Softball 3/18/2010 4:00:00 PM Canisius College Athletics

Softball Returns to Action At Miami (Ohio) Invitational

Miami (Ohio) Invitational - Oxford, Ohio
Games 19-22
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Canisius (10-8) vs. Toledo (3-15) - 10 a.m.
Canisius vs. Miami (Ohio) (8-10) - 12 p.m.

Sunday, March 21, 2010
Canisius vs. Robert Morris (2-5) - 10 a.m.
Canisius vs. Michigan State (10-13)

ON DECK CIRCLE

After a weekend off, the Canisius College softball team returns to action at the two-day Miami (Ohio) Invitational in Oxford, Ohio.
The Golden Griffins are 10-8 overall on the season after winning the championship of the George Washington Colonial Classic March 6-7.
The Blue and Gold enters this weekend as the only team with a winning record, having posted wins in three of their last four contests and in 10 of their last 13 games overall.
Canisius' games against Toledo on March 21, and Michigan State on March 22, will mark the first time the schools have met in softball.
The Griffs are 1-0 all-time against Miami (Ohio) and 8-4 all-time against Robert Morris.
Senior captain Michelle Fridey leads the Griffs offensively with her .407 batting average (22-for-54). She also leads the MAAC with her .407 average, among players with at least 20 at-bats this season.
Fridey and teammate Lauren Hope are tied for the team lead with 22 hits apiece this year. Of Fridey's 22 hits, 10 have been for extra bases, with seven of those being doubles.
Fridey's 18 RBIs this year are five more than the next closest player on the Canisius team, as junior teammate Paige Freiberger has knocked in 13 runs. Overall, four of the top-five RBI leaders in the conference play for Canisius.
Freiberger was named the MAAC's Player of the Week March 8, after she hit .364 with five rubs batted in, three runs scored, a double, two homers and a stolen base in four games at the Colonial Classic.
Freiberger's four homers this year leads the MAAC as of March 15.
As a team, the Griffs are hitting .295, with four players hitting better than .350 for the season. Junior Emily Helbig ranks second on the roster with her .373 batting average, while Hope (.355) and sophomore Lizzy Gatto (.354) round out the top-four.
Canisius has outscored its opponents 135-108 this season and the Blue and Gold has only been shutout three times in the first 18 games.
Four players on Canisius' roster have four or more stolen bases, led by Hope's eight swipes on 10 chances. Hope is the school's all-time leader in career stolen bases, as she enters this weekend with 69 steals on 73 career attempts, a success rate of 94.5 percent.
Freshman pitcher Amanda Baun is 6-4 with a 1.87 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 60 innings of work this year. Baun has been named the MAAC's Pitcher of the Week two times in the first month of the season.
Baun went 2-1 with a save and an ERA of 0.47 at the Colonial Classic March 6-7. Her 73 total strikeouts this season leads the league.
Sophomore hurler Caroline Main is 4-4 with a .359 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 52.2 innings of work this season. Main earned the win in Canisius' last outing March 7, against George Washington, a 4-1 victory for the Blue and Gold.
Canisius' action this weekend will close out the team's 22-game stretch to start the season away from home. The Griffs will play cross-town rival Buffalo Friday, March 26, at 3 p.m. for the 2010 home opener.