Softball | 03/18/23 | 10:01 AM

HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll College Softball team will have their first opportunity of the season to play in front of their home crowd this weekend as they host Northwest (Wash.) in another Cascade Collegiate Conference series in East Helena, Mont. at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. this afternoon.

The Fighting Saints (7-12, 3-6), who have yet to play a home series, will get their first crack at "home" field advantage this weekend when they host Northwest (13-10, 6-5) at an alternate location to their normal field in Centennial Park.

Due to a mid-March snowstorm, the decision was made to move the series to East Helena High School's synthetic turf field due to field conditions and player safety concerns at the natural grass and dirt Centennial Park.

The Saints will welcome the venue change regardless, seeing as this is the first time on the season that they have been able to sleep in their own beds leading up to game day. Carroll's home-opener last month against the College of Idaho was forced to relocate to Caldwell, Idaho due to severe cold temperatures.

Carroll enters the weekend after a tough four-game series in Klamath Falls, Ore. last week where they dropped four games to No. 5 Oregon Tech.

Northwest also played stiff competition last weekend. The Eagles played a very competitive series with No. 12 College of Idaho, but ultimately came away empty-handed.

Both teams are jostling for position in the middle of the pack in the CCC Standings (Northwest - 6, Carroll - 8).

Carroll's offense has been streaky on the year. The Saints have already matched their total amount of games scoring 10-plus runs from the season prior (4 games). However, a more consistent attack will be necessary for the Saints to make their way back into the CCC postseason tournament. In Carroll's six conference losses, they have accumulated only seven total runs, a stark contrast to the explosive wins on their resume. Finding a balance will be key for the Saints, and they will look to even their CCC record at .500 with a big weekend at home.

Abby Hanley (Las Vegas, Nev. / SR) will be on the bump to open the first game of the series. Hanley will look to limit an Eagle attack that has also shown the ability to put of runs in bunches on the season.

First pitch from East Helena will take place at 2 p.m., with the second-leg of today's doubleheader scheduled for a 4 p.m. start.

Live stats for today's games can be found HERE (game 1) and HERE (game 2). 

Due to the alternate location, a live stream of today's game will unfortunately not be available.

Visit www.carrollathletics.com this evening for a recap of the action, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.