Saturday, May 5
Nacogdoches, Texas
12 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin
vs
Abilene Christian
Ladyjacks Host Abilene Christian for Regular Season Series Finale on Senior Weekend
5/3/2018 5:33:00 PM | Softball
Softball to recognize six seniors as SFA seeks to secure a top-two seed at next week’s 2018 Southland Tournament
Abilene Christian (21-24, 13-11 Southland) at Stephen F. Austin (30-18, 17-7 Southland)
Friday, May 4 | 12 p.m. | SFA Softball Field | Nacogdoches, Texas
Friday, May 4 | 2 p.m. | SFA Softball Field | Nacogdoches, Texas
Saturday, May 5 | 12 p.m. | SFA Softball Field | Nacogdoches, Texas
Watch | Live Stats
Friday, May 4 | 12 p.m. | SFA Softball Field | Nacogdoches, Texas
Friday, May 4 | 2 p.m. | SFA Softball Field | Nacogdoches, Texas
Saturday, May 5 | 12 p.m. | SFA Softball Field | Nacogdoches, Texas
Watch | Live Stats
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The 2018 regular season will come to a close for the Stephen F. Austin softball team with senior weekend at SFA Softball Field Friday and Saturday, May 4-5, as the Ladyjacks host Abilene Christian for their final Southland Conference series of the spring. SFA (30-18, 17-7 Southland) will welcome the Wildcats (21-24, 13-11 Southland) to Texas' oldest town for a doubleheader Friday, May 4 at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., before the two teams play a single game Saturday, May 5 at 12 p.m. for the third and final game of the 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.
The Ladyjacks have won nine of their last 10 games and most recently reached the 30-win plateau for the first time in a decade and just the sixth time in SFA's NCAA Division I history. With a 9-0 victory in six innings over visiting Texas Southern Tuesday night, the Ladyjacks improved their 2018 record to 30-18 overall. It marks the first time since 2008, when SFA went 36-25 en route to claiming its second Southland Tournament title, the Ladyjacks have reached 30 victories in a single season.
This weekend, SFA will go for its seventh-straight Southland series win and eighth of the season. The Ladyjacks have earned eight conference series wins just one other time since joining the Southland prior to the 1988 season, doing so in 2010 when SFA claimed its lone regular season title.
Boasting a 17-7 league record, the Ladyjacks are in a second-place tie in the Southland standings with Southeastern Louisiana as both teams sit one game back from conference leader Nicholls, who owns a 18-6 Southland record. SFA and the Lady Lions are one game ahead of McNeese (16-8) in the league standings with Southeastern Louisiana and the Cowgirls facing each other in a three-game series this weekend in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Central Arkansas stands in fifth place in the Southland standings with a 14-10 conference record, while Northwestern State and ACU are tied for sixth with 13-11 league records. Competing for the final spot in next week's Southland Tournament are Lamar (11-13) and Sam Houston State (10-14), who are eighth and ninth, respectively, in the conference standings.
With the Colonels hosting Lamar, the Ladyjacks can clinch at least a share of the 2018 Southland regular season title with the following scenarios:
- A sweep of ACU AND a Nicholls loss to Lamar
- Two wins over ACU AND two Nicholls losses to Lamar
- One win over ACU AND three Nicholls losses to Lamar
- A sweep of ACU AND at least two Nicholls losses to Lamar
- Two wins over ACU AND three Nicholls losses to Lamar
Last weekend, the Ladyjacks took two out of three games from two-time defending Southland regular season and tournament champion McNeese. SFA rebounded from a 5-0 opening game loss to the Cowgirls Friday night by sweeping Saturday's doubleheader. The Ladyjacks lined 18 hits and scored 15 runs across the final two games of the series. In Saturday's first game of the doubleheader, SFA won a high-scoring affair 11-8 to tie the most runs scored in any conference game this season and matched its season-high in hits with 13. The Ladyjacks claimed the series by winning the finale 4-3 thanks to senior catcher Taylor Fraccastoro's three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Over its last 10 games, SFA has outscored its opposition 56-26 and has scored eight or more runs in four its last seven contests. The Ladyjacks' offense has come on strong as of late as SFA has tallied 78 hits and 51 RBI in its past 10 outings, collecting seven or more hits in all but two of those affairs.
Led by strong senior leadership, the Ladyjacks have gotten standout performances from reigning Southland Hitter of the Week Amber Landry as of late. Over the past four contests, the senior third baseman has gone 8-for-13 at the plate for a batting average of .615. With seven RBI and five extra-base hits, including four doubles and a home run, over the last four games, Landry has posted a slugging mark of 1.154 and an on-base percentage of .643.
In addition to freshman second baseman Bryana Novegil's standout play in her inaugural collegiate season, freshman outfielder Katherine Thompson is currently on a six-game hitting streak for her longest of the season. Meanwhile, Fraccastoro has successfully reached base in 14-straight contests.
All six of SFA's seniors will be recognized prior to the final game of this weekend's series, including Fraccastoro, pitcher Callee Guffey, right fielder Autumn Holloway, Landry, outfielder/designated player Madison Selman and pitcher Makayla Sikes.
ABILENE CHRISTIAN – WILDCATS
· Record: 21-24, 13-11 Southland (Tied for sixth)
· ACU has claimed four Southland series wins this season and has not been swept in any league series in 2018. The Wildcats opened up their conference slate by taking two of three games at Southeastern Louisiana before dropping two of three at home to Northwestern State. ACU went 1-2 against Houston Baptist in Abilene, 2-1 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 1-2 at Nicholls, 3-0 at Incarnate Word, 2-1 versus Sam Houston State and 1-2 at Central Arkansas last weekend.
· In 12 Southland road games this spring, ACU has posted a 6-6 record.
· The Wildcats are on a three-game slide after previously winning eight of nine contests. Most recently, ACU was handled 10-2 in five innings by Texas Tech in Lubbock.
· Ranking eighth or ninth in the Southland in most major offensive categories, the Wildcats are hitting at a clip of .265 in league play with a slugging mark of .375 and an on-base percentage of .324. However, ACU's pitching staff has kept its opposition in check as the Wildcats rank fifth in the Southland in conference games in opponent batting average (.249), sixth in ERA (2.93) and are third in strikeouts (131).
· Senior right-hander Hannah Null leads ACU inside the circle as one of the top pitchers in the conference. Her 2.07 ERA on the year ranks second in the Southland and is 112th nationally, while Null's seven shutouts are the most in the league this season and are tied for 27th-most among all Division I pitchers. With a 5.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio, Null leads the Southland and is 23rd nationally in that category. Her 180 strikeouts are the second-most in the conference and 38th-most in the nation, while Null's 6.2 strikeouts per seven innings average is third-best in the Southland. With a 17-13 record this spring, Null is tied with Ladyjack senior right-hander Makayla Sikes (17-7) for the second-most wins in the league. Null has appeared in 36 games for the Wildcats in 2018 and made 28 starts, tossing a total of 203 innings and going the distance in 25 contests.
· According to Monday's weekly NCAA RPI ratings, ACU is the 135th-best team in the nation while the Ladyjacks have moved up to 122 out of 296 Division I softball programs.
· SFA owns a 5-6 record against ACU since the Wildcats joined the Southland prior to the 2014 season. The Ladyjacks will be hosting ACU for the third time, having gone 2-3 against the Wildcats in Nacogdoches. In 2014, SFA spit games with ACU at SFA Softball Field before going 1-2 in 2016. A season ago, the Ladyjacks were swept by the Wildcats in Abilene, falling by scores of 13-0 (5), 5-1 and 5-2. SFA's lone series win over ACU came in 2105 when the Ladyjacks went on the road and took all three games.
Up Next…
The 2018 Southland Tournament will take place next week, Tuesday-Friday, May 8-11, on the campus of McNeese at Joe Miller Field in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The Ladyjacks have clinched a spot in the league's championship event but their seed, opponent, date and game time will be determined this weekend based on SFA's results with ACU and how the rest of the conference shakes out.
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-
Players Mentioned
C/UTIL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C/INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
UTIL
/ 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
