Ladyjacks Set To Take On Northwestern
2/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 27, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack softball team will try to build on its first Southland Conference win this weekend, when the Ladyjacks take on Northwestern State in a three-game road set. The series with the Demons is set to begin Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. and will conclude Sunday with a single game, slated for a noon start.
SFA (4-11, 1-2 SLC) is coming off a 5-2 win in extra innings in the finale of the Ladyjacks' SLC-opening series at Sam Houston State Wednesday. Junior Briana Bishop blasted a three-run homer in the top of the 10th inning to give SFA the win. Sophomore Monika Covington worked all 10 innings in the circle and recorded a season-high 13 strikeouts, giving her 19 for the weekend.
Through the first three games of Southland play, SFA has two of the league's top hitters in freshmen Kayla Gutowski and Amber Price. The pair of rookies rank fourth and sixth, respectively, in batting average at .455 and .444. Price's .889 slugging percentage leads the league, and Gutowski is second at .818. Gutowski is also tied for the SLC lead with four RBI.
The Ladyjacks' series against Sam Houston was the only one of the SLC openers not decided by a sweep. The other eight teams that began Southland play with a mid-week series came away with either three wins or three losses.
Northwestern State was one of the teams on the wrong side of that equation. The Demons were outscored 20-2, including two shutouts, in a trio of home losses against McNeese State. Northwestern is 2-13 on the season.
The action in this weekend's games can be followed online via live stats through the softball schedule page on Northwestern State's Web site, www.nsudemons.com.
-- SFA --
