University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Softball Opens Home, Wednesday, with Twinbill Versus Jackson State
2/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 19, 2008
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss fans will get their first look at the 2008 softball team when the Lady Eagles entertain Jackson State in a 5 p.m., doubleheader, Wednesday, in the team's home opener.
The Lady Eagles (6-3) have won four of their last five contests which includes capturing the K-Club Invitational last weekend in Kennesaw, Ga. Southern Miss went 3-1 over the weekend and avenged its only loss of the tourney in the championship game by beating host Kennesaw State in nine innings, 1-0.
Three Southern Miss players, which have started in all nine games, currently are hitting better than .290 for the season. Senior Jennifer Fox (Jackson, Miss.) leads the way with a .400 average with a home run and six runs batted in. Senior Kristin Chaney (Little Rock, Miss.) has posted a .300 average with a pair of RBIs, while sophomore Megan Hill (Hattiesburg, Miss.) is at .296 with a homer and six RBIs.
First-year coach Howard Dobson has stressed for his team to set the tone early in scoring runs and the Lady Eagles have responded by scoring first in seven of nine contests, holding a 6-1 mark in those games.
Still, Southern Miss also has excelled both defensively and on the mound in the early going. The Lady Eagle defense fields at a .974 clip, while the pitching staff has posted a 2.47 earned run average with 46 strikeouts over 62 1/3 innings of work.
JSU enters the game with a 2-6 record, having defeated Grambling, 9-7, but lost to Southern, 8-0, and Saint Louis, 9-1, last weekend.
Sophomore Amanda Boggan (Portland, Ore.) paces the JSU attack with a .423 batting average, having driven in five runs this season.
Following the JSU twinbill, the Lady Eagles return to the road and play in the 22nd annual Louisiana Classics in Lafayette, La., Saturday and Sunday. The Lady Eagles face Mississippi Valley State at 11 a.m., and Louisiana-Lafayette at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, and MVSU at 1 p.m., and UL at 3:30 p.m., Sunday.
