University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Softball Hosts C-USA Rival Memphis in Weekend Series
3/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 30, 2007
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss softball team continues play this weekend, hosting Memphis in a three-game Conference USA weekend series at the Southern Miss Softball Complex on Saturday, March 31 and Sunday, April 1. Saturday's doubleheader starts at 1 p.m., and Sunday's single game starts at 1 p.m.
"It's definitely a big series," Head Coach Gay McNutt said. "Right now we're 1-5 in the conference. That's not where we want to be, and that's not where this team should be. Our backs are against the wall, and we've got to come out fighting. We've lost both of our shortstops, one of our leading base runners and possibly one of our outfielders. Things aren't going our way, but we can create our own destiny. The kids know how important this is, and we had a great practice yesterday. We were a little sluggish today, but we ended well. We're about to find out how mature we are and how prepared we are."
This weekend's games mark the fourth, fifth and sixth meetings between the two schools, after facing each other for the first time in 2006. Memphis has the 2-1 advantage over Southern Miss, but the Lady Eagles took the last meeting, 2-1.
Southern Miss (10-24, 1-5 C-USA) enters the weekend coming off of a 9-8 loss to first-year program South Alabama on Monday. Memphis (20-11, 2-4 C-USA) met Tennessee-Martin in a mid-week doubleheader on Wednesday, winning both contests, 7-4 and 2-1.
The Lady Eagles are hitting .229 with 38 doubles, six triples, 26 home runs and 114 RBIs, while Memphis is hitting .264 with 37 doubles, one triple, 24 home runs and 120 RBIs.
Designated player Megan Hill leads Southern Miss offensively, hitting .375 with nine doubles, four triples, eight home runs, 28 RBIs, four stolen bases, 24 runs scored and 13 walks. Freshman outfielder Brandi Alonzo is hitting .337 with four doubles, one triple, two home runs, 15 RBIs, eight stolen bases, 14 runs scored and five walks.
Senior Kara Ross is hitting .322 for Memphis with four doubles, two home runs and 22 RBIs. Junior infielder Lindsay Kelso is hitting .313 with six doubles, three home runs and 16 RBIs.
On the mound, Southern Miss is led by sophomore Samantha Davis. Davis is 1-6 with a 3.11 ERA in 55.0 innings, giving up 27 runs, 19 earned, on 63 hits, striking out 21, walking 25 and holding opponents to a .283 batting average.
Senior Jenna Kubesch is leading Memphis defensively. She has recorded a 12-5 record and a 2.52 ERA in 111.0 innings pitched, giving up 47 runs, 40 earned, on 92 hits, striking out 107, walking 19 and holding opponents to a .217 batting average.
After this weekend's series, Southern Miss will travel to Monroe, La., to take on Louisiana-Monroe in single game on Wednesday, April 4, before heading to Huntington, W.Va. to continue conference play at Marshall, April 6-7.
