Softball's Heart opener on Saturday selected as Heart-NAIASB Series of the Week

The Heart of America Athletic Conference and NAIA SB announced a partnership back in January, focused on enhancing the visibility, promotion, and engagement of all 13 Heart softball programs through dynamic multimedia content creation.

One of the new features this season is the NAIA SB/Heart Series of the Week. The NAIA SB staff will select a series each week that features some of the top programs in the Heart. NAIA SB will then record a podcast previewing the series, which will be posted on both the NAIA SB and Heart YouTube Channels.

This week's series pins Mount Mercy at Benedictine, which will take place this Saturday, March 22 at 1 and 3 pm on Ravens Field inside the Asher Sports Complex. The series will be streamed on the Heart Network, courtesy of BRSN, at www.heartconferencenetwork.com/benedictine-college.

Benedictine, who was listed in the receiving votes category earlier this week in the second NAIA Softball Netting Professionals Coaches' Top 25 Rating, enters the weekend at 15-11 overall. Mount Mercy enters the game at 8-10 overall. Both teams will be playing their first Heart games of the season during Saturday's series. 

By the Numbers: In 18 games, Mount Mercy ranks fourth in the Heart in batting average at .300 while Benedictine ranks sixth at .283. ... Mount Mercy ranks second in slugging percentage at .469 with 18 doubles, 14 triples, and 12 home runs. Benedictine ranks fifth in slugging at .429 with 38 doubles, 1 triples, and 21 home runs. ... Benedictine leads the Heart with 21 home runs while their 38 doubles are tied for second. Mount Mercy leads the Heart in triples while ranking third in home runs. ... Benedictine leads the Heart in ERA at 2.29 while Mount Mercy is 10th at 5.00. The Ravens have allowed 58 earned runs out of 78 total runs while the Mustangs have allowed 81 earned runs out of 103 total runs. ... Benedictine leads the Heart in strikeouts with 181 at 7.13 per seven innings. Mount Mercy ranks seventh with 93 strikeouts at 5.74 per seven innings.

Players to Watch: The Mustangs enter the series with the top two leaders in the Heart in batting average. Mia Peterson leads the Heart in battling average at .522 in 17 games while Sarah Heick is second at .456 in 18 games. ... Benedictine's Rhiannon Martin leads the Heart in home runs with 6 while she also is tied for fourth in RBI with 20 with her teammate Alena Velilla.  ... Calli Janik ranks second in the Heart for Mount Mercy with 5 home runs. ... Each team is represented in the top five in stolen bases. Ashley Smith for Mount Mercy ranks second with 14 while Benedictine's Ryan Cooper ranks third with 13. ... Benedictine's one-two punch inside the circle of Lily SinghDhillon and Baliey Selvage are second and third in the Heart in ERA at 1.70 and 1.72. Selvage is second in the Heart in strikeouts with 99 while SignhDhillon is fifth with 59. ... Mount Mercy's Ashley Webb leads the Heart in saves with 3. 

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