SFA Hosts Nicholls State
4/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 5, 2007
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Home Stand Concludes: The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack softball team will wrap up its longest home stand of the season this weekend, when the Ladyjacks host Southland Conference foe Nicholls State in a three-game series. The slate will open Friday afternoon with a doubleheader, starting at 4 p.m. SFA will put the wraps on its seven-game home stretch Saturday with a noon start. The Ladyjacks (14-22, 7-5) entered the week as the sixth-place team in the SLC. Nicholls State is in fourth place in the league standings.
Last Time Out: The Ladyjacks took two of three in an SLC series against Central Arkansas. Sophomore Kari Hugie (7-8) pitched her fifth complete-game shutout of the season in collecting a 1-0 win over the Bears in Saturday's opener. That strong showing dropped her season ERA to 2.87. The Ladyjacks then broke out the aluminum for Game 2, collecting eight hits -- including a home run -- in a 6-1 victory. Freshman third baseman Briana Bishop stroked a solo homer to left-center in the first inning to get SFA on the board. It was her sixth bomb of the year -- and second of the week -- and she would go on to add a run-scoring double in the game, as Ashley Wilburn (6-11) collected the complete-game victory. But SFA ran out of offense on Sunday. The Ladyjacks were shut out, and turned what had been a pitcher's duel into a lopsided 6-0 loss with two errors in a six-run UCA seventh inning. A win would have given SFA its second SLC series sweep of the season and moved the Ladyjacks into a second-place tie in the league standings.
The Colonels: Nicholls State comes into this weekend's series with an 18-14 overall record and a 9-5 mark in Southland Conference play. The Colonels recorded a 6-4 win over Northwestern State in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader, but Nicholls had lost four straight games heading into that contest. The Colonels have twice this season put together winning streaks of greater than five games, including a season-high seven just after opening SLC play. Nicholls leads the Southland with a healthy .324 batting average. Kat Harrell, the conference hitter of the year in 2006, is at the top of the league and her team with a .523 average. Krystalin Ensminger leads the Colonels' pitching staff with an 11-8 record and a 3.61 ERA.
The Coaches: SFA is coached by Jenifer Wells. Wells is in her second season at SFA, where she holds a 31-50 (.383) record. In her five-year collegiate coaching career, Wells is 167-158 (.514). The Colonels are coached by Jenny Parsons. Parsons' teams are 59-81 (.421) in her time at Nicholls State.
• For complete notes, click the "Game Notes" link in the side bar of the Softball home page.
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