Ladyjacks Take on Central Arkansas in Three-Game Home Series over Weekend

Friday, April 6

Nacogdoches, Texas

12 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

Central Arkansas

Ladyjacks Take on Central Arkansas in Three-Game Home Series over Weekend

4/5/2018 5:59:00 PM | Softball

SFA looks to rebound from non-conference 5-0 shutout loss to Northwestern State Wednesday evening

By: Luke Bolanos | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Bears of Central Arkansas will visit the friendly confines of SFA Softball Field this weekend as the Stephen F. Austin softball team hosts a three-game Southland Conference series in Texas' oldest town. The Ladyjacks (19-15, 7-5 Southland) will take on Central Arkansas in a doubleheader Friday, April 6 at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., before hosting the Bears (19-15, 8-4 Southland) in a single game Saturday, April 7 at 12 p.m. to wrap up the weekend series. All three games will be streamed on Facebook Live via SFA's softball page, while live statistics of each contest can be followed via SFAJacks.com.

SFA is seeking to rebound from a disheartening, 5-0 shutout loss to Northwestern State Wednesday evening in non-conference action. The Ladyjacks were held to just two hits in the affair as the visiting Lady Demons lined 12 and scored in four different innings. The damage could have been much worse for SFA with Northwestern State leaving a total of 12 base runners stranded, however, nine combined strikeouts from senior Callee Guffey (Waco, Texas) and sophomore Autumn Anderson (Fort Collins, Colo.) aided the Ladyjacks.

Off to its best start in Southland play through 12 games since the 2010 season, SFA is coming off of a 2-1 conference series home win over Sam Houston State last weekend. The Ladyjacks recovered from a 1-0 opening game loss with a 7-1 game two victory and a 3-0, eight-inning triumph in the deciding game of the series thanks to a three-run walk-off homer from junior first baseman Margarita Corona (Tucson, Ariz.).

This weekend's series will be the fifth league series for SFA this season as the Ladyjacks have claimed series wins over three of their four Southland opponents faced so far in 2018. SFA began conference play with a 3-0 home sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, stole a 2-1 series win at Lamar and edged the Bearkats last weekend in Nacogdoches. The Ladyjacks' lone series loss this spring came on the road at Nicholls (March 16-17) in Thibodaux, Louisiana. All three games against the Colonels were decided by one run, including the first two contests ending in walk-off fashion with RBI doubles from host Nicholls. In fact, of SFA's five Southland defeats, four of them have come by just one run.

In their 12 conference games, the Ladyjacks have outscored opponents 49-31 and are a perfect 3-0 in extra-inning affairs. Three different SFA starters are hitting at a clip over .300 in league play, led by senior right fielder Autumn Holloway (Cypress, Texas) (.316). Senior third baseman Amber Landry (Ponchatoula, La.) (.310) and Corona (.308) are also batting over .300 as the trio has combined for 23 of the Ladyjacks' 45 RBI in Southland action.

Senior Makayla Sikes (Gilmer, Texas) has been impressive inside the circle in conference play, owning a 5-1 record in seven appearances with 46 strikeouts. She holds a 2.28 earned run average in 50 innings of work with four complete game wins and just 18 walks. For the entire season, Sikes ranks third in the league in wins (11-6) and is fourth in both strikeouts (77) and earned run average (2.33).

As a team this season, SFA ranks third in the Southland in slugging percentage (.404) and is second in the conference in both home runs (21) and triples (12). The Ladyjacks also rank fourth in the 12-team league in total bases (357) and are tied for fourth in RBI (135). SFA's pitching staff is near the top of the Southland in several statistical categories as well, ranking second in total strikeouts (190) and third in both earned run average (2.78) and opponent batting average (.253).

Freshman second baseman Bryana Novegil (Houston, Texas) has been fantastic at the plate for the Ladyjacks this season, owning the third-best batting average in the conference (.424) and claiming the second-most amount of hits (42). She ranks 28th nationally and is third in the league in on-base percentage (.529), while leading the Southland and tied for ninth the nation in triples (5). The trio of Landry, Corona and Fraccastoro have combined to collect 97 hits this year and have 38 total RBI as Landry ranks fourth in the conference in total bases (66), sixth in RBI (28), seventh in slugging percentage (.584) and is tied for fourth with seven home runs. Fraccastoro's three triples this spring are tied for second in the league, while her nine doubles are tied for third, 28 runs scored fourth and 27 RBI seventh.

CENTRAL ARKANSAS – BEARS
· Record: 19-15, 8-4 Southland (Third place)
· The Bears have won six of their last eight games, including most recently sweeping Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a home doubleheader Wednesday evening (8-3 and 7-1).
· In third place in the Southland with an 8-4 league record, UCA sits one game back from conference leaders Nicholls (9-3) and Northwestern State (9-3). The Bears have posted a 2-2 record in Southland series this spring. UCA swept then 25th-ranked McNeese in Conway, Arkansas, to begin league play, before dropping two out of three games at Incarnate Word. The Bears also swept Sam Houston State at home but went 1-2 in Thibodaux, Louisiana, against Nicholls this past weekend.
· With an identical overall record as SFA, UCA is 2-6 in true road games in 2018 and 2-4 in away conference contests.
· Ranking fifth in the Southland in hitting with a .271 batting average for the season, the Bears are hitting at a .287 mark in league games and have scored 164 runs in 2018 for fourth-most in the conference. Leading the league in doubles (56), UCA is third in the Southland in both RBI (142) and stolen bases (60). Stealing bases at a rate of 1.76 per game, the Bears rank 31st nationally in that category and are third among the 12 conference teams.
· Seven of UCA's batters are hitting at a clip over .300 in Southland action, led by junior second baseman Libby Morris (.436) and sophomore first baseman Kaylyn Shepherd (.412).
· On the base paths, junior right fielder Morgan Felts has yet to be thrown out while attempting to steal. She is a perfect 19-for-19 on the season in stolen base attempts, ranking second in the Southland in stolen bases.
· Inside the circle, the Bears rely heavily on freshman right-handed pitcher Rio Sanchez (7-4) and sophomore righty Kailla Searcy (5-4), while also getting a lot of help from junior right-hander Rachel Haberman (4-1). Sanchez owns a 2.56 ERA on the season in 19 game appearances and 68.1 innings pitched with 27 strikeouts, while Searcy has tossed 54.2 innings and posted 27 strikeouts in 16 appearances. In league play, Sanchez has gone 3-0 in eight appearances with 13 strikeouts and a 2.12 ERA. Haberman owns a 2.53 ERA in conference games and is 2-1 as Searcy is a perfect 3-0 in five Southland games pitched and 21.2 innings of work.
· Picked to finish fifth in the Southland according to the league's preseason poll, UCA tied for fifth in the conference in 2017 with a 14-13 league mark and a 25-34 overall record.
· SFA is 11-19 against UCA over the past 10 seasons and is in search of its first series win over the Bears since 2009, when the Ladyjacks earned a 3-0 sweep at home.
· In 2017, SFA went 1-2 against UCA in Conway, Arkansas, but claimed a 5-2 win in the series finale.

Up Next…
The Ladyjacks will wrap up their eight-game homestand Wednesday evening when they host non-conference foe Louisiana Tech at 5 p.m. from SFA Softball Field. SFA will then hit the road next weekend and step back into league action for a three-game set at Houston Baptist Friday and Saturday, April 13-14.

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-