Ethel Santai named SFU's first ever NEC Pitcher of the Year

LORETTO, Pa. – A record-breaking year helped Saint Francis Softball to receive multiple NEC postseason honors, released by the conference on Wednesday.  The Red Flash received nine All-NEC selections, led by senior Ethel Santai (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove Area) being named NEC Pitcher of the Year and freshman Abby Trahan (Kaplan, La./Kaplan) being selected NEC Rookie of the Year.  Senior Kindra Witthus (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) was named the Gold Glove winner and the SFU coaching staff, led by Head Coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift, was given the NEC Coaching Staff of the Year honor.
 
Patrick-Swift has led Saint Francis to a 45-9 record this year.  SFU has set a new program record with 45 wins and is just two away from the NEC record, set by UMBC in 2002.  The Red Flash finished the NEC regular season with a 16-0 conference record, the first NEC team to ever go undefeated in conference play.
 
SFU is one of just three teams in the nation that are undefeated in conference play this season, joining No. 4 Florida State (24-0 ACC) and No. 20 BYU (12-0 WCC).  Saint Francis enters the tournament with a program-record 18-game win streak and has won 33 of its last 34 games.  SFU is ranked 59th in the RPI, received six votes in this week's USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and was ranked 25th in the nation by HERO Sports.
 
The Red Flash is hosting the NEC Tournament for the first time in program history this weekend.  SFU, the top seed after winning the NEC Regular Season title, meets No. 4 seed Robert Morris at Noon on Thursday, May 11, to open up the tournament.
 
Saint Francis' nine All-NEC selections are a program record and are the most by any NEC school since Central Connecticut State in 2013.  The Red Flash placed five players on the first team, including Santai, junior first baseman Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton), senior pitcher Ketarah DeVries (Forreston, Ill./Forreston), sophomore outfielder Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) and junior Jordan Seneca (Plum, Pa./Plum).  The second team included sophomore second baseman Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois), sophomore outfielder Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove), sophomore third baseman Kassidy Troxell (Navarre, Ohio/Perry) and Witthus.
 
Santai is SFU's first ever NEC Pitcher of the Year.  She won five NEC Pitcher of the Week honors this season.  She leads the NEC with a 1.64 ERA.  She owns a 17-1 record, with nine complete games, and two saves.  In NEC games, Santai is 8-0 with a 1.19 ERA in 10 appearances (seven starts).  She threw a perfect game in an 11-0 win over East Carolina on March 18, needing just 51 pitches to get through five perfect innings.  Santai threw a six-inning No-Hitter at Bryant on April 22, allowing just four baserunners and striking out five batters.  Santai has nine outings this year in which she has pitched at least five innings and allowed one or less earned runs.