University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Softball Set for Pair of Midweek Games
3/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss softball team returns to the diamond for a pair of midweek contests. The week begins at home as the Golden Eagles play host to McNeese State on Tuesday, March 29 at the Southern Miss Softball Complex. Following the game with the Cowgirls, the Black and Gold travel to Itta Bena, Miss. on Wednesday for a single game with Mississippi Valley State. First pitch against McNeese State is slated for 6:00 p.m., while the game with MVSU is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
Live stats and in-game tweets (@SouthernMissSB) will be available throughout the two games. In addition, Tuesday's game will be broadcast on southernmiss.com/allaccess with Drew Granger handling the play-by-play.
Southern Miss enters the week with a 16-18 overall record. The Golden Eagles are 7-7 overall and 9-11 away from Hattiesburg. In true road games, the Black and Gold is 2-5.
McNeese State is 22-6 overall, including a 19-6 mark away from Lake Charles and a 9-4 record in true road games. Mississippi Valley State is 6-19 overall record with a 1-3 mark in home games.
The Golden Eagles holds a 24-8 overall series record against the Cowgirls. The two teams met earlier this season in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic in Gulfport, Miss. McNeese State posted a 7-4 win in the game. The Cowgirls have won the last two games in the series, but the Golden Eagles have won 20 of the last 25 games overall dating back to 1999.
The Black and Gold and Devilettes have met eight times on the softball diamond with the Golden Eagles holding a 6-2 advantage in the series. Southern Miss is 4-1 against Mississippi Valley State all-time in Hattiesburg and 2-1 against the Devilettes in neutral site games. The two teams have never met in Itta Bena.
Southern Miss enters the week after a three-game Conference USA series with nationally-ranked Florida Atlantic. The Golden Eagles finished the weekend 1-2 overall, notching an upset victory over the No. 23 Owls, marking the first win against a ranked opponent on the road for Southern Miss since 2013
In the games, Tori Dew led the team, batting .500 on the week, going 4-for-8 with two doubles and a walk. She hit safely in all three games against No. 23 Florida Atlantic, including a two-hit performance in the series opener. Dew was the only player on team to hit safely and reach base safely in all three games. She had doubles in the final two games of the series with a walk in the series finale.
In the circle, Samantha Robles earned the upset victory over No. 23 Florida Atlantic. She tossed a complete game 7.0 innings, while using just 81 pitches in the game. Robles surrendered just two runs on six hits and did not walk, while striking out three batters. She did not allow a run for the first six innings of the game, while notching a pair of 1-2-3 innings and facing just six batters over the minimum.
