University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Softball Hosts Nicholls State In Mid-week Contest
4/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 20, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss opens a four-game homestand, beginning with a single game against Nicholls State Wednesday night at the USM Softball Complex. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Southern Miss comes into the game with an 18-21 record overall following a 3-2 10-inning loss to Memphis Sunday. Senior Megan Hill leads the team offensively with a batting average of .323 followed by Jill Mathis at .311. Hill leads the team with 27 RBIs and eight home runs. Leslie LeJune leads the team with 40 hits while Mathis is right behind at 38. The Golden Eagle pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.16 with a combined 230 strikeouts. Freshman Gabby Luciani owns a team-low 2.25 ERA in 136.2 innings with 138 strikeouts and an 8-8 record. Courtney Ramos owns a 6-9 record while working 86.1 innings and 61 strikeouts.
Nicholls State is 21-14 overall following a 6-0 win over USTA on Sunday. Megan Gaspard paces the Colonel offense with a team-best .306 batting average with 37 hits followed by Audrey Wood at .298. Wood also leads the team with seven home runs. Lacey Gros and Carlee Winkelmann own an ERA of 2.39 each. Gros, a former Golden Eagle, has an 11-5 record in 114.0 innings of work.
Southern Miss and Nicholls State have played 44 times in a series dating back to 1984. The two teams played 34 times prior to 1999 when the program was re-instated. Since then, the teams have played 10 times. Nicholls State leads the overall series 36-8 against Golden Eagles. The teams played earlier this season with the Colonels scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to take an 8-7 win over the Golden Eagles.
Southern Miss remains at home to host Marshall in a three-game C-USA series, Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. The single game Sunday has a 12 p.m. start and will be televised nationally on CBS C.
