No. 17 Lady Wildcats Begin Tough Stretch

3/23/2017 12:51:00 PM

By: LC Sports Information

After jumping seven spots in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 polls to the the number 17 spot, the Louisiana College Lady Wildcats softball team will begin a stretch of five games in three days on Saturday. Due to weather concerns in Longview, Texas on Friday, the Wildcats series against LeTourneu University has been pushed to a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. and a single game Sunday at 2 p.m. Immediately following the conference series with the Yellow Jackets, LC will return to Wildcat Park for a doubleheader Monday afternoon against Birmingham-Southern University, which begins at 4 p.m.

LIVE STATS/VIDEO

LeTourneau | 11-14 (6-12)

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The Yellow Jackets enter the series with LC, coming off a series win over the University of the Ozarks, two games to one. Overall LeTourneau has won eight of their last 10 games, including a three game sweep of Concordia (Texas). In their last eight wins, they have outscored their opponents 67-10. The Yellow Jackets have five players hitting over .300 on the season with Shelby Barrick leading the team with a .365 batting average. She is tied for the team lead in home runs with two and leads the team in runs batted in with 21 on the season. As a team they rank eighth in the ASC in batting with a .284 team average, with eight home runs this year and a 4.4 run per game average.

The main two pitchers for LeTourneau this season have been Ashley Burdine and Faith Genoway. Burdinge leads the staff with a 6.04 earned run average and has a 3-7 record in 56.2 innings of work. Genoway leads the team with a 7-4 record in 69.0 innings with eight complete games. She leads the team in strikeouts with 39 and opponents are .286 against her. As a team they rank next to last in the conference in team ERA at 5.27 with 69 team strikeouts this year.

Louisiana College | 20-2 (14-1)

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The Wildcats three game sweep of Belhaven University last weekend extended their winning streak to 16 games in a row, tying for the second longest winning streak since 2009. All season it has been the pitching staff that has propelled the the Wildcats to the top spot in the American Southwest Conference and a No. 17 National Ranking. The staff leads the conference with a 0.99 earned run average, which ranks ninth best in the country. Savannah Settle leads the team with a 0.94 ERA on the year and a 10-2 record, with 10 complete games and 74.2 innings pitched. She leads the conference in strikeouts this year with 79 to only nine walks. Darian Thacker and Taylor Leger each have ERAs below 1.7 with over 20 innings pitched and Chelsea Lewis has yet to allow a run in eight appearances out of the bullpen in 19.0 innings pitched.

Offensively Shea Smith and Mattie Stine have been the batting leaders all season. Smith leads the team with a .400 average, and Stine leads with 22 RBI, seven doubles, and is tied with leadoff hitter Shelby Bergeron for the team lead with 27 hits this year. Bergeron and two hole batter Sami Walters are each batting over .340 this year and have combined to score 45 runs this year for the Wildcats. They are also a combined 29-for-32 in stolen base attempts this year. The Wildcats are tied for third in the conference for steals this season with LeTourneau.

The series begins with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and will end with a single game Sunday at 2 p.m. Follow the games via the link provided above. The Wildcats return to Wildcat Park for a doubleheader against Birmingham-Southern Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. before hosting the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor next weekend in another ASC series. Stay connected to Louisiana College softball all season at www.lcwildcats.net, following @LC_sftball on Twitter, and liking LC Athletics on Facebook.

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