Ladyjacks Take on Baylor in Waco Tuesday Evening

Tuesday, April 2

Waco, Texas

6 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

Baylor

Photo by: SFA Athletics

Ladyjacks Take on Baylor in Waco Tuesday Evening

4/1/2019 7:50:00 PM | Softball

Softball steps out of league play to face the Lady Bears for the first time since 2015

By: Luke Bolanos | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

SFA (21-14) at Baylor (15-17)
Tuesday, April 2 | 6 p.m. | Getterman Stadium | Waco, Texas
Watch | Live Stats

Game Notes

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – For the eighth time this season, the SFA softball team will go head-to-head with a Power Five program as the Ladyjacks are set to battle Baylor Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. inside Getterman Stadium in Waco, Texas. Wrapping up a five-game road trip, the Ladyjacks (21-14) are seeking their fourth win over a Power Five opponent this year and second-straight midweek non-conference road victory.

Live statistics of Tuesday night's action can be followed by visiting BaylorBears.com, while in-game updates will be made available via SFA softball's Twitter account, @SFA_Softball.

The game will represent the first meeting between the two teams in four years as SFA has not faced the Big 12 Conference's Lady Bears (15-17) since 2015. It will mark the first time Ladyjack head coach Nicole Dickson has led her team against Baylor, while Lady Bear leader Glenn Moore enters his 23rd matchup with SFA.

The Ladyjacks look to defeat host Baylor for the first time since Feb. 8, 2003, when SFA scored a 4-2 neutral-site win over the Lady Bears in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Seven times have the Ladyjacks been victorious in Waco with their last road triumph at Baylor coming in 2000 when SFA swept the Lady Bears in a doubleheader, 3-1 and 4-0.

LAST WEEK
The Ladyjacks claimed their third-straight Southland Conference series win of 2019 over the weekend at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and picked up their first league series victory on the road. After dropping the series opener by a single run, SFA bounced back with convincing game two (4-1) and game three (6-2) wins. Earning a dominant 10-4 midweek non-conference road victory at Prairie View A&M Wednesday, the Ladyjacks closed out the week with a 3-1 record. Backed by the powerful arms of Ashley Kriesel and Kassidy Wilbur, second baseman Bryana Novegil had an impressive week at the plate. The sophomore posted a .538 batting average with an on-base percentage of .600 as she slugged at a mark of .692, collecting seven hits and tallying five RBI. Novegil turned in a 3-for-5 performance at Prairie View A&M, knocking in three RBI singles to right field and scoring a run before closing out the week with a 3-for-4 outing at A&M-Corpus Christi. She helped will SFA to the series-deciding game three victory by posting a pair of doubles, including a second-inning RBI double to left field, and recording a fourth-inning RBI single through the right side. First baseman Margarita Corona also had a strong week at the dish, hitting .417 across the four games with a team-best .750 slugging mark and .563 on-base percentage. The senior posted five hits and scored four runs, beginning the week by going 3-for-3 with two RBI, two runs scored and two walks at Prairie View A&M. Her two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning gave the Ladyjacks a commanding 7-4 advantage after the host Lady Panthers had trimmed the lead to just one in the bottom of the third.

WILLING WILBUR
Freshman right-hander Wilbur is off to a fantastic start to her collegiate career, seemingly gaining additional attention with each passing week. The Bridge City, Texas (Bridge City HS), native picked up her second-straight and third Southland Pitcher of the Week plaudit of the season last Monday (March 25) and struck out 21 in 13 innings of work last week. Claiming her 11th complete game win of the season and 12th overall, Wilbur fanned 10 of 29 batters faced Saturday afternoon to will SFA to the series-deciding game three triumph. On Friday, Wilbur struck out 11 of 22 batters she saw and allowed just two hits in a one-run affair. For the week, Wilbur held opponents to a .111 batting average and posted a 0.00 earned run average. She currently ranks seventh among all NCAA Division I pitchers with 170 strikeouts on the year, while leading the conference and ranking 28th in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings (8.9). Her four complete game shutouts in 2019 are 29th-most nationally and her 12 victories 38th most. With a 1.72 ERA, Wilbur owns the 63rd-lowest ERA in the nation and ranks among national leaders with a 2.88 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Named Southland Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 12 and March 18 as well, Wilbur is allowing just 5.05 hits per seven innings to rank among the nation's top 70 in that category. After going 4-0 over the opening weekend with a two-hit complete game shutout of then 24th-ranked Mississippi State, Wilbur became SFA's first USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week. Not allowing an earned run in three games starts and 22 innings across her first weekend as a Division I softball player, Wilbur set the program record for most strikeouts by a Ladyjack making her debut with 15 in the season-opening win over Valparaiso (6-2).

LETHAL KRIESEL
Wilbur is not the only Ladyjack newcomer who has been impressive inside the circle for SFA this season as junior righty Kriesel owns seven wins on the rubber and has claimed four complete game victories. She has already collected a no-hitter (Feb. 16 versus Jackson State) and a save (Feb. 20 against Texas Southern) in her first year as a Ladyjack. Last Wednesday at Prairie View A&M, Kriesel entered the game in the bottom of the third inning and retired all 13 batters faced in order. Racking up nine strikeouts, Kriesel was nearly as efficient as you can be without allowing a walk and needing just 53 pitches to complete the feat. She followed up that performance by gaining her fourth complete game win of the season Friday, leading the Ladyjacks to a 4-1 bounce-back victory at A&M-Corpus Christi. Striking out five and walking just one, Kriesel limited the Islanders to four hits and only one run in 26 batters faced. For the week, Kriesel posted a 2-0 record with a 0.62 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 11 and 1/3 innings. Giving up just one walk and one run, Kriesel held opponents to a .105 batting average. She ranks among the top 50 nationally in both strikeouts per seven innings (8.4) and hits allowed per seven innings (4.80), where she leads the league. Ranking among conference leaders in total strikeouts with 89 in 74 and 1/3 innings of work, Kriesel is among the nation's top 100 pitchers in that category. Led by the duo of Wilbur and Kriesel, SFA's pitching staff ranks sixth nationally in total strikeouts (282) and is 37th the nation and tops in the Southland with a 2.69 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Furthermore, the Ladyjacks' 2.64 team ERA is the 51st-lowest nationally and second-lowest in the 12-team Southland.

AMONG LEADING MID-MAJORS IN THE RPI
With the NCAA's third weekly release of the RPI softball rankings Monday, SFA is No. 72 in the nation and sits as the highest Southland program. The Ladyjacks, who have posted a 9-2 record in neutral-site games in 2019 and own three top-25 wins, have defeated three teams who are top 40 in RPI. SFA owns impressive non-conference neutral-site victories over then 25th-ranked Illinois (No. 36) and then 16th-ranked Indiana (No. 38), not to mention its road win at then 24th-ranked Mississippi State (No. 24). In the RPI, SFA ranks ahead of notable Power Five programs such as Maryland, Purdue, Iowa, Syracuse, Duke, Nebraska, Rutgers, Utah, Virginia and Boston College.

AGAINST POWER FIVE AND TOP-25 OPPONENTS
Owning a 3-4 record against Power Five programs this season, SFA has picked up three top-25 wins against the nation's most powerful conferences. The Ladyjacks began their 2019 campaign by capturing the Bulldog Kickoff Classic in Starkville, Mississippi, where they knocked off then 24th-ranked Mississippi State out of the SEC in the title game with a two-hit, 1-0 shutout. Two weeks later, SFA took down then 25th-ranked Illinois out of the Big Ten Conference at South Alabama's Mardi Gras Invitational in Mobile, Alabama, with a 7-2 victory. The following weekend, the Ladyjacks made it back-to-back weeks knocking off one of the nation's top teams by picking up perhaps their most impressive non-conference win of the season thus far. SFA handed then 16th-ranked Indiana its first loss of 2019 with the Ladyjacks' second 1-0 shutout of a top-25 opponent at LSU's Purple & Gold Challenge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

ABOUT BAYLOR
Led by 19th-year head coach Glenn Moore, the Lady Bears enter Tuesday having lost four of their last five games and eight of their last 10. Baylor, who sits in sixth place out of seven teams in the Big 12 with a 2-5 conference record, dropped two of three games at Kansas over the weekend. The Lady Bears have gone 3-1 against Southland teams this season, earning a home win over Sam Houston State (7-0) and sweeping McNeese in Lake Charles (5-2 and 7-2). Two weeks ago on March 20, Central Arkansas went into Getterman Stadium and handed host Baylor an 8-5 loss.

Up Next…
The Ladyjacks return to Southland action and the friendly confines of the SFA Softball Field this weekend when they host Lamar in a three-game series Friday and Saturday, April 5-6. SFA will take on the visiting Cardinals in a doubleheader Friday, April 5 beginning at 1 p.m. before wrapping up the conference series Saturday, April 6 with a 12 p.m. game three.

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

-SFA-