Ladyjacks Set for Wednesday Home Opener with ULM

Wednesday, February 13

Nacogdoches, Texas

3 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

Louisiana-Monroe

Photo by: SFA Athletics

Ladyjacks Set for Wednesday Home Opener with ULM

2/12/2019 7:46:00 PM | Softball

SFA enters home opener 4-1 after winning 2019 Bulldog Kickoff in Starkville, Mississippi, over weekend

By: Luke Bolanos | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

ULM (1-4) at SFA (4-1)
Wednesday, Feb. 13 | 3 p.m. | SFA Softball Field | Nacogdoches, Texas
Facebook LIVE | Live Stats

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – After capturing the 2019 Bulldog Kickoff Classic in the Magnolia State by claiming a top-25 road win at 24th-ranked Mississippi State, the SFA softball team returns to Texas' oldest town for its 2019 home opener Wednesday. The Ladyjacks welcome Louisiana-Monroe to the friendly confines of the SFA Softball Field for a 3 p.m. first pitch.

The game will be streamed everywhere on Facebook LIVE via SFA softball's Facebook, while in-game statistics can be followed at SFAJacks.com.

Off to a 4-1 start, the Ladyjacks began their 2019 campaign with a 6-2 win over Valparaiso this past Friday inside Nusz Park in Starkville, Mississippi, before dropping a 3-0 decision at the hands of No. 24 Mississippi State. On Saturday, SFA earned a two-game sweep of Middle Tennessee with a 7-1 rout and a 2-1 walk-off victory. The Ladyjacks' highlight of the weekend came Sunday afternoon when SFA avenged their lone loss and claimed a 1-0 shutout over the tournament host Bulldogs in the Bulldog Kickoff Classic championship game.

The Ladyjacks knocked off a nationally-ranked opponent for the first time since 2014 and collected their first victory over a Power Five member since March 4, 2017.

Freshman right-handed pitcher Kassidy Wilbur burst onto the scene when she fanned 15 batters in her inaugural collegiate start against Valparaiso, setting the program record for the most batters struck out in a Ladyjack debut. She followed up that performance by tossing her second complete game in the 7-1 win over Middle Tennessee, before appearing for one inning in relief and earning a pair of strikeouts in SFA's walk-off triumph over the Blue Raiders. In the Ladyjacks' championship game win over No. 24 Mississippi State, Wilbur notched her first career shutout by sitting down nine batters and striking out the side in order in the bottom of the seventh.

Totaling 32 strikeouts in 22 innings of work with a 4-0 record, three complete game victories and a 0.00 earned run average, Wilbur gained regional and national attention. She was named Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week earlier Tuesday and became SFA's first USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week.

Another freshman, outfielder Alex Hedspeth, has also began her college career in an impressive manner. Hitting .364 for the weekend, Hedspeth went 4-for-6 with four RBI and two runs scored in the two games against Middle Tennessee. She accounted for both of the Ladyjacks' runs in the 2-1 contest with the Blue Raiders, including an RBI triple in the fifth inning and the walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the seventh. In the first game with Middle Tennessee, Hedspeth was 2-for-2 with two RBI and a stolen base.

Senior shortstop Emily Wolfe hit .462 (6-for-13) over opening weekend and stole a pair of bases, knocking in the game-winning hit in SFA's 1-0 upset of 24th-ranked Mississippi State Sunday afternoon with a two-out RBI single to second base in the top of second inning. Determined not to be thrown out at first, the speedy Wolfe beat out the throw to reach safely as she finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate.

After suffering a season-ending injury in the preseason a year ago, redshirt sophomore center fielder Brittany Crawford returned to the diamond this past weekend and looked to be in fine form. She went 5-for-10 at the plate with two RBI, five walks and a run scored, while flawless in the field as the Ladyjacks' outfield leader.

Last season, the SFA split games at ULM as part of the Mardi Gras Classic. In a 3-3 tie heading into the final inning, senior first baseman Margarita Corona clocked a three-run shot over the left center field wall and the Ladyjacks held on for a 6-4 road victory. In game two of the doubleheader, ULM came away on top 9-3.

Wednesday will be the Warhawks first trip to Nacogdoches since March 22, 2017, when ULM scored a 5-1 win.

"We want to clean up a little on defense," head coach Nicole Dickson said during her Monday morning press conference. "We need to work a little harder on executing some plays, the double-play ball and bunt coverage, which we did well with but we could be cleaner. I'd like to be focused a little more on our situational hitting. When we get someone on base, we have to be able to move them and score them. We have to capitalize on those opportunities."

About ULM

2019 Record | 1-4, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference
• Picked to finish eighth in the Sun Belt's preseason poll after finishing eighth in the league in 2018 with a 10-17 conference record and going 24-29 overall.
• The Warhawks have two All-Sun Belt players in senior left fielder Sydney McKay and junior shortstop Jayden Mount. Both had tremendous seasons at the plate in 2018 as McKay leads ULM through five games in batting (.500), on-base percentage (.500) and hits (9). She has gone 9-for-18 at the plate with six RBI and five runs scored, owning a slugging mark of .611. Junior infielder Jessie Watts is also off to a strong start this season, leading the Warhawks in RBI (9) and slugging (.647) while hitting at a clip of .353.
• ULM's lone win over opening weekend came at the UAB Blazer Bash in Birmingham, Alabama, where the Warhawks defeated the Ohio Valley Conference's Austin Peay 5-3. That victory preceded a 10-0, five-inning loss to the Governors in the season opener and a 8-7 setback against Wright State. ULM suffered a second loss to Wright State (10-7) and fell 12-11 at UAB.
• Head coach Molly Fichtner is in her first season at ULM after spending a year as an assistant coach at East Carolina.

Up Next…
The Ladyjacks continue their challenging non-conference schedule this weekend at the 33rd Annual Louisiana Classic where they will face Austin Peay, Jackson State and 13th-ranked Louisiana at Lamson Park in Lafayette, Louisiana, Friday-Sunday, Feb. 15-17. SFA will take on Austin Peay first Friday at 11 a.m. before playing Jackson State at 1:30 p.m.

Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack softball throughout the 2019 season.

-SFA-