University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Softball Travels West for Fullerton Demarini Invitational
3/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 1, 2012
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - In their second trip to Fullerton, Calif., in as many years, the Southern Miss softball team will take on the nation's top team, along with a trifecta of Big 10 teams and one West Coast Conference foe, at the Fullerton Demarini Invitational beginning Friday, Mar. 1, through Sunday, Mar. 3.
The Golden Eagles (4-5) traveled to Fullerton last season and will return to begin the three-day event by facing No. 1/2 California (12-0) on Friday in the first ever meeting between the two teams. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CT.
Cal is led by power-hitting pitcher Valerio Arioto and hurler Jolene Henderson who have combined for 72 innings pitched with 81 strikeouts to just 23 walks. Arioto sports a 0.22 ERA in the circle and is 5-0 on the season while Henderson is 7-0 and leads the team in innings with 40. At the plate, Arioto is currently hitting .520 (13-of-25) with eight home runs and a 1.520 slugging percentage.
Following their showdown with the Bears, Southern Miss will take on the host, Cal State Fullerton (6-11) at 8 p.m. The Titans are led at the plate by Ashley Carter who is hitting .397 on the season (23-for-58) with six RBI. In the circle, Aly Fascetti and Desiree Ybarra have worked all but eight innings for the squad and batters are hitting .365 off the staff.
On Saturday, Southern Miss will begin their stretch of three Big 10 opponents when they take on Michigan State and Indiana. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. CT and 5:45 p.m. CT, respectively.
Michigan State will enter the event sporting a 3-9 record and are currently hitting .230 as a squad. Their pitching staff has combined for a 6.21 ERA. Indiana (7-7) will bring in a team hitting .302 with a .452 slugging percentage and a pitching duo that has combined for a 4.91 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 88 innings of work.
The Sunday finale will be a matchup with the Wildcats of Northwestern at 11 a.m. CT. Led by Emily Allard (.481), Northwestern is 5-8 on the young season and has a four-member pitching staff that has combined for a 4.95 ERA. Meghan Lamberth headlines the group with a 3.23 ERA in 10 appearances. She has struck out 18 batters in 39 innings of work while allowing 39 hits and has given up 34 walks.
Southern Miss saw an emergence of youth over the past weekend as freshman Caroline Walker and sophomore Taylor Brown combined to go 11-of-28 with 14 total bases. Walker leads the team with a .471 batting average and sports the team's lone triple of the season.
In the circle, the Golden Eagles hold a 3.56 ERA and are led by Gabby Luciani (1-2) who struck out a career-high 12 batters against Nicholls State on Saturday.
All of the weekend's games can be followed via the CBS Sports Gametracker and the Indiana game will be broadcast through the Indiana University radio crew led by Nathan Weichers.
