University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Softball Travels to Jackson State for Midweek Doubleheader
3/6/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 6, 2012
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Following their trip to the Fullerton-DeMarini Invitational last weekend, the Southern Miss softball team (5-9) will travel to Jackson on Wednesday to take on Jackson State for a midweek doubleheader set to begin at 4 p.m., at the JSU Softball Complex.
In California, the Golden Eagles turned in a 1-4 overall record with a 4-1 victory over Big 10 foe Indiana but fell in extra innings to Michigan State and a tight affair with host Cal State Fullerton.
Senior leadoff hitter Stephanie Shiflet turned in one of the top performances at the event, finishing with the fourth-best batting average (.538) after going 7-for-13 at the plate with three runs scored, a double and a walk.
In the circle, the Golden Eagles finished with the fifth-best ERA among the 10 teams in attendance with a 4.06 average. In 31 innings, Southern Miss pitchers gave up just 14 runs to 26 strikeouts. Pitcher Courtney Ramos also had one of the most impressive outings in her Golden Eagle career with a 0.96 ERA in her two appearances, the fourth-best earned run average off all pitchers in Fullerton.
The Golden Eagles will look to build on their progress this week as they travel to take on the Tigers of JSU. Jackson State (8-9) currently sports a .291 team batting average and is led by junior outfielder Tayler Nave (.426) who has 23 hits and four homeruns already this season.
The Tigers are also an aggressive team on the base paths, having successfully stolen 46 bases in 58 attempts. Nave is 16-for-22 on that category to go along with her hitting ability.
As a staff, the JSU pitchers have combined for a 4.58 ERA to Southern Miss' 3.50 and are led by Breea Jamerson who is 5-3 in 10 starts this year.
Southern Miss is 14-2 all-time against Jackson State including a two-game split last season at home.
Wednesday's doubleheader will be the sixth and seventh games of a ten-game roadtrip for the Golden Eagles, capped off by this weekend's Conference USA opener in El Paso, Texas against UTEP.
