CLEVELAND, Mississippi – The Delta State softball team will host the defending national champions, the University of North Alabama, for its third home Gulf South Conference Series of the season beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 25, at 2 p.m. and concluding with a single game on Sunday, March 26, at 2 p.m. This weekend is dollar hot dog weekend, and children 12 and under can line up with the team for the playing of the national anthem before the start of Saturday's 2 p.m. game.
 

LADY STATESMEN SOFTBALL GAME DAY INFO

DATE | OPPONENT | TIME	March 25, 2017 | UNA | 2:00 p.m. (DH) March 26, 2017 | UNA | 1:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS LIVE AUDIO	Click Here Listen Here
GAME NOTES	DSU v. UNA
SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES	@DeltaStateSB

 
INSIDE THE SERIES: PREVIEWING THE FIRST PITCH

• The Lady Statesmen snapped a three-game losing streak with a 1-0 victory against the University of Arkansas at Monticello on Tuesday, March 21, but fell 4-0 in game two. They enter the series seeking to capture their second GSC series win of the season.
• The Lions enter the series having swept the University of West Alabama for their fourth GSC series win of the season.
• The Lions are currently fifth in the GSC overall standings. UNA is second in the GSC in home runs (28), but seventh in hits (232) and ninth in RBIs (131) and batting average (.300).
• Delta State is currently batting .265 with 197 hits and 103 RBIs in 742 at bats.
• UNA finished the 2016 season with a 60-7 overall record and as 2016 GSC and NCAA DII National Champions.
• North Alabama holds an 11-3 edge over the last 14 meetings with DSU.
• Last season, the Lions swept the Lady Statesmen in Florence, Ala., and handed the Lady Statesmen their first loss of the 2016 GSC tournament. 

 
QUICK HITS

• The Lady Statesmen are 4-1 when leading in the first inning and 5-3 in one-run games.
• The 1-0 win in game one at UAM marks the fourth shutout of the season for DSU.
• Bailie Springfield earned her first career shutout with the win in game one at Arkansas Monticello. The two hits she allowed in game one were the second-fewest she's allowed in a start. She is sixth in the Gulf South Conference in lowest ERA, boasting a 2.07 ERA and holds opponents to a .199 batting average—the lowest in the league.
• Kara Lane Nowell drew her 10^th walk at UAM and takes the team lead in walks.
• Jordan Jones recorded her fourth multi-RBI game of the season at UAH to tie Madison Zoeller for the lead in multi-RBI games.

 
 
 
IN THE CIRCLE
 
The Lady Statesmen pitching staff has combined for a 3.35 ERA—sixth lowest in the league—and holds opponents to .252 batting average, which ranks fifth in the conference. Delta State has struck out 93 batters, and the 180 hits the Lady Statesmen pitching staff have sacrificed are fifth lowest in the GSC. Freshman LHP Mari Alex Sandridge leads the team in batters struck out with 29. She boasts a 1.66 ERA—the fourth lowest in the GSC. Freshman RHP Bailie Springfield holds opponents to a .199 batting average, the lowest in the GSC and boast a 2.07 ERA—the sixth lowest in the conference.
 
EARLY AND OFTEN

The Lady Statesmen are 9-2 when scoring the first run of the game and 6-2 when scoring in the first inning. Delta State has scored a combined 116 runs so far this season, 78 of which came within the first four innings.
 
DOUBLE TROUBLE
 
The Lady Statesmen have tallied 29 doubles. Sophomore Jordan Jones leads the team in doubles with 10 and is tied for second in the GSC in doubles. She is only 13 away from tying the Delta State season record.
 
WALK THIS WAY
 
Delta State has drawn 65 walks this season. The Lady Statesmen drew eight walks against Union—the fifth most in a conference game this season. Kara Lane Nowell leads the team in walks with 10.
 
WE'RE ONLY FRESHMEN
 
The 2017 DSU roster includes eight incoming freshmen (P/OF Mari Alex Sandridge, INF Hannah Salmon, INF Colben Patin, INF Shelby Newsom, C Carlie Vice, INF Miranda Smith, INF/P Bailie Springfield and OF Olivia Dick).
 
In her first start in the circle, Springfield led the Lady Statesmen to their first win over a nationally ranked opponent this season on Friday, Feb. 10, when Delta State defeated No. 16 the University of Indianapolis 3-1 at the Montevallo Falcon Frenzy Tournament. The freshman right-handed pitcher from Mantee, Miss., pitched the entire seven innings, sacrificing only one run on one hit. On Tuesday, March 21, Springfield earned her first career shutout, sacrificing only two hits in Delta State's 1-0 victory at Arkansas-Monticello.
 
Sandridge pitched the 7-0 shutout against Tuskegee on Feb. 11, tying junior LHP Taylor Johnson for the team lead in strikeouts per game with eight and the 4-0 shutout against Union on March 4. She has the fourth lowest ERA of the conference and holds opponents to a .207 batting average.
 
Dick, Newsom, and Vice have each collected hits and their first RBIs as Lady Statesmen. On March 12, Newsom recorded her first career home run in Delta State's 6-3 loss to West Georgia.
 
WHERE THEY'RE FROM
 
The 2017 Delta State softball team features 19 players from six different states. Thirteen players are Mississippi natives. Two players call Louisiana their home, while four states are home to one player (Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee). 
 
CHASING 250
 
Head coach Casey Bourgoyne-Charles is only 23 games away from her 250th career win. Last season, she eclipsed most wins in a season with 34. Under Charles, the Lady Statesmen are 102-76 at University Field, 65-99 on the road, and 60-66 at neutral sites.
 
DELTA STATE PICKED TO FINISH FIFTH IN GSC
 
For the first time since 2011, the Delta State University softball team has been picked to finish in the top five of the Gulf South Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. 
 
Jumping one spot from last year, the Lady Statesmen were picked to finish fifth in the conference with 72 points.
 
Defending GSC and national champion, the University of North Alabama was picked unanimously to finish first with 121 points. Alabama Huntsville was picked second with 105 points, followed by Valdosta State (98) and West Florida (92). 
 
Delta State received three fourth place votes, five fifth place votes, one sixth place vote, one seventh place vote and one 10th place vote. Mississippi College (68 points), Shorter (64), West Georgia (54), Lee (51), West Alabama (32), Union (21) and Christian Brothers (14) rounded out the poll.
 
The GSC Preseason Coaches' Poll is voted on by League's head coaches.
 
TWO LADY STATESMEN TAPPED 2017 GSC TOP NEWCOMERS
 
Freshmen Olivia Dick and Mari Alex Sandridge were named to the GSC 2017 Top Newcomers list.
 
Dick is an outfielder from Brandon, Miss. She played at Northwest Rankin High School under the direction of Britt Bennett and Taylor Hughes. She was named The Clarion-Ledger 's Best of MS Preps in 2015. She holds the season record for most hits (54) and stolen bases (51).
 
Sandridge is a pitcher/outfielder from Hernando, Miss. She lettered in softball and basketball at Magnolia Heights High School.
 
Dick and Sandridge highlight Delta State's 10 newcomers. The Lady Statesmen also return 12 letterwinners from last year's squad. 
 
UP NEXT
DSU travels to Memphis, Tenn., for a three-game Gulf South Conference weekend series against Christian Brothers University. The Lady Statesmen and Lady Bucs will play a doubleheader on Saturday, April 1, at 2 p.m. and conclude the series with a single game on Sunday, April 2, at 2 p.m.