Thursday, February 15
Natchitoches, LA.
9 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin
at
Northwestern State
Softball Set for Northwestern State’s Lady Demon Classic
2/15/2018 12:08:00 PM | Softball
Ladyjacks to take on Northwestern State, Memphis and Jackson State over three days in Natchitoches, Louisiana
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Following its Wednesday evening tilt at top-10 ranked Texas A&M, the Stephen F. Austin softball team is back in action Thursday night at Northwestern State's Lady Demon Classic in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The Ladyjacks (3-2) take on tournament host Northwestern State in a 9 p.m. non-conference contest at the Lady Demon Diamond.
The game will be the first of five scheduled for SFA this weekend as the Ladyjacks continue a six-game stretch within the span of four days. Following Thursday night's tilt, SFA is scheduled to take on Memphis at 10 a.m. Friday and Northwestern State for a second time in a non-conference game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the Ladyjacks are set to battle Memphis once again at 12:30 p.m. and then Jackson State at 3 p.m. With a 60 percent chance of rain Friday and a 90 percent chance of rain Saturday in the Natchitoches area, this weekend's schedule could be altered.
Most recently, SFA was handed a 4-0 road loss at No. 6/8 Texas A&M Wednesday evening. The Ladyjacks were held to just one hit as the Aggies' Trinity Harrington retired SFA's first 12 batters. Despite Texas A&M collecting nine hits in the game, the Ladyjack defense forced the Aggies to leave a total of seven base runners on and showed great defense in the third inning.
The Ladyjacks began their 2018 season last week on a high note, going 3-1 at Louisiana-Monroe's Mardi Gras Classic. It was just the third time in the last 10 years that SFA had won three of its first four games of the season. The Ladyjacks picked up wins over Grambling State, UT Martin and tournament host ULM.
Three SFA players are hitting over .300 with freshman Bryana Novegil (Houston, Texas) leading the way with a .667 batting average, a .750 slugging mark and a .692 on-base percentage in four games played. Freshman Triniti Kendzior (Deer Park, Texas) owns a .364 batting average, is slugging at a clip of .727 and has a .500 on-base percentage, while junior designated player Margarita Corona (Tucson, Arizona) is hitting .313 through five games.
Inside the circle it has been senior right-handers Makayla Sikes (Gilmer, Texas) and Callee Guffey (Waco, Texas) who have been providing the most work. Sikes (2-2) has tossed 10 and 1/3 innings with two starts and nine strikeouts, owning a 2.71 earned run average. Guffey (1-0) has struck out six in three game appearances, two starts and 11 innings on the rubber.
"The way our schedule is built every week the competition just gets better," head coach Nicole Dickson said. "We've got to continue to get better week to week and start really applying some things and putting some things to work. Northwestern State is a very solid program, they played Baylor last weekend and did really well. Memphis has got a really tough pitcher and a lot of returners back so I expect it to be a very competitive tournament."
All games will be played at the Lady Demon Diamond on the campus of Northwestern State. Schedule updates will be announced via SFA softball's social media accounts and on the softball schedule page of SFAJacks.com.
NORTHWESTERN STATE
· Record: 2-3, 0-0 Southland Conference
· Owns a pair of road wins over the Southwestern Athletic Conference's Arkansas-Pine Bluff – 7-2 and 12-1 (5)
· Three losses came at top-15 ranked Baylor – 8-4, 4-1 and 8-0 (5)
· Five players batting at a .300 clip including sophomore outfielder Kaitlyn St. Clair (.385), freshman pitcher Emma Callie Delafield (.375), freshman second baseman Cayla Jones (.357), sophomore infielder Adele Vincent (.333) and sophomore catcher Emma Hawthorne (.308)
· Tied for seventh in the Southland in 2017 and predicted to finish sixth in the league this year
· Returns 14 letter winners from last year, including two starting pitchers, and has 10 newcomers on this season's squad
· Senior outfielder Sidney Salmans was voted as a preseason All-Southland Second Team selection
MEMPHIS
· Record: 3-1, 0-0 American Athletic Conference
· Claimed neutral-site victories over Georgetown (8-3), Ball State (5-1), and LIU Brooklyn – 9-1 (6)
· Lone loss came against the Atlantic Coast Conference's NC State (2-1) at the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament in Fort Myers, Florida
· Senior infielder Brooke Lee leads the Tigers with a .400 batting average, a .600 slugging mark and a .500 on-base percentage
· Senior shortstop Kyler Trosclair Klatt (.357), junior catcher Regan Hadley (.308), junior utility player Ashley Threatt (.308) and freshman outfielder Delaney Smith (.300) are all hitting at .300 or above as well
· Senior right-handed pitcher Molly Smith (1-1) owns a 0.54 ERA in two game starts and 13 innings pitched with 18 strikeouts
· Went 29-27 overall in 2017 and posted a 7-11 record in the AAC, finishing fifth in the league
· Has a total of 13 upperclassmen on this year's roster, including seven seniors
· Returned eight key players from last season, including six positional starters and four pitchers
JACKSON STATE
· Record: 0-0, 0-0 SWAC
· Predicted to finish fifth in the SWAC Eastern Division after going 12-36 overall in 2017 and 5-13 in league play
· Went 0-7 in neutral-site games a year ago
· Returns 12 positional starters from a season ago and welcomes seven newcomers
· Roster is comprised of just five upperclassmen with one senior and 14 underclassmen, including 10 sophomores
Up Next…
Without a midweek game the Ladyjacks will have next week to prepare for Ole Miss' Red & Blue Classic, held Friday-Sunday, Feb. 23-25 at the Ole Miss Softball Complex in Oxford, Mississippi. SFA will take on North Dakota State Friday, Feb. 23 at 12:30 p.m. and then will play a pair of games both Saturday, Feb. 24 and Sunday, Feb. 25. The Ladyjacks face the University of Missouri-Kansas City and tournament host Mississippi Saturday, followed by North Dakota State once again and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Sunday.
For all weather-related SFA softball schedule changes throughout the 2018 spring season, be sure to keep an eye on SFAJacks.com and follow SFA softball on Facebook (SFA Softball) and Twitter (@SFA_Softball).
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