University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagles Face Alabama and Ole Miss
3/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Lady Eagles Face Alabama and Ole Miss
Jessica Huerta batted .636 in the last four games. |
Dates: Tuesday, March 18, at 6 p.m. (Alabama); Wednesday, March 19, at 5 p.m. (Ole Miss)
Locations: UA Softball Complex (1,595) & Ole Miss Softball Complex (1,000)
Media: Live Stats on SouthernMiss.com
Series Record: Alabama leads, 3-1; Southern Miss leads, 3-2
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? The Southern Miss softball team looks to extend its four-game winning streak when the Lady Eagles compete against two Southeastern Conference squads, Alabama and Ole Miss. Southern Miss will play the Crimson Tide in a single game, in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Tuesday, March 18, at 6 p.m. The Lady Eagles will battle the Rebels in a doubleheader in Oxford, Miss., on Wednesday, March 19, at 5 p.m., and all game will have Live Stats on SouthernMiss.com.
Southern Miss (11-14) is coming off two doubleheader sweeps last week, defeating Northwestern (La.) State, 5-0 and 4-2, and McNeese State, 5-0 and 5-1. The four-straight wins give the Lady Eagles their longest winning streak of the season, and statistically they improved as a team in batting, going from a .206 team batting average to .228, and in pitching, lowering the team ERA from 3.01 to 2.61.
Jessica Huerta was the top Lady Eagle hitter last week, batting .636 (7-for-11) in the four-game span with a run scored, a triple, an RBI, and three two-hit game performances. Defensively, the freshman committed no errors while playing shortstop with 10 putouts and seven assists.
Sarah Boyd remains as the top hitter on the season, batting .313 with five runs scored, six doubles, two home runs and 15 RBIs. Auriel Jenkins is batting .306 and leads the squad with 15 runs scored, four home runs, a .565 slugging percentage and eight stolen bases.
Jessica Holaway pitched two shutouts last week, improving her season total to three shutouts, and has surrendered only one earned run in her last 19 innings pitched. On the year, the junior is 5-8 with two saves, a 1.88 ERA, 26 walks and 55 strikeouts.
Jennifer Reach leads Alabama (20-10) with a .362 batting average. She has 16 runs scored, seven doubles and three RBIs. Stephanie VanBrakle has been a force at the plate and in the pitcher?s circle, batting .349 with five home runs and 13 RBIs and holding a 5-3 record with a 1.32 ERA and 77 strikeouts.
Junior pitcher Erin Wright is 10-4 on the year with a 1.89 ERA and 83 strikeouts. The Crimson Tide has won six-of-its-last-seven games, including a three-game sweep over Arkansas and winning the Tennessee series, two-out-of-three games.
Ole Miss (11-14) is coming off winning the Kentucky series, picking up victories in the second and third games, and starts the doubleheader against Southern Miss with a two-game winning streak.
DeDe Justice is batting .403 on the year with 17 runs scored, four doubles, two triples, five home runs and 25 RBIs. Mandy Ott, a transfer from Texas A&M, is batting .326, and Brooke Turner holds a .309 batting average with 17 runs, two home runs and 14-of-14 stolen bases.
This weekend, Southern Miss hosts South Florida in a three-game Conference USA series. A doubleheader is set for Saturday, March 22, at 1 p.m., and a single game is scheduled for Sunday, March 23, at 1 p.m.
