CLEVELAND, Mississippi -- After a 2-2 start to its 2016 season at the PBC-GSC Southern Softball Showdown, the Delta State University softball team is scheduled to play six contests at the Southern Arkansas Tournament from Friday, Feb. 5 - Sunday Feb.7.


LADY STATESMEN SOFTBALL GAMEDAY INFO
 

DATE | OPPONENT | TIME	Feb. 5 | Lincoln (Mo.) | 10 a.m. Feb. 5 | Southwest Baptist (Mo.) | Noon Feb. 6 | Newman (Kan.) | 10 a.m. Feb. 6 | Rogers State (Okla.) | Noon Feb. 7 | Texas Woman's | Noon Feb. 7 | Cameron (Okla.) | 2 p.m.
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QUICK HITS
• DSU returns nine letterwinners from last year's squad, including four starters (2015 average, HR, RBI) OF Kassidy Tally (.388, 0, 19), C Kara Lane Nowell (.217, 0, 12) OF Kaitlin Moore (.350, 4, 31 and 3B Kory Watterson (.308, 5, 31).
 
• The Lady Statesmen bring back three contributors from their 2015 pitching rotation (2015 record, ERA): Katie Justice (3-4, 5.22), Taylor Tucker (4-5, 4.67) and Taylor Johnson (9-6, 4.76) return from the    2015 team.
 
• The DSU roster includes four incoming freshmen ( C Chelsea Lamping, INF Abi Gibson, OF Jordan Jones and INF Morgan Kazerooni) and three transfers (OF Pepper Baker, INF Carah Nunez and INF Kristen Mitchell).
 
• The Green-and-White bring back 45 percent of their 2015 hits (187-414) and 44 (16) percent of their pitching wins.
 
•  DSU is scheduled to open the season with 10 neutral-site contests before conference play begins on Feb. 13.
 
• The Lady Statesmen were 6-5 in neutral-site affairs in 2015.
 
 
SETTING THE STAGE: SOUTHERN ARKANSAS TOURNAMENT
 
• DSU is scheduled to face teams from the MIAA, Heartland Conference and Lone Star Conferences.
 
• Lincoln and Southwest Baptist will both open their 2016 campaign against DSU.

•DSU is one of just three teams appearing at the SAU Tournament that have opened the 2016 season. Texas Woman's went 1-4 at the Florida Tech Marriott Kickoff Classic, and Cameron took a doubleheader from Texas-Permain Basin on Wednesday, Feb. 3.

• Texas Woman's and Cameron are the two teams DSU is scheduled to face that recorded a winning record in 2015. Texas Woman's finished 28-22-2, while Cameron finished 41-18 and made an appearance in a regional tournament final in school history.
 
• Cameron returns six starters from its team that finished 2015 ranked third in the NCAA with in batting average (.352) home runs (96) and 7.14 runs per game.
 
SPEED KILLS
On March 17, 2015 Kassidy Tally slid into the GSC record book as she broke the career stolen bases record (135) of former Lady Statesman Alyse Hasty. Tally, who is currently the active NCAA leader with 166 swipes, also holds the GSC single-season record with 74 in 2014. The Raleigh, Miss., native is tied for first in GSC history and second in NCAA Division II history with 67 consecutive steals without being caught.
 
WE WANT SOME MOORE
During her three year career, Kaitlin Moore has made her mark on the DSU record book. Moore is currently tied for third with a .358 career batting average, which ranks third in DSU history. Moore ranks second in doubles (49), sixth in RBIs (121) and seventh in hits (198).
 
WE WERE MERELY FRESHMEN
Three DSU freshmen (Abi Gibson, Jordan Jones and Morgan Kazerooni) accounted for 14 of DSU's 30 hits at the PBC-GSC Southern Softball Showdown. Kazerooni and Gibson each finshed the four game stretch with a .417 batting average (5-for-12). Gibson had a double and two RBIs. Jones was 4-of-15 (.267) with a pair of runs driven in, while Kazerroni was named GSC Freshman of the Week after she had a double, a home run, three walks and three RBIs.
 
DOWN GO THE CHAMPIONS
With their 3-2 victory on Jan. 30 over No. 1 North Georgia, theLady Statesmen defeated the top ranked team for the first time since a 1-0 victory over Valdosta State on April 22, 2012. The loss ended
a GSC record 38 game win streak, and was the 100th career win for head coach Casey Charles.
 
DSU UNDER CHARLES
DSU is 183-206 since Casey Charles took over at the helm. The former Lady Statesman is 82-65 at University Field, 52-84 on the road and 49-58 at neutral sites.
 
WHERE THEY'RE FROM
The 2016 Lady Statesmen team features 18 players who hail from six different states. Eleven Lady Statesmen are Mississippi natives. Four players call Alabama or Louisiana home, while three states (Georgia, Tennessee and Texas) are home to one player.
 
WALK THIS WAY
The Lady Statesmen finished second in the GSC with 164 walks in 2015, a number which helped DSU to a second place league ranking with a .390 on base percentage. DSU drew 21 walks at the four game PBC-GSCSouthern Softball Showdown. It took the Lady Statesmen six games to draw over 20 walks in 2015.
 
LADY STATESMEN TABBED SIXTH
For the second straight season, the Delta State University softball team was picked to finish sixth in the Gulf South Conference preseason poll. For the second straight year, Valdosta State (92 points) and Alabama Huntsville (87) were picked first and second. 2015 GSC Champion and NCAA Semifinalist Shorter (86) was picked to finish third. North Alabama (80) received the final first place vote.
Lee (65), in its first year as a full member of the GSC, the coaches selected to finish fifth. The Lady Statesmen had three fifth place votes, four sixth place votes and three seventh place votes. Union (39),
West Alabama (38), West Florida (33 points), West Georgia (24) and Christian Brothers (11) rounded out the poll.