No. 24 Lady Wildcats Host Belhaven

3/17/2017 8:51:00 AM

By: LC Sports Information

For the first time since the 2013 season, the Louisiana College Lady Wildcats will play a game as a nationally ranked team. Earlier this week the Wildcats cracked the Top 25 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III poll at number 24. Their current 13 game winning streak has put the Wildcats in the top 25 in the country and atop the American Southwest Conference standings. This week the Wildcats take a break from ASC play and host Belhaven University in a three game series starting on Friday.

LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

Belhaven | 7-11

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After starting the season an uncharacteristic 0-7, which included series with East Texas Baptist University and the University of Texas at Tyler, the Blazers have won seven of their last 11 games on the season, most recently sweep the Universtiy of the Ozarks last weekend. Junior Meg Garton leads the team at the plate with a .350 batting average and has scored a team high 12 runs this season. She ranks second behind Makayla Reed in hits and runs batted in on the season, as Reed has turned in 17 hits and driven in 12 runs this year. The Blazers rank 10th in the conference in batting with a .263 team average and have scored a total of 76 runs this year, fourth fewest in the ASC thus far.

In the circle, senior Taylor Surrento has a 4-6 record with a 3.75 earned run average, with six complete games on the year. She ranks third in the ASC in strikeouts this year with 54 with an 8.6 strikeout per game average, second highest in the conference. Junior Jordan Herring (2-4) got her first two wins of the season in the series last week at the Ozarks, going 13 innings without allowing a run on 10 hits, with nine strikeouts.

#24 Louisiana College | 17-2 (14-1)

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Coming off their fourth consecutive ASC sweep last weekend at Hardin-Simmons University, the Lady Wildcats take a break from conference play as they host Belhaven, a team that swept them in three games just last year. The Wildcats have used their dominant pitching to carry them through the last three series, allowing just five runs in nine games. They rank first in the ASC in team ERA (0.99), opposing batting average (.207), strikeouts (103), and walks allowed (16).

Junior Savannah Settle has been the ace for the Wildcats all season, leading the team and conference in strikeouts with 66, in a team-high 63.0 innings of work. She has an 8-2 record on the season and a 1.00 ERA, second on the team to junior Darian Thacker who owns a 5-0 record and a 0.75 ERA in four starts and six total appearances. Thacker has allowed just 3 earned runs in 28.0 innings of work on 18 hits while holding opponents to a .191 batting average.

At the plate, LC ranks sixth in the conference in batting with a .302 team average, they rank fourth in stolen bases (48) and second in fewest strikeouts (42). The Wildcats are led by junior first baseman Mattie Stine, who enters the series with a .426 average, six doubles, and 18 runs batted in. Freshman Shea Smith is also batting over .400 on the season at .404, with two home runs and 15 RBI.

The series is scheduled for a doubleheader Friday at 5 p.m. and will finish with a single game Saturday at 12 p.m. All three games will be available to follow through the Louisiana College live stats portal, and for live streaming on the Louisiana College Athletics Facebook page, www.facebook.com/LCAthletics. Stay connected to Louisiana College softball all season long at www.lcwildcats.net, liking @LC_sftball on Twitter, or liking LC Athletics on Facebook.

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