Ladyjacks Set For SLC Tournament
5/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 7, 2008
SAN MARCOS, Texas -
Tournament Information
SFA at Southland Conference Tournament
May 8-10, 2008 • at Texas State
Bobcat Field • San Marcos, Texas
Tourney Time: The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack softball team will make its first appearance in 18 years at the Southland Conference Tournament this weekend, when the Ladyjacks travel to San Marcos, Texas, for the three-day tournament with a bid to the NCAA Championships on the line. Coming into this season, SFA had not reached the SLC Tournament since 1990, when the Ladyjacks finished fourth in the conference regular season then won the tournament title. SFA will again enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed this season after posting an 18-11 record in SLC play. The Ladyjacks are coming off their most successful regular-season campaign since 1991, having posted a 33-23 record. After enjoying a first-round bye, SFA will open tournament play Thursday at 4 p.m. against the winner of that morning's game between No. 5 McNeese State and No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana. A win Thursday would move the Ladyjacks into a semifinal date with No. 1 seed and SLC regular-season champion Texas State on Friday.
Tournament Lineup: The SLC Tournament will open Thursday morning at 11 a.m. when No. 5 McNeese State takes on No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana to begin SFA's half of the bracket. The Cowgirls enter the tournament with a 22-35 overall record and a 15-14 league record, while the Lions bring a 27-24 season mark and a 14-15 conference record to San Marcos. In the other first-round game, No. 6 Nicholls State (28-27, 15-14 SLC) will meet No. 7 Sam Houston State (30-30, 15-15 SLC) at 1:30 p.m. The winner of that contest will take on No. 3 UTSA (25-24, 20-11 SLC) at 6:30 p.m. No. 2 UT-Arlington will await the team that emerges from the bottom half of the bracket. The Mavericks (27-21, 20-10 SLC) will square off with their opponent Friday at 4 p.m. The winner of SFA's game Thursday will advance to meet No. 1 Texas State (35-17, 25-5 SLC) in Friday's nightcap at 6:30 p.m. The tournament championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m.
SFA Against The Field: Stephen F. Austin has notched at least one win against each of the other seven teams in this weekend's tournament field. In all, the Ladyjacks are 11-9 against the other tournament teams and posted at least a .500 record against each of the other three teams in their half of the bracket. SFA took two of three games at No. 5 McNeese State and split its rain-shortened series against No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana. The Ladyjacks defeated No. 1 Texas State twice in their three-game set.
The Ladyjacks: SFA is in the midst of one of the best seasons in program history. The Ladyjacks' 33 wins are tied for the third-most by an SFA team since joining the Southland Conference in the 1988 season. With 35 victories, Texas State is the only team in the conference to surpass SFA's season win total. The Ladyjacks finished the regular season with the second-best batting average in the SLC and the top team ERA in the league.
News and Notes
• THIRTY-SOMETHING: SFA finished the regular season with a 33-23 record. The 33 wins are tied with the 1988 win total for the third-most recorded by a Ladyjack team since joining the Southland Conference. Incidentally, 1988 was SFA's first year in the Southland. The Ladyjacks' 33-23 record is the program's first winning season since 2000 and marks just the second time since 1994 for the team to finish at .500 or better. The '94 campaign saw the Ladyjacks go 31-31 on the year and was SFA's most recent 30-win season coming into this year's campaign.
• NEW TERRITORY: That's where the Ladyjacks currently find themselves after one of the best seasons in the program's Southland Conference era. SFA is in the SLC Tournament for the first time since 1990 and is making just its fourth SLC Tourney appearance in the program's 21-year history with the league. The Ladyjacks entered the final weekend of the regular season with the potential to finish as high as second in the SLC but will enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed.
• BEGINNER'S LUCK?: It's tempting to chalk up Gay McNutt's first-year success to just that, considering she's been able to accomplish things no other SFA coach in the previous 18 years had achieved. But McNutt is a veteran with 14 years of head coaching experience to her credit and a history of building successful programs. She took Northwestern State from a perennial also-ran to a championship contender in just three years, and her teams have finished in the top eight of their respective conferences in each of the last 12 seasons, including nine top five finishes in that span.
• TOURNAMENT RECORD: Despite not having qualified for the SLC Tournament field in 18 years, SFA has the fourth-best all-time tournament winning percentage among current SLC schools. The Ladyjacks are 7-5 in tourney play with one tournament championship and a second-place finish. NOTE: SFA would have qualified for a six-team tournament field in both 1991 and 1994, but the SLC did not sponsor a postseason tournament between the years of 1991 and 1995.
• WATCH FOR FALLING RECORDS: In addition to posting one of the best team seasons in program history, the Ladyjacks have assaulted several categories in the individual record books this season. SFA players have broken three single-season records -- Kendal Harper holds the new marks for hits (69) and stolen bases (28), while Jessica Tullos is the new leader in home runs (10) -- and a big career mark with Jessica Tullos' new record of 22 home runs in her four-year career. Three other single-season marks -- RBI, doubles and triples -- are in serious jeopardy, and Tullos is just seven RBI short of tying that category's career mark.
• ALL-CONFERENCE: Senior Jessica Tullos and freshman Monika Covington were both named to the First-Team All-Southland Conference squad -- Tullos at first base and Covington as a pitcher. This marks the first time since 1998 for the Ladyjacks to land multiple selections on the first-team list. Covington was also named SLC Freshman of the Year, the first such honor for any Ladyjack frosh since the program joined the Southland. SFA's last All-SLC superlative honor was Angela Froboese's Utility Player of the Year selection in 2001. Two more Ladyjacks were also named to this year's All-SLC teams. Sophomore outfielder Kendal Harper was a second-team selection, and junior catcher Kim Daley was named to the third team. The last time SFA had as many as four players named to the all-conference teams was 1998, when Julie Kilgo, Jamie Coles, Shandy Ward and Froboese made the list.
• PITCHER PERFECT: The Ladyjacks posted a 3.91 earned run average in 2007, a figure that ranked eighth in the 11-team Southland Conference. A year later, SFA's staff leads the SLC with a 1.95 ERA, the only team ERA in the conference lower than 2.30 at the end of the regular season. In all, the Ladyjacks rank in the top three among SLC teams in nine key pitching statistical categories. SFA leads the league in batters struck out (357), batters struck out looking (75), runs allowed (136), earned runs allowed (106) and walks allowed (72).
• SWITCH HITTING: In just one season, SFA has gone from one of the worst offensive teams in the Southland Conference to one of the league's best. The Ladyjacks hit .229 in 2007, which ranked ninth in the SLC. They finished the 2008 regular season with a .280 team batting average, second-best in the conference and just three percentage points off the top mark set by UT-Arlington. SFA finished among the top three teams in the league in 15 offensive categories and led the SLC in runs scored (256), runs batted in (227), triples (15) and total bases (636).
• POWER SURGE: SFA is putting up power numbers in 2008 the likes of which have never been seen by the Ladyjack softball program. SFA's 40 home runs are a new team record, with the next-highest total shown in available records being the 2006 team mark of 26.
• FRESH ARM: Freshman pitcher Monika Covington has made an immediate impact in her first season with the Ladyjacks. Covington's 1.39 ERA leads the team and ranks second in the Southland Conference. She finished the regular season with a 17-12 record and is the SLC leader in innings pitched with 211.2 and strikeouts with 232. Covington's 232 strikeouts are the most for any SFA pitcher since Chrissy Autry recorded 271 in 2004. Her 17 wins are the second-most in the SLC and the most for a Ladyjack hurler since Sandy Green recorded 20 victories in the 1990 season.
• LOCKED WHEN LOADED: Opponents have a .210 batting average overall against freshman Monika Covington. But Covington is holding opposing batters to a .167 average in bases-loaded situations. In 18 at-bats with the bases juiced, she has surrendered just three hits -- all singles -- and has recorded nine strikeouts.
• GOLDEN HARP: Sophomore outfielder Kendal Harper leads the Ladyjacks with a .379 batting average. That figure ranks fourth in the Southland Conference through the end of the regular season. She leads the league in runs scored with 40, stolen bases with 28 and is second in the SLC in hits with a school-record 69. Harper also ranks in the top 10 in the conference in doubles, triples total bases, sacrifice bunts, total plate appearances, at-bats and steal attempts.
• HOME (RUN) COOKIN': With her roots in Lufkin, Texas, senior Jessica Tullos is the closest thing the Ladyjacks have to a hometown product. Apparently, East Texas agrees with her swing. Tullos is batting .338, second on the team, and has set both the single-season and career SFA records for home runs this season. Her 10 homers in 2008 rank third in the SLC, and she has hit 22 for her career. The .338 average is a new high for Tullos, who came into this season with a career average of .266, having never batted better than .300 for a season.
• DEPENDABLE DALEY: While her .221 batting average doesn't reflect it, junior Kim Daley has been one of the most productive bats in the Ladyjack lineup, rating among the team leaders in all crucial power numbers. Daley is fifth in slugging percentage at .442, second in runs batted in with 30, and second in home runs with seven. Her 13 doubles lead the team, and her 23 runs scored rank fourth on the squad. What's more, she's done it while playing perhaps the most physically demanding position on the diamond -- catcher. Daley has been behind the dish for all but one of the Ladyjacks' 56 games this season.
• YOUTH MOVEMENT: Freshmen have played some key roles in SFA's impressive 2008 season. Both the Ladyjacks' top two pitchers -- Monika Covington and Lauren Luetge -- are rookies. The duo has combined for 28 of the team's 33 wins and carries a joint ERA of 1.77. SFA's other two freshmen, second baseman Ashley Struchtemeyer and outfielder Monica Hirsch, have been impact players at the plate. Struchtemeyer's .300 batting average ranks fourth on the team, and she is tied for second on the squad with seven home runs. Hirsch has batted in the leadoff spot in 21 games for SFA and is right behind Struchtemeyer with a .277 season average.
• STREAKING: Six different SFA players have put together hitting streaks of five games or longer this season. Junior Kendal Harper's nine-game hit streak to begin the season is the best on the team so far. She saw her batting average climb as high as .786 during the run, which ended on Feb. 23. Harper has since posted two more streaks of seven games apiece and leads the team with 20 multi-hit games.
• STARTING STRONG: SFA has done a good job of getting its leadoff batters on this season. The Ladyjacks hit .297 as a team and have a .373 on-base percentage in at-bats that lead off innings. Both of those figures are better than the team's season averages in the respective categories.
• CLUTCH HITS: SFA's batting average moves from .280 to .287 when hitting with runners in scoring position. The Ladyjacks not only hit the ball more often in that situation, they seem to hit the ball harder. Twenty-one of SFA's 40 home runs have come with runners in scoring position, as have 22 of the team's 68 doubles this season. Sophomore Kendal Harper leads the squad with a .415 batting average and 24 RBI in 53 opportunities when she has runners at second or third.
• IN A PINCH: When head coach Gay McNutt decides to tinker with her lineup, the results are usually positive. In 13 pinch-hit at-bats this season, the Ladyjacks have posted five base hits for a .385 average in pinch-hit situations. Moriah Davis is a team-best 2-for-2 in pinch-hitting opportunities.
• BREAK IT OPEN: The Ladyjacks have been best served this season when they've been able to take an early lead and pile on the run support. SFA is just 5-14 in one-run games but has a 17-2 record when the final margin is five runs or greater. In addition, the Ladyjacks are 26-5 when they score first.
• THREE-FOUR, SHUT THE DOOR: The third and fourth innings have been crucial for SFA this season. The Ladyjacks have scored more runs in those two innings than any other -- 54 in the third and 44 in the fourth for a combined average of 1.75 runs per game. Additionally, when SFA can get past the fourth inning with a lead, the Ladyjacks have proven hard to beat. SFA is 29-2 this season when leading after four innings. However, the Ladyjacks have come from behind to win after trailing through four innings just twice in 18 chances.
• For the complete release in .pdf format, click on the "SLC Tournament Notes" link in the side bar of the Softball home page.
-- SFA --
