Tuesday, March 20
Houston, Texas
3 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin
at
Texas Southern
Softball Continues Road Trip, Takes on Texas Southern in Midweek Matchup
3/19/2018 7:51:00 PM | Softball
Ladyjacks look to rebound from three-loss weekend with midweek non-conference road game at Texas Southern, face sixth Southwestern Athletic Conference foe this season
Stephen F. Austin (14-12, 3-3 Southland) at Texas Southern (8-4-1, 0-0 SWAC)
Tuesday, March 20 | 3 p.m. | Memorial Park | Houston, Texas
Tuesday, March 20 | 3 p.m. | Memorial Park | Houston, Texas
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – For the third consecutive week, the Stephen F. Austin softball team will take on a Southwestern Athletic Conference school for its midweek tilt, this week facing Texas Southern at Memorial Park in Houston Tuesday, March 20. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Continuing its nine-game road trip, the Ladyjacks (14-12, 3-3 Southland) will be stepping out of Southland Conference play for Tuesday's matchup as SFA takes on its sixth SWAC opponent of the season. The Ladyjacks are looking to rebound from this past weekend's heartbreak in which SFA faltered in three one-run affairs at Southland stalwart Nicholls. The league-leading Colonels (19-7, 6-0 Southland) picked up two walk-off victories over the Ladyjacks during Friday's doubleheader, recording RBI doubles in the bottom of the seventh inning in both games. Following the 2-1 and 4-3 decisions Friday, SFA was edged 3-2 Saturday in the series finale.
Prior to the series loss at Nicholls over the weekend the Ladyjacks held a six-game win streak, their longest since the 2015 season. In its last non-conference game last Wednesday, SFA capped its six-game win streak by defeating Prairie View A&M on the road by a count of 6-2.
The Ladyjacks are 11-9 in non-conference games this season and own a 2-9 mark in true road contests. SFA's lone road triumphs have come at Louisiana-Monroe (6-4) during the first weekend of the season and last week with the victory over Prairie View A&M.
Through 26 games this season, the Ladyjacks are outscoring their opponents 117-92 and are a perfect 10-0 when scoring six or more runs in any contest this year. Conversely, SFA is 0-5 when its opponent scores six or more runs. Wins have not been favorable for the Ladyjacks when scoring fewer than four runs as SFA is 2-10 in such affairs.
Batting .265 as a team, the Ladyjacks' pitching staff is holding opposing offenses to a .258 hitting mark and allowing just 2.98 earned runs per contest. Led by senior Makayla Sikes (Gilmer, Texas), who leads the team with a 7-5 record in the circle and has tallied a team-best 49 strikeouts in 16 game appearances and 11 starts, SFA's pitching and defense has combined for four shutouts this season. Knocking in eight total triples this season, the Ladyjacks are averaging 0.31 triples per game, good enough for 31st-best nationally and second-best in the Southland.
Standout freshman second baseman Bryana Novegil (Houston, Texas), despite most recently having an off weekend, continues to lead the SFA at the plate. Her .479 batting average ranks 19th in the nation and leads the league, while she also leads the conference and is ranked in the top 14 nationally with her .589 on-base percentage, four triples and 0.16 triples per contest. Seventh in the Southland with a team-leading .648 slugging mark, Novegil leads the Ladyjacks and is second in the league with 34 hits already in 2018. She also has a team-best 15 walks. Simply put, Novegil knows how to get on base.
Senior third baseman Amber Landry (Ponchatoula, La.) has been SFA's big bat, powering seven home runs for the second-most among conference hitters and 45th-most nationally. Averaging 0.96 RBI per game, in addition to owning 25 RBI on the season, Landry is tied with senior catcher Taylor Fraccastoro (Orange, Texas) for tops in the Southland in that category. She is averaging the second-most homers per contest (0.27) in the league, while her slugging percentage of .632 is eighth-highest among all conference hitters. Landry also has claimed 55 total bases this year, good enough for third-most in the league.
Twelve of Fraccastoro's 24 hits this season have gone for extra bases with a team-high six doubles, two triples and four home runs. Scoring a team-best 22 runs in the first 26 games of the season, Fraccastoro ranks third in the Southland in runs scored per outing (0.85).
"Obviously, when you play Texas Southern, you can't take them lightly," head coach Nicole Dickson said Monday morning during her weekly press conference. "They've got some high-level athletes on their staff, they've got two pitchers who throw really well. We're going to have to swing at strikes, we're going to have to make their pitchers attack the zone and we're going to have to put the ball in play hard. Our hitters are really going to have to step up going in and put some pressure on their defense to make some plays."
"It's a great midweek matchup because we're going to see good pitching and we need to see that going into Lamar," coach Dickson continued. "It's always great to play on the road because you don't know what to expect."
TEXAS SOUTHERN – LADY TIGERS
· Record: 8-4-1, 0-0 SWAC
· The Lady Tigers have played significantly fewer games (13) than SFA this season and are 1-1-1 in home contests in 2018. Texas Southern's lone games at Memorial Park have come against Houston and Southland counterpart Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Cougars of Houston defeated the Lady Tigers 2-0 earlier this month before Texas Southern defeated the Islanders 8-6 and tied with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in game two of the doubleheader, 9-9.
· Texas Southern has won six of its last eight games after beginning 2018 with a 2-3 record. Having not begun SWAC play as of yet, the Lady Tigers are 8-4-1 in non-conference contests.
· The Lady Tigers opened up their 2018 campaign with a doubleheader split against fellow Southland member Houston Baptist, falling 3-2 in game one and grabbing a 4-2 victory in game two.
· Speed is the name of the game for Texas Southern as the Lady Tigers have stolen 26 bases on 28 attempts, averaging two stolen bases per game to rank among the nation's top 25 in that category. Texas Southern's .285 batting average is tops among all SWAC schools, while the Lady Tigers' pitching staff owns the league's top ERA at 3.14.
· A trio of Texas Southern hitters are batting at a clip over .350 led by senior infielder Jocilynn Ellis, who is fourth in the SWAC with a .407 hitting clip. Her on-base percentage of .500 ranks her third in the conference in that category and 71st nationally, while freshman infielder Clarissa Santos owns a hitting mark of .400 and is tied for the team's best slugging percentage (.500) and on-base percentage (.500). Sophomore outfielder Terren Vinson is not only the Lady Tigers' third-best hitter (.389), but she has stolen a team-best eight bases on eight attempts. Her .62 stolen bases per game ranks top 50 nationally and is among the highest in the SWAC, while her .488 on-base percentage is fifth-best in the league.
· The Lady Tigers are led on the rubber by reigning SWAC Pitcher of the Year senior right-hander Jasmin Fulmore, who owns a team-best 2.05 ERA and is tied for the most strikeouts (20) in five game starts and 27 and 1/3 innings of work, and senior righty Lauren Rodriguez, who is a perfect 3-0 in six appearances and four starts with 20 strikeouts in 25 and 1/3 innings of action.
· With the NCAA releasing its RPI rankings for the first time this year earlier Monday, Texas Southern owns a spot at 235th out of 296 NCAA Division I softball programs as SFA's RPI is 142.
· The Lady Tigers have won three SWAC championships in the past four seasons and were a preseason favorite to repeat as the SWAC Western Division champions with 15 first-place votes.
· SFA defeated Texas Southern 3-0 in Nacogdoches a season ago and is 6-1 against the Lady Tigers over the last 10 seasons.
Up Next…
The Ladyjacks will step back into league action this weekend as they make their way to Beaumont, Texas, for a three-game series at Lamar. SFA is slated to take on the Cardinals Friday, March 23 in a doubleheader at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. before facing Lamar in a single game Saturday, March 24 at 2 p.m.
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).
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack softball throughout the season.
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