University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagle Softball Team Ready for Southern Miss Invitational
2/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 24, 2011
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss softball team is geared up and ready to host the 2011 Southern Miss Invitational, Feb. 25-27, at the USM Softball Complex. Teams included are Mississippi Valley State, Nicholls State, Evansville and Troy.
Play gets under way on Friday night with Golden Eagles opening the tournament against Mississippi Valley State slated for a 6 p.m., start. A full slate is schedule for Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m., with Nicholls State facing Troy followed by Mississippi Valley and Troy at 11:30 a.m., Nicholls State and Southern Miss at 2 p.m., Evansville and Southern Miss at 4:30 p.m., and the day's action concludes with Evansville and Mississippi Valley at 7 p.m.
Sunday's schedule will start at 10 a.m., with Nicholls State taking on Evansville, Troy and Evansville at 12:30 p.m., followed by Nicholls State and Mississippi Valley at 3: p.m., and conclude with Southern Miss and Troy at 5:30 p.m.
Southern Miss is coming off a 6-4 loss to in-state rival Mississippi State. Michelle Takeda and Chanell Thurman each tallied two hits apiece while Leslie LeJune recorded her first home run of the season.
TOURNAMENT FIELD
Southern Miss brings a 5-5 record into the weekend after a 6-4 loss at Mississippi State Wednesday ... Christina Roosmalen is tops on the team in batting with a .393 average followed by Jill Mathis at .324 ... Mathis leads the team with five home runs and 12 RBI ... USM has collected eight dingers this season ... Mississippi Valley State is 3-3 on the year ... Coach Lee Smith is in his 10 season at Valley ... The Delta Devilettes have three players batting over .400 led by Rachelle Harris with a .500 batting average ... Kim Spivey has pitched 22.0 innings and has a 1-3 record ... Nicholls State comes into the tournament with a 5-6 record ... Coach Jenny Parsons is in her fifth season at Nicholls ... Four players are batting over .300 for the Colonels with Ashley Ray with a team-high five home runs and 15 RBI ... Ashton Bennett is 2-2 with a team-low 2.36 ERA ... Evansville is 1-4 this year ... Coach Mark Redburn is in his second season ... The Purple Aces have a couple of .400 hitters in Katie Sears and Niki Rahming ... Emily Morris has done the bunk of the pitching and owns a 3-2 record and a 7.36 ERA ... Troy is 7-3 on the year ... Coach Melanie Davis is in her 18th year ... Three Trojans are batting over .400 led by Nikki Hollett with a team-high .471 average, seven home runs and 16 RBI ... Morgan Grove is sporting a 4-0 record and a 1.91 ERA in 25.2 innings of work.
SERIES NOTES FOR THE FIELD:
This is the fourth meeting between Southern Miss and Mississippi Valley State in a series dating back to the 2005 season ... USM leads the series 2-1 ... This is the 46th meeting between Nicholls State and Southern Miss ... Nicholls State leads the all-time series, 37-8, dating back to 1984 ... This is the second meeting between USM and Evansville ... The series is tied 1-1, dating back to 1999 ... This is the 10th meeting between Southern Miss and Troy ... Troy leads the series, 5-4, dating back to 1988.
NEXT UP
Following the Southern Miss Invitational, Southern Miss begins a seven-game road swing that includes a single game against Ole Miss in Ridgeland before heading west for the Cal State Fullerton Tournament.
