Ladyjacks Begin National Postseason Play Thursday, Host UT Arlington in NISC Regional

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – For the first time in SFA's NCAA Division I era, the Ladyjack softball program will be hosting a national postseason regional tournament with the 2019 Postseason National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) Nacogdoches Regional set to take place at the SFA Softball Field Thursday-Saturday, May 16-18. A total of four teams will converge in Texas' oldest town for the three-day, double-elimination national regional with UT Arlington, fellow Southland Conference member McNeese and Middle Tennessee competing at SFA to advance to Fort Collins, Colorado, the final championship site of the 2019 Postseason NISC.

The Ladyjacks (35-21) will take on the Sun Belt Conference's Mavericks (30-26) Thursday at 6 p.m. The game, along with all games of the 2019 Postseason NISC Nacogdoches Regional, will be streamed live online via the Southland Digital Network and through the Southland app, available on Roku, Apple TV, Android TV and Amazon Fire. Live statistics for each game of the regional tournament can be followed at SFAJacks.com.

As usual, in-game updates of the Ladyjacks' contests will be made available via SFA softball's Twitter account, @SFA_Softball.

Tickets to the 2019 Postseason NISC Nacogdoches Regional are on sale now and can be pre-ordered the SFA through the SFA Athletics Ticket Office by calling 936-468-Jack or purchased at the gate. A tournament pass is $25, while day passes are $10. Students from competing universities (with valid university ID), in addition to children five years of age or under, will be admitted for free and day passes for non-university students are $5.

The Cowgirls (30-30) gained the Southland's automatic bid to the Postseason NISC, while UT Arlington is one of two Sun Belt representatives at the national tournament (Appalachian State) and the Blue Raiders (29-28) the only team from Conference USA. It marks the second-straight year SFA has made an appearance at the Postseason NISC after the Ladyjacks claimed the league's automatic bid in 2018.

LADYJACKS AT NATIONAL POSTSEASON TOURNAMENTS
Making their third national postseason appearance in SFA's Division I history, the Ladyjacks are seeking their first NISC victory. A year ago, SFA landed a spot in the 2018 Postseason NISC Central Arkansas Regional in Conway, Arkansas, where they faced the Big 12 Conference's Texas Tech and conference adversary UCA. The Ladyjacks' first Division I national postseason appearance came in 2008 when SFA captured its second Southland Tournament title and earned the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. Their lone trip to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship, the Ladyjacks traveled to College Station, Texas, for the Texas A&M Regional at Aggie Softball Complex and finished the season 36-25. In its Division II days, SFA made four trips to the NCAA Championship and claimed the 1986 NCAA title as the school's first team national championship.

LAST TIME OUT
Last week, the Ladyjacks made their 10th Southland Tournament appearance and fourth since 2010 at Lady Demon Diamond in Natchitoches, Louisiana. As the No. 4 seed at the conference championship SFA eliminated sixth-seeded and tournament host Northwestern State 6-1 in the back draw behind freshman catcher Mackenzie Bennett's 2-for-2, three RBI performance, which included a two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning. The Ladyjacks closed out their run at the Southland Tournament by keeping third-seeded McNeese scoreless through 10 innings of play, getting 11 strikeouts from newcomer duo Ashley Kriesel and Kassidy Wilbur before the Cowgirls broke a 0-0 tie in the top of the 11th with a two-run blast.

WINNING WAYS
With 35 wins on the season, SFA has more victories than any other Southland-member team and owns the highest winning percentage (.625). With any triumph this week, the Ladyjacks can match their 2008 win total (36), which is the third-most victories in a single season in the program's Division I era. SFA also has the best winning mark and the most victories of any team competing at the NISC Nacogdoches Regional.

VS. UT ARLINGTON
Despite having faced the Mavericks just once since 2012, the Ladyjacks have played a total of 107 games against UT Arlington as the two used to be conference foes back when both were Southland members between 1988-2012. The Mavericks hold a 62-45 advantage in the all-time series with SFA owning 22 home wins over UT Arlington. The Ladyjacks last triumph over the Mavericks came on March 31, 2012, when SFA scored a 2-1 win at SFA Softball Field. In the two teams' last meeting (March 15, 2017), UT Arlington emerged victorious 6-0 in Arlington.

VS. McNEESE
SFA has gone 2-2 against McNeese this season, including taking two of three games from the Cowgirls in Nacogdoches. Blanking McNeese 7-0 in the Southland series opener on March 15, the Ladyjacks clinched the three-game set by taking the decisive third game 4-2 the following day.

VS. MIDDLE TENNESSEE
Both SFA and the Blue Raiders began 2019 by partaking in Mississippi State's Bulldog Kickoff Classic in Starkville, Mississippi. The Ladyjacks swept Middle Tennessee in a pair of games on the second day of each's season (Feb. 9), claiming a 7-1 neutral-site victory before gutting out a 2-1 win.

HOME RUN RITA
The first SFA player to be named the Southland Hitter of the Year since Kayla Gutowski in 2010, senior first baseman Margarita Corona has put up impressive numbers at the plate this season as the conference's top power hitter. Last week, the Tucson, Arizona (Tucson High Magnet School), native would not be tested as she was walked seven times, three of which were of the intentional variety, en route to claiming Southland All-Tournament Team honors. Despite being avoided by opposing pitchers, Corona still managed to hit .500 (3-for-6) for the week with an on-base percentage of .769 and a slugging mark of .667 in the Ladyjacks' trio of games. She currently ranks 75th in the country in total bases (111) and is 55th among all Division I softball players in on-base percentage (.495) and 65th in walks per game (0.64), while ranking among national leaders in hits (64), batting average (.388), slugging (.673) and home runs per game (0.21).

WILLING WILBUR
Joining Monika Covington (2008) as SFA's only other Southland Freshman of the Year in program history, right-handed pitcher Wilbur has had quite the inaugural collegiate campaign. Named to the 2019 Schutt Sports/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Freshman of the Year Top 25 watch list, Wilbur became the first Ladyjack in program history to gain that honor and the first softball player from the Southland to earn a spot on the national award list in the last four years. A week ago in Natchitoches, Louisiana, Wilbur picked up Southland All-Tournament Team accolades after owning a 1.69 earned run average and striking out 16 in 20 and 2/3 innings. Holding opponents to a .192 batting average and earning her 20th win of the season in the triumph over Northwestern State, Wilbur threw 18 and 2/3 innings of scoreless softball across three appearances. The Bridge City, Texas (Bridge City HS), native ranks among the top pitchers in the nation in several statistical categories, including 13th in strikeouts (256), 40th in victories (20), 48th in strikeouts per seven innings (7.9), 52nd in ERA (1.80) and 62nd in hits allowed per seven innings (5.15). She was selected as USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week on Feb. 12 following the opening week of her collegiate softball career. Wilbur went 4-0 and posted an unblemished 0.00 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 22 innings inside the circle, setting the program record for most strikeouts by a SFA pitcher making her debut by fanning 15 in her first collegiate start in the season opener. Needing only 37 more strikeouts to tie the program's single season strikeout record (293), Wilbur owns two, two-hit shutouts over top-25 opponents. In both the Ladyjacks' 1-0 win at then 24th-ranked Mississippi State (Feb. 10) and SFA's 1-0 victory over then 16th-ranked Indiana in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (March 1), Wilbur struck out nine to pick up complete game wins.

LETHAL KRIESEL
After transferring to Nacogdoches from Galveston College, junior right-handed hurler Kriesel has been lights out inside the circle for SFA in her first season donning the Purple and White. Tabbed Southland Pitcher of the Week on April 29 after picking up her eighth complete game win of 2019 and notching her second save during the week of April 23-28, Kriesel held a 1.11 ERA during the Southland Tournament last week. She struck out 11 and gave up just one earned run in two game starts. The Houston, Texas (Mayde Creek HS), native currently ranks 40th in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings (8.1), while 71st among all Division I pitchers in total strikeouts (159) and 87th in hits allowed per seven innings (5.53). Her 2.74 strikeout-to-walk ratio also ranks among the top 140 pitchers in the country. Kriesel is 13-6 on the season with two saves, nine complete game wins and two shutouts. She notched a no-hitter on Feb. 16 in the Ladyjacks' 13-2 rout of Jackson State in five innings.

ABOUT UT ARLINGTON
Led by second-year head coach Peejay Brun, the Mavericks are also making their second-straight Postseason NISC appearance after capturing the Central Arkansas Regional last year and advancing to the tournament's championship site in California. UT Arlington finished third in the Sun Belt with a 17-10 conference record and earned the No. 3 seed for the league's championship, where the Mavericks fell 5-4 to sixth-seeded Coastal Carolina before routing fourth-seeded Texas State 8-0 in six innings. Eighth-seeded Louisiana-Monroe then eliminated UT Arlington, 5-2.

Up Next…
With a win over the Mavericks, the Ladyjacks would advance to the NISC Regional's semifinal Friday, May 17 at 3 p.m. and face the winner of McNeese and Middle Tennessee, who kick off regional action Thursday at 3 p.m. The loser of Thursday's first round contests will take on each other in the back draw of the bracket Friday at 12 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-

Schedule

Ladyjacks Begin National Postseason Play Thursday, Host UT Arlington in NISC Regional

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Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Bennett

Margarita Corona

Ashley Kriesel

Kassidy Wilbur

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Stephen F Austin

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Upcoming Event: Softball versus Northwestern State University on Apr. 3, 2026

Ladyjacks Begin National Postseason Play Thursday, Host UT Arlington in NISC Regional

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Bennett

Margarita Corona

Ashley Kriesel

Kassidy Wilbur

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