Ladyjacks Blank Middle Tennessee, Reach 36 Wins to Advance in NISC Regional

Friday, May 17

Nacogdoches, Texas

12 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

36-22

Middle Tennessee

29-30

Stephen F. Austin

Middle Tennessee

Photo by: SFA Athletics

Ladyjacks Blank Middle Tennessee, Reach 36 Wins to Advance in NISC Regional

5/17/2019 3:40:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

SFA softball clobbers pair of homers, Margarita Corona sets single-season home run record and Ashley Kriesel fans nine batters

By: Luke Bolanos | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – For the first time in SFA softball's NCAA Division I history, the Ladyjacks have secured a victory in a national postseason tournament with a 4-0 shutout of Middle Tennessee Friday afternoon at SFA Softball Field. Securing its 36th win of 2019, SFA (36-22) matches its highest win total since 1991 and advances to the 2019 Postseason National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) Nacogdoches Regional back draw final where the Ladyjacks will face either UT Arlington (31-26) or McNeese (31-30) Friday evening at 6 p.m.

Serving as the visiting team in the home affair, SFA scored four runs on four hits in the top of the fourth and got a pair of home runs to go along with nine strikeouts from junior right-hander Ashley Kriesel. Senior first baseman Margarita Corona set the program's single-season home run record on a 2-0 pitch in the fourth, registering her 13th long ball of the season to break Briana Bishop's 2009 record of 12 dingers.

"We came out focused and together," head coach Nicole Dickson said after the win. "Ashley Kriesel was phenomenal inside the circle for us and pitched with confidence. We played with great tempo and composure this afternoon. Brittany Crawford is seeing the ball really well and we had more quality at bats today than we did yesterday and saw more pitches overall."

"Congratulations to Margarita Corona for breaking the single-season home run record," added coach Dickson. "I'm honored to have a kid with her character achieve something that special for our program. These ladies played hard this afternoon and stayed together."

Both team's offense would be held in check in the first two innings of play other than a Middle Tennessee one-out single in the bottom of the first. A leadoff single to center field by redshirt sophomore center fielder Brittany Crawford and a straight fielder's choice from junior left fielder Madison Clements gave SFA two on with no outs in the top of the third but a sacrifice bunt was followed up by strikeout and a groundout, ending the frame without a score.

The Ladyjacks broke the 0-0 tie with Corona's record-setting blast over the center field fence leading off the top of the fourth. Freshman catcher Mackenzie Bennett then collected a one-out single to right field before junior shortstop Lindsay Gregory singled to center field and advanced to second on a Blue Raider fielding error, which allowed Bennett to round third and head home for SFA's second run of the afternoon. Moments later, Crawford crushed her fifth homer of the year on a 1-1 pitch as she skied a two-run shot high over the left center field fence to make it a 4-0 game.

Kriesel would control the remainder of the game, allowing just two hits across the remaining four bottom frames and retiring three in order in the sixth. After Middle Tennessee led off the bottom of the seventh with a double to left center field and got a one-out walk, a caught fly ball in left field and a Blue Raider base running error at second base (leaving early) ended the game.

Crawford finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored, while Corona was 1-for-3 with her RBI and run. Kriesel (14-6) picked up her 10th complete game win inside the circle after allowing just two walks and three hits in 26 batters faced.

Middle Tennessee left fielder Claire Smith went 2-for-3 at the plate as starting pitcher Corrina Dodd (12-9) took the loss on the rubber giving up all five hits and four earned runs. Reliever Gretchen Mead didn't allow a hit and walked just one in three and 2/3 innings of work.

Up Next…
The Ladyjacks will take on the loser of UT Arlington and McNeese Friday at 6 p.m. to vie for a spot in the NISC Nac Regional championship Saturday.

Friday evening's 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.

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

-SFA-