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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University's softball team hits the road for 10 games in five days as part of the Dot Richardson Spring Games at Hancock Park in Clermont, Fla.
 
Conference representation: Slippery Rock opens the trip with four straight games against members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference: University of Minnesota Crookston, University of Sioux Falls (S.D.), Minot State University and Minnesota State University Moorhead.
 
The Rock squares off twice against Northeast-10 member Merrimack College.
 
SRU will also face Saint Leo University of the Sunshine State College, University of Illinois-Springfield of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, New York Institute of Technology of the East Coast Conference and #18 Caldwell College of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.
 
Scouting The Rock: Slippery Rock take a 2-3 record into Saturday's opening day games. The Rock dropped its first three games of the season in North Carolina, but closed the trip with consecutive wins over Winston-Salem State and West Virginia State.
 
Sophomore Ashley Samluk is off to a hot start and leads The Rock's offense in batting average (.500), slugging percentage (.875), runs (four), doubles (three), home runs (one) and RBIs (three). Freshman McKenzie Popatak is batting .455 with a pair of runs and three RBIs, while Sophomore Katie Kaiser contributes a .316 batting average.
 
Freshman Carly DeRose anchors the pitching staff with a team-best 2.68 ERA. DeRose also leads the team with 15.2 innings pitched and has a 1-1 record with two complete games. Senior Emily Lobdell has logged 13 innings and holds a 4.31 ERA and 1-1 record.

Head coach Becky Sciacca has led SRU to consecutive 16-win seasons and is in her third season at the helm for The Rock.
 
Scouting the Golden Eagles: The University of Minnesota Crookston has yet to play this spring and will open their season with 14 games in Florida.
 
The Golden Eagles struggled a season ago, finishing with a record of 3-38 in Ed Deugan's first year as head coach.
 
Scouting the Cougars: The University of Sioux Falls' softball team enters the trip with a 5-3 overall record.
 
Sophomore Shannon Daly paces the offense and is hitting .357, with five runs scored, four doubles, a homerun and team-high seven RBIs.
 
The ace of the staff, Senior Amanda Walters, owns a 3.57 ERA and 3-2 record. Walters has four complete games and has struck out 50 batters in 31.1 innings pitched.
 
Head coach Kelsey Thompson is in her first year at the helm for the Cougars and looks to improve on a team that went 15-27 last season.
 
Scouting the Beavers: Minot State softball takes a 4-5 record to the Dot Richardson Spring Games.
 
Junior Ali Cygan has a team-leading .400 batting average and is tied for the lead with five RBIs. Freshman Jordan Grant leads the team with seven runs scored and newcomer Alyssa Cornejo has homered twice to lead the Beavers.
 
Junior Mindy Lorimor owns a 4-3 record and leads the team with a 1.51 ERA. Lorimor has tossed 41.2 innings and recorded three complete games.
 
Bill Triplett in his seventh season as the head coach of the Minot State softball program. Triplett owns a 195-79 career coaching record and guided the Beavers to a 41-11 record and appearance in the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
 
Scouting the Dragons: The Minnesota State University Moorhead softball team dropped a pair in their only action prior to the Dot Richardson Spring Games and will head to Florida with a record of 0-2.
 
Freshman Jill Fox leads MSUM with a .333 average, while freshman Lauren Meeker is hitting .250. On the mound, sophomore Kristen Nordby owns a 2.00 ERA and 0-1 record.
 
Former Dragon softball standout Kelsey Fehl is in her fourth year as the head coach of MSUM, compiling a record of 30-94 in her first three seasons.
 
Scouting the Warriors: Merrimack is winless in five attempts and enters the Dot Richardson Games with a 0-5 overall record.
 
Senior Kelsey Francher is batting .333 with three triples, five RBIs and a pair of stolen bases. Senior Jessica Fugazzotto is hitting .385 with three runs and three stolen bases.
 
Freshman Haley Currie and Sophomore Alexis Perry have each thrown 10 or more innings to lead the Warriors. Currie is 0-2 with a 6.18 ERA, while Perry is 0-2 with a 9.8 ERA.
 
Jim Cardello is in his second season as head coach of the Warriors, leading Merrimack to a 21-22-1 overall record last spring.
 
Scouting the Lions: The Saint Leo softball team began its season in February and owns a 17-11 record entering the Dot Richardson Spring Games.
 
Junior Adriana Sanders leads the Lions with a .351 batting average and has scored 22 runs and swiped eight bases. Junior McKenzie Burns is hitting .303 and has 22 runs scored and 15 stolen bases. Cassie Boggs leads the team with two homers, six doubles and 20 RBIs.
 
Senior Sarah Steiner anchors the pitching staff with a 9-5 record and 1.88 ERA. Junior Ashley Ehlers is 5-1 on the season with a 2.20 ERA.
 
John Conway is in his fourth season as head coach of the Lions. Conway has compiled a 87-77 record and capped off his third season in 2013 with a Sunshine State Conference Championship.
 
Scouting the Prairie Stars: The University of Illinois Springfield softball team brings a 7-7 record into the Dot Richardson Spring Games.
 
Seniors Samantha Riss and Molly Manietta are each hitting a team-high .395 this spring. Manietta also leads the Prairie Stars with nine RBIs, while Junior Chelsea Minor is batting .317 and has scored 11 runs.
 
Sophomore Alex Smith leads the team with 39.2 innings pitched and has a 3.53 ERA to go with a 3-4 record and six complete games. Sophomore Cheyanne Bowman leads the Prairie Stars with a 2.79 ERA and a 4-2 record with four complete games.
 
Mat Mundell is in his fifth full season as the head coach of the Prairie Stars. Mundell led the team to the GLVC Championship and NCAA Tournament in 2012.
 
Scouting the Bears: The New York Institute of Technology opens its play in 2014 at the Dot Richardson Spring Games.
 
The Bears were picked to finish seventh in the ECC Preseason Poll after finishing the 2013 season with an overall record of 14-30.
 
Stephen Christianson is in his ninth season as head coach of the Bears.
 
Scouting the Cougars: The Caldwell College softball team is ranked 18^th in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Top 25 Poll.
 
The Cougars have yet to play and open their season at the Dot Richardson Spring Games.
 
Caldwell returns 13 players from last year's team that went 45-12 and advanced to the NCAA East Region Tournament for the sixth consecutive season.
 
Dean Johnson is in his 20^th season as head coach of the Caldwell Cougars, compiling a record of 598-287-2 to rank among the top active NCAA Division II softball coaches. 
 
All-Time Series: This will be SRU's first ever meeting with Minnesota Crookston, Sioux Falls, Minot State, Saint Leo, Illinois Springfield, Merrimack and Caldwell.
 
SRU is 2-2 against Minnesota State University Moorhead, 1-1 against NYIT and 0-1 against Merrimack.
 
Up next: Following the trip to Florida, The Rock turn their attention to a March 23 double header vs. Gannon University that will kick off SRU's PSAC-Western Division and home schedules. First pitch at the SRU Softball Complex is set for 1 p.m.

2014 Dot Richardson Spring Games Schedule:
Date	Time	Opponent
3/15	1:00 p.m.	University of Minnesota, Crookston
3/15	3:00 p.m.	University of Sioux Falls (S.D.)
3/16	5:00 p.m.	Minot State University
3/16	7:00 p.m.	Minnesota State University Moorhead
3/17	9:00 a.m.	Merrimack College
3/17	1:00 p.m.	Saint Leo University
3/18	9:00 a.m.	University of Illinois Springfield
3/18	1:00 p.m.	New York Institute of Technology
3/19	9:00 a.m.	Merrimack College
3/19	1:00 p.m.	Caldwell College