CLEVELAND, Mississippi – The Delta State softball team will travel to Memphis, Tenn., for a three-game Gulf South Conference series against Christian Brothers University. The Lady Statesmen and Lady Bucs will kick off the series with 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.
LADY STATESMEN SOFTBALL GAME DAY INFO
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME |
April 1, 2017 | CBU | 2:00 p.m. (DH)
April 2, 2017 | CBU | 2:00 p.m. |
LIVE STATS
LIVE AUDIO
LIVE VIDEO |
Click Here
Listen Here
Watch Here |
| GAME NOTES |
DSU@CBU |
| SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES |
@DeltaStateSB |
INSIDE THE SERIES: PREVIEWING THE FIRST PITCH
- The Lady Statesmen look to bounce back after dropping all three contests to the University of North Alabama on March 25-26.
- Delta State holds an 11-2 advantage over the Lady Bucs in the past 13 meetings.
- The Lady Statesmen are currently batting .259 with 211 hits, 30 doubles, nine home runs and 106 RBIs.
- The Lady Bucs are batting .220 with 184 hits, 21 doubles, six triples, four home runs, and 60 RBIs.
- CBU is currently 6-29 overall and 0-18 in the GSC.
- Last season the Lady Bucs finished with a 9-43 overall record and 3-30 record in GSC play.
- In 2016, Delta State swept CBU in Cleveland, Miss. The Lady Statesmen battled through eight innings to earn a walk-off win in game one, and won games two-three in just five innings via the mercy rule.
- Senior Madison Zoeller drove in a career-high five RBIs against CBU last season.
QUICK HITS
- Abi Gibson enters the series riding a five-game hitting streak and on-base streak.
- Olivia Dick recorded her third multi-hit game of the season against UNA on March 26.
- Carah Nunez recorded her sixth RBI of the season against UNA and leads the team in sac flies.
- Jordan Jones swiped her 11th bag of the season to take the team lead.
- Six of the past nine games were decided by one run. The Lady Statesmen are 5-4 in one-run games.
IN THE CIRCLE
The Lady Statesmen pitching staff has combined for a 3.49 ERA—eighth lowest in the league—and holds opponents to .261 batting average, which ranks sixth in the conference. Delta State has struck out 97 batters, and the 209 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 31. She boasts a 2.11 ERA—the seventh lowest in the GSC. The 41 hits Sandridge has given up are third lowest in the GSC.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Lady Statesmen are set for their fourth GSC series road trip of the season. Delta State kicked off the 2017 campaign with 22 contests on the road before playing its first home contest on March 5. The Lady Statesmen are currently 3-9 on the road and 5-5 at neutral contests, but three of Delta State's four shutout victories came on the road.
EARLY AND OFTEN
The Lady Statesmen are 9-3 when scoring the first run of the game and 6-3 when scoring in the first inning. Delta State is 10-3 when out-hitting opponents. The Lady Statesmen have scored a combined 119 runs so far this season, 79 of which came within the first four innings.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Lady Statesmen have tallied 30 doubles. Sophomore
Jordan Jones leads the team in doubles with 11 and is tied for second in the GSC in doubles. She is only 12 away from tying the Delta State season record.
WALK THIS WAY
Delta State has drawn 77 walks this season (45 in conference-only games). The Lady Statesmen drew eight walks against Union earlier this season—tying the season and high—which is the sixth 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.
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 102-79 at University Field, 65-99 on the road, and 60-66 at neutral sites.
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
The Lady Statesmen will host Shorter University for a three-game series over Go Green Weekend beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 8, at 2 p.m. and concluding with a single game on Sunday, April 9, at 1 p.m. at University Field.
