SFA Wraps Up Non-Conference in Ruston
4/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Stephen F. Austin at Louisiana Tech
Tuesday, April 28 · 6:00 p.m.
LA Tech Softball Complex · Ruston, Louisiana
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Records: SFA (18-29, 10-13 SLC), LA Tech (29-15, 12-6 C-USA)
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- The Stephen F. Austin softball team travels to Ruston, Louisiana on Tuesday to face Louisiana Tech at 6:00 p.m. in what will be the final non-conference game for the Ladyjacks this season. The game is a makeup from a February 25th contest that was washed out due to rain.
The Ladyjacks (18-29, 10-13 SLC) were swept in three games last weekend at SFA Softball Field against the SLC's first place Northwestern State Lady Demons. SFA put up a good fight in its final home series of the year but couldn't overcome nine NSU home runs during the set. The three losses drop the Ladyjacks to eighth place in the league standings with just three conference games remaining. The top six teams make the SLC Tournament.
Heather Hollingsworth is coming off a nice weekend at the plate, leading the Ladyjacks with a .455 batting average (5-for-11) over the three games. She drove in a run in the bottom of the seventh inning of game one to help SFA make a late rally. The rightfielder accounted for one third of the team's hits during the three games.
Sophomore Brittany Lewis also notched a hit in each game over the weekend to extend her season-best hitting streak to eight games dating back to April 10. During the stretch she is batting .385 (10-for-26) with 12 RBI and three home runs.
Both Hollingsworth and Lewis will need to continue to swing the bat well on Tuesday night as the Lady Techsters come into the contest with one of the best pitching staffs in Conference USA. Three LA Tech hurlers rank in the top eight in the league in terms of earned run average: Bailey Allen (7-2, 2.33 ERA), Bianca Duran (14-11, 2.66 ERA) and Pauline Tufi (6-1, 2.75 ERA).
Offensively, the Lady Techsters rank second in C-USA with 45 home runs this season. Tufi and Duran lead the way with 11 and nine long balls, respectively.
LA Tech is currently 29-15 overall on the year with a 12-6 mark in league action. The squad lost five straight from April 11-22, including losses to SLC foes Northwestern State and McNeese State, but are coming off a three-game sweep of North Texas last weekend.
Following the midweek game, SFA will travel to Huntsville to take on rival Sam Houston State for the final three-game series of the year. Friday's doubleheader will start at 3:00 p.m.
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