Wednesday, April 4
Nacogdoches, Texas
5 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin
vs
Northwestern State
Ladyjacks Continue Homestand, Host Northwestern State in Non-Conference Affair Tuesday
4/3/2018 6:05:00 PM | Softball
SFA seeks 20th win of season and sixth out of eight contests, attempts to earn fifth consecutive non-conference victory
Northwestern State (21-11) at Stephen F. Austin (19-14)
Wednesday, April 4 | 5 p.m. | SFA Softball Field | Nacogdoches, Texas
Watch | Live Stats
Wednesday, April 4 | 5 p.m. | SFA Softball Field | Nacogdoches, Texas
Watch | Live Stats
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Lady Demons of Northwestern State and the Stephen F. Austin softball team will clash Wednesday evening at SFA Softball Field for a midweek non-conference contest. Without Northwestern State appearing on SFA's Southland Conference schedule in 2018, the Ladyjacks (19-14) welcome the Lady Demons (21-11) to Texas' oldest town for a 5 p.m. first pitch in non-league action. The game will be streamed on Facebook Live via SFA's softball page, while live statistics can be followed via SFAJacks.com.
The Ladyjacks will be seeking their 20th win of the season Wednesday after claiming a victory in five of their last seven games. Having won each of its last four non-conference affairs, SFA boasts a 6-1 record at SFA Softball Field in 2018 with its lone loss in Nacogdoches coming in a one-run game this past weekend.
Claiming their third Southland series win of the season over the weekend, the Ladyjacks recovered from a 1-0 opening game loss to Sam Houston State with 7-1 and 3-0 (8) victories in games two and three. It was the bat of junior first baseman Margarita Corona (Tucson, Ariz.) who propelled SFA to the series-clinching game three win in eight innings, smashing a three-run homer over the left field fence. Her walk-off shot coming off of a 2-2 pitch with just one out in the bottom of the eighth frame. For the season, Corona has tallied the second-most home runs on the team with six and has delivered two walk-off hits and three total game-winning RBI.
The game three triumph over the visiting Bearkats was the Ladyjacks' third extra-inning win in Southland play this season. In fact, SFA has played one extra-inning game in three of its four conference series this spring and are a perfect 3-0 in such contests.
Owning a 12-9 mark in non-conference games in 2018, the Ladyjacks have been unbeatable when scoring six or more runs in all games this season, going an unblemished 13-0. Contrarily, SFA is just 3-12 when scoring three or fewer runs. Outscoring opponents 151-110 overall, the Ladyjacks are hitting at a clip of .269 as a team and rank among the conference's top five in several offensive categories.
Totaling 21 home runs as a team, SFA ranks second in the Southland that category and is third in the league in slugging percentage (.412). The Ladyjacks' 135 RBI this season are tied for third-most in the conference, while SFA's 354 total bases in 33 games are fourth-most in the Southland. The Ladyjacks rank fifth in the 12-team league in both batting average and runs scored, lead the conference in sacrifice bunts (27) and are tied for the most sacrifice flies (12).
Freshman second baseman Bryana Novegil (Houston, Texas) has been sensational at the plate in her inaugural collegiate season, ranking second in the Southland and 35th nationally with a .438 batting average. Her team-best five triples this year lead the league and are tied for the eighth-most in the nation, while she ranks 18th nationally and third in the conference with a .542 on-base percentage. Novegil also leads SFA in total hits with 42, the second-most among all Southland batters.
With a team-leading seven home runs hit this year, senior third baseman Amber Landry (Ponchatoula, La.) is tied for fourth in the league in that category and ranks fifth in the conference with 0.85 RBI per contest. She has totaled a team-best 28 RBI this spring and ranks ninth in the Southland in slugging (.600). Landry has collected the fourth-most total bases (66) of any Southland batter this season and owns the second-most hits (37) on the team with a .336 batting average. Fellow senior, Taylor Fraccastoro (Orange, Texas), has also been impressive at the plate, owning a team-leading nine doubles and the second-most RBI (27). The Ladyjacks' starting catcher has racked up a team-best 16 extra-base hits this season and is slugging at a mark of .566 with an on-base percentage of .403.
SFA's pitching staff has boosted its team earned run average to 2.81 after this past weekend's series with Sam Houston State. The senior duo of right-handers Makayla Sikes (Gilmer, Texas) and Callee Guffey (Waco, Texas) combined to go 2-1 as the two have claimed 16 of the Ladyjacks' 19 wins in the circle. Sikes tossed 15 innings over the weekend, starting both game one and game three of the series, and picked up her sixth complete game win of the season Saturday after pitching all eight innings of 3-0 victory. Posting a 0.47 ERA in the two games and walking just two of 53 batters faced, Sikes (11-6) has now won 11 games this season for the third-most in the Southland. Her 2.33 ERA on the year is sixth-best among all pitchers in the league that meet minimum requirements as her 77 strikeouts lead SFA and are fourth-most in the conference. Guffey has also been a tough outing on the rubber as of late, earning her third complete game win of the season in the Ladyjacks' 7-1 win over the Bearkats Friday. She owns five wins this year and has notched two saves, striking out the second-most batters (56) on the team.
NORTHWESTERN STATE – LADY DEMONS
· Record: 21-11
· Wednesday evening's tilt will mark the third time the Ladyjacks have taken on Northwestern State in non-conference play this season. SFA dropped a pair of games to the Lady Demons back in the middle of February at Northwestern State's Lady Demon Classic. The first meeting was decided by a 4-1 count after a two-run homer in the fifth inning by the Lady Demons' Cayla Jones gave the home team a 3-1 advantage. The Ladyjacks second game against Northwestern State resulted in a 6-5, one-run loss after SFA found itself trailing 6-3 through five innings. A solo home run by senior first baseman Madison Selman (Lufkin, Texas) and a Fraccastoro RBI double in the bottom of the sixth inning got the Ladyjacks within one but SFA couldn't get anything going in the seventh.
· The Lady Demons are 12-8 in non-conference games this season and own a 6-9 record overall in true road games.
· Northwestern State is 12-4 over its last 16 games and has won four of its last six contests. Most recently, the Lady Demons dropped a three-game home series with McNeese (2-1) this past weekend following a sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi two weeks ago.
· Off to a 9-3 start in conference play, Northwestern State is tied atop the league with Nicholls.
· The Lady Demons are near the top of the Southland in several offensive categories, including ranking second in hitting (.292), slugging percentage (.443) and RBI (161). Northwestern State ranks third in the league in on-base percentage (.367), runs scored (179), home runs (20) and doubles (49). Averaging 5.59 runs per game, the Lady Demons are second in the conference in scoring and rank 39th nationally in that category. Northwestern State's 1.53 doubles per game is third-best in the Southland and ranks 38th in the nation.
· Defensively, the Lady Demons lead the league in fielding percentage (.971) and are 38th nationally. Northwestern State owns a 2.86 ERA as a team and is holding opponents to a .246 hitting clip for the season.
· Three Lady Demon batters are hitting .300 or above through 33 games this spring led by freshman second baseman Cayla Jones, who ranks 26th in the nation and leads the conference with a .446 batting average. She also leads the Southland in slugging percentage (.819) and runs scored per game (0.97), while her on-base percentage of .557 is second-best in the league and ranks 13th nationally. Sophomore left fielder Julie Rawls is second on the team with a .324 hitting mark, slugging at .622 to rank fifth in the conference in that category, as sophomore right fielder Madelyn Matt is hitting .304 on the season.
· The one-two punch of redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Micaela Bouvier and redshirt junior righty Mikayla Brown has been effective for Northwestern state. The two have combined to go 18-7 and have tossed 148 and 1/3 of the Lady Demons' 203 and 1/3 total defensive innings. Bouvier (10-5) has struck out 73 total batters in 83 and 2/3 innings of work, owning a 2.51 ERA and the Southland's second-best opponent batting average (.219). Brown (8-2) has spent 64 and 2/3 innings inside the circle, holding opponents to hitting .237 and posting 43 strikeouts with a 2.92 ERA.
· Including 2018, SFA is 12-14 against Northwestern State over the last 10 seasons. The Ladyjacks last victory over the Lady Demons came on May 1, 2016 (7-6). However, the two teams did not meet during the 2017 season.
Up Next…
The Ladyjacks step back into Southland action this weekend and continue their eight-game home stretch as SFA hosts Central Arkansas in a three-game series Friday and Saturday, April 6-7. The Bears and the Ladyjacks will play a doubleheader Friday, April 6 at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., before the two teams tangle at SFA Softball Field in a single game Saturday, April 7 at 12 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.
-SFA-
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