Thursday, February 8
Monroe, La.
10:00 a.m.
Stephen F. Austin
1-0
10
vs
0
Grambling State
0-1
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Grambling State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Stephen F. Austin
0
3
7
0
X
10
10
0
Softball Starts 2018 with Pair of Victories over Grambling State and UT Martin
2/8/2018 5:22:00 PM | Softball
Ladyjacks go 2-0 on opening day, tally 17 runs in no shortage of offense
MONROE, La. – The Stephen F. Austin softball team is 2-0 after opening day of the 2018 season, earning back-to-back wins at Louisiana-Monroe's ULM Mardi Gras Class Thursday. The Ladyjacks took down Grambling State out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference by a convincing margin of 10-0 after just five innings before dismantling the Ohio Valley Conference's UT Martin 7-1.
There was no shortage of offense for SFA as the Ladyjacks outscored their two opponents 17-1, collecting 15 total hits in the two games. With strong performances by senior right-handed pitchers Makayla Sikes (Gilmer, Texas) and Callee Guffey (Waco, Texas), SFA struck out 15 combined batters
"It's pretty simple, our pitchers did a great job attacking the zone," head coach Nicole Dickson commented after the pair of wins. "Both Sikes and Guffey had great composure inside the circle and our team had quality at bats and was locked in for two games today. We did a good job of getting people on base and hitting the ball hard."
Win, 10-0 (5) vs. Grambling State (0-1)
Sikes started off very strong in the season opener, striking out the first five Lady Tiger batters and retiring nine straight as the Ladyjacks used a three-run second inning and a seven-run third to take control of the game early. Junior second baseman Lauren Becker (Cypress, Texas) knocked out SFA's first homer of the season when her two-run shot in the bottom of the second gave the Ladyjacks a 2-0 lead. Senior third baseman Amber Landry (Ponchatoula, La.) then scored on a passed ball to make it a 3-0 game.
A triple by true freshman first baseman Triniti Kendzior (Deer Park, Texas) started off the bottom third before a two RBI single from fellow true freshman right fielder Bryana Novegil (Houston, Texas) made it a 5-0. SFA would get a three RBI triple from senior catcher Taylor Fraccastoro (Orange, Texas), an RBI single from junior designated player Margarita Corona (Tucson, Arizona) and a RBI double from Kendzior to make the tally 10-0.
The Ladyjacks completed the combined no-hitter with Sikes (1-0) collecting her first win of 2018 and both sophomore righty Jordan Llinas (Houston, Texas) and freshman righty Clarissa Hernandez (San Antonio, Texas) pitching one inning a piece. Grambling State's only base of the day came on a walk in the top of the fourth.
Corona, Kendzior and Novegil all went 2-for-3 in the contest as Landry and Becker each scored twice.
Win, 7-1 vs. UT Martin (1-1)
SFA met a very talented UT Martin team in its second tilt of the day and was able to withstand the Skyhawks' eight hits, while getting a pair of home runs from seniors Landry and Fraccastoro. The Ladyjacks claimed two runs in both the bottom of the second and fourth innings and scored three times in the sixth to secure the victory. UT Martin, who went 39-20 and played for the OVC Championship just one season ago, was halted by senior right-handed pitcher Callee Guffey's (Waco, Texas) six strikeouts and nine base runners left on.
The Skyhawks lone run of the game came in top of the third when returning All-OVC third baseman Jodie Duncan picked up an RBI to make it a 2-1 contest. Needing just five hits to collect its seven runs, SFA got a three-run homer from Fraccastoro in the bottom sixth to make it a 7-1 game.
Landry went 2-for-2 in the game with two runs scored and two RBI, while Fraccastoro scored twice and tallied three RBI. Guffey (1-0) earned her first win of the season, going the full seven innings and facing 28 batters.
UT Martin's Duncan and catcher Aeron Smith both went 2-for-3 as Hannah Ridolfi (0-1) took the loss after five innings of work inside the circle and three strikeouts.
"UT Martin has lots of upperclassman, disciplined and well coached," said Dickson. "Our kids did a good job competing and playing as a team."
"It was a great start with positive leadership from our upperclassman," continued Dickson. "We are looking to play hard tomorrow against a tough ULM squad."
Up Next…
The Ladyjacks take on tournament host ULM Friday in a road doubleheader with game one getting started at 3 p.m. The two games will be streamed live online via ULM's Warhawks All-Access.
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack softball throughout the season.
-SFA-
There was no shortage of offense for SFA as the Ladyjacks outscored their two opponents 17-1, collecting 15 total hits in the two games. With strong performances by senior right-handed pitchers Makayla Sikes (Gilmer, Texas) and Callee Guffey (Waco, Texas), SFA struck out 15 combined batters
"It's pretty simple, our pitchers did a great job attacking the zone," head coach Nicole Dickson commented after the pair of wins. "Both Sikes and Guffey had great composure inside the circle and our team had quality at bats and was locked in for two games today. We did a good job of getting people on base and hitting the ball hard."
Win, 10-0 (5) vs. Grambling State (0-1)
Sikes started off very strong in the season opener, striking out the first five Lady Tiger batters and retiring nine straight as the Ladyjacks used a three-run second inning and a seven-run third to take control of the game early. Junior second baseman Lauren Becker (Cypress, Texas) knocked out SFA's first homer of the season when her two-run shot in the bottom of the second gave the Ladyjacks a 2-0 lead. Senior third baseman Amber Landry (Ponchatoula, La.) then scored on a passed ball to make it a 3-0 game.
A triple by true freshman first baseman Triniti Kendzior (Deer Park, Texas) started off the bottom third before a two RBI single from fellow true freshman right fielder Bryana Novegil (Houston, Texas) made it a 5-0. SFA would get a three RBI triple from senior catcher Taylor Fraccastoro (Orange, Texas), an RBI single from junior designated player Margarita Corona (Tucson, Arizona) and a RBI double from Kendzior to make the tally 10-0.
The Ladyjacks completed the combined no-hitter with Sikes (1-0) collecting her first win of 2018 and both sophomore righty Jordan Llinas (Houston, Texas) and freshman righty Clarissa Hernandez (San Antonio, Texas) pitching one inning a piece. Grambling State's only base of the day came on a walk in the top of the fourth.
Corona, Kendzior and Novegil all went 2-for-3 in the contest as Landry and Becker each scored twice.
Win, 7-1 vs. UT Martin (1-1)
SFA met a very talented UT Martin team in its second tilt of the day and was able to withstand the Skyhawks' eight hits, while getting a pair of home runs from seniors Landry and Fraccastoro. The Ladyjacks claimed two runs in both the bottom of the second and fourth innings and scored three times in the sixth to secure the victory. UT Martin, who went 39-20 and played for the OVC Championship just one season ago, was halted by senior right-handed pitcher Callee Guffey's (Waco, Texas) six strikeouts and nine base runners left on.
The Skyhawks lone run of the game came in top of the third when returning All-OVC third baseman Jodie Duncan picked up an RBI to make it a 2-1 contest. Needing just five hits to collect its seven runs, SFA got a three-run homer from Fraccastoro in the bottom sixth to make it a 7-1 game.
Landry went 2-for-2 in the game with two runs scored and two RBI, while Fraccastoro scored twice and tallied three RBI. Guffey (1-0) earned her first win of the season, going the full seven innings and facing 28 batters.
UT Martin's Duncan and catcher Aeron Smith both went 2-for-3 as Hannah Ridolfi (0-1) took the loss after five innings of work inside the circle and three strikeouts.
"UT Martin has lots of upperclassman, disciplined and well coached," said Dickson. "Our kids did a good job competing and playing as a team."
"It was a great start with positive leadership from our upperclassman," continued Dickson. "We are looking to play hard tomorrow against a tough ULM squad."
Up Next…
The Ladyjacks take on tournament host ULM Friday in a road doubleheader with game one getting started at 3 p.m. The two games will be streamed live online via ULM's Warhawks All-Access.
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack softball throughout the season.
-SFA-
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Guffey, Callee (1-0)
L: RIDOLFI, H. (0-1)
Batting:
2B: DUNCAN, J. 1
RBI: DUNCAN, J. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: PEZZONI, V. 1
PO: PEZZONI, V. 1
Batting:
HR: Landry, Amber 1 ; Fraccastoro, Taylor 1
RBI: Landry, Amber 2 ; Fraccastoro, Taylor 3 ; Novegil, Bryana 2
SH: Evans, Emily 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Landry, Amber 2 ; Brown, Courtney 1 ; Fraccastoro, Taylor 2 ; Holloway, Autumn 1 ; Becker, Lauren 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
c/3b
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
3
3b/dp
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
/ SoftballINF/C
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF/C
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball2.1.24 | Axe 'Em Insider Ep. 24 x Softball
Friday, February 02
Softball - Stephen F. Austin - 02/22/2017: Stephen F. Austin
Wednesday, February 22
Softball - Stephen F. Austin - 02/22/2017: Stephen F. Austin
Wednesday, February 22
SFA Completes Epic Comeback: SFA Softball
Thursday, May 12
