The Wilkes University women’s softball team (1-9) is set to take on Scranton university’s Royals (3-6), coach Frank Matthews believes the team has a lot to improve on before going into the April 1 double header.

The purple-and-white has a team batting average of .297. The offense is led by freshmen Shannon Stricker, who will come into the game batting .516. Stricker has had five multi-hit games with eight starts and also has yet to strikeout this season. The freshman has 16 hits, six RBIs, and seven runs, in just 31 at bats for Scranton.

The Royals pitching staff has a combined era of 4.67 within nine games. The staff is led by sophomore Jamie Hempey, who has a era of 4.20. Hempey has appeared in five games, pitching in 20 innings and striking out 15 for the Royals.

The Lady Colonels, meanwhile, have a team batting average of .186. The blue-and-gold’s offense is led by senior Jordan Borger, who is hitting an impressive .375 with a total of 9 hits through 10 starts.

The Lady Colonels pitching staff is also struggling with a team era of 9.87. Sophomore Haylie Phillips leads Wilkes with a 3.71 era. Phillips collected the Lady Colonels’ first win last week against Delaware Valley College.

Matthews said he believes that the ladies have a lot to improve on in order to compete Friday against Scranton.

“Besides having to hit better, and hit better in certain situations,” Matthews said. “We also have to improve our defense and our pitching.”

The Lady Colonels are leading the Middle Atlantic Conference with errors and also have the highest era.

“In order to be successful against Scranton as well as other teams this season, our pitchers will have to live on the black of the plate and stay out of the white, and our defense is going to have to consistently make plays in the field,” Matthews said.

The Lady Colonels face off against Scranton Universities Royals at 4 p.m. April 1 at the Ralston Athletic Complex.

Marcus Leaf, Correspondent