday, and 6-5 Sunday. On Sunday, senior Bailey Chavez was 3-for-4 at the plate while classmate Jessie Nagel went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI.
• Sophomore Claire McCann was selected as Patriot League honorable mention on Tuesday. She started in all five games for the Crusaders last week slashing .471/.444/.529 with a double and seven RBI. McCann recorded two three-hit games. The first in a 7-1 win at Hartford on Tuesday, McCann was 3-for-4 with a double and a career-high four RBI. In game two at Lehigh on Saturday, McCann again went 3-for-4 in the contest.
• Senior Bailey Chavez is the Patriot League leader in sacrifice bunts with 12. Chavez ranks second in all of NCAA Division I in sacrifice bunts per game (0.35) trailing Noellah Ramos (0.42) of Cal Poly.
• Senior Kelly Nelson who reached 500 career strikeouts last week, needs only 57 more to break Genoa Grosch's program record mark of 579.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS (5-30, 1-11 NEC):

• Central Connecticut has lost three consecutive games including a 4-1 setback to Wagner Sunday on the road. Meg Dugas was 1-for-4 with an RBI in the game while Meg Gorman and Kim Howard bashed doubles.
• Paige Stringer is the main offensive threat for CCSU. Stringer leads the squad in batting average (.310), hits, (31), doubles (8), runs (16), and home runs (5).
• The Blue Devils have the lowest batting average (.218) and ERA (6.78) in the NEC as they also allow opponents to hit .328, the second highest batting average in the league.

 
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS (26-13, 6-0 PL):

• Boston University has won 15 straight contests dating back to March 12 and are 17-3 over their last 20 games. They upended Providence 3-1 Sunday afternoon. Jen Horita was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBI while AJ Huerta-Leipner was 2-for-3 with a double.
• Pitcher Allison Boaz was named Patriot League Pitcher of the Week for the fourth time this season. Boaz collected a pair of wins with a 0.54 earned run average and 14 strikeouts in 13 innings holding opponents to a .191 batting average. On the season, Boaz leads the league in ERA (1.49), wins (15) and saves (2), while ranking second in innings pitched (122.1), third in opposing batting average (.241), and fourth in strikeouts (77).
• Infielder Kayla Roncin, the Patriot League leader in hits (58), batting average (.453), and on-base percentage (.500) ranks fourth, 15th, and 58th respectively in NCAA Division I in those categories.

LAST TIME THEY MET:

• Holy Cross is 4-19 against Central Connecticut and 1-9 over their last 10 games in the series that began back in 2007.
• In their last meeting on Thursday, April 4, the Crusaders suffered a 6-3 eight inning loss at home on Freshman Field. Then-freshman Bailey Chavez was 1-for-2 with an RBI, a run scored and two walks in the defeat.
• Versus the Terriers, Holy Cross is 8-43 in the series which began back in 1989.
• Last season, the Crusaders were swept in four games against BU being outscored 27-4 in those contests.

FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS 
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