CLEVELAND, Mississippi – Just one game out of earning the final spot to the 2017 GSC Softball Tournament, the Delta State softball team will travel to Pensacola, Fla., to take on the University of West Florida Argonauts for what may be their toughest GSC road series yet. The Lady Statesmen and Argonauts will play a doubleheader on Friday, April 14, at 4 p.m. and conclude the series with a single game on Saturday, April 15 at noon.  
 

LADY STATESMEN SOFTBALL GAME DAY INFO

DATE | OPPONENT | TIME	April 14, 2017 | UWF | 4:00 p.m. (DH) April 15, 2017 | UWF | 12:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS LIVE VIDEO LIVE AUDIO	Click Here Watch Here Listen Here
GAME NOTES	DSU@UWF
SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES	@DeltaStateSB

 
 
INSIDE THE SERIES: PREVIEWING THE FIRST PITCH

• The Lady Statesmen enter the series coming off their third Gulf South Conference series win of the season after taking 2-of-3 from Shorter University.
• The Lady Statesmen are currently batting .271 with 262 hits, 35 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs, and 137 RBIs.
• West Florida enter the series on a two-game losing streak. The Argos dropped both contests to Auburn Montgomery on Tuesday, April 11, which snapped a 23-game winning streak.
• UWF is currently first in GSC standings. The Argos rank second in the league in batting average (.329), runs (266), hits (384) and RBIs (231). UWF's pitching staff has combined for a 4.95 ERA, second highest in the conference, but has given up the fewest hits among all 12 schools (224).
• In 2016, UWF swept Delta State taking all three games in Cleveland, Miss. The Argonauts shut out the Lady Statesmen 9-0 in five innings during game one, 2-0 in game two, and won game three 6-1. The Argonauts held Delta State to just 12 hits during the series. Kara Lane Nowell, Madison Zoeller, Jordan Jones and Abi Gibson each recorded hits, while Gibson scored Delta State's only run of the series. Pitchers Taylor Johnson and Taylor Tucker both saw action in the circle.

 
QUICK HITS

• The Lady Statesmen are currently riding a two-game winning streak.
• Delta State hit a season-high four home runs against Shorter on April 9. The Lady Statesmen are 7-5 when homering. DSU has homered in every GSC series, except for three.
• DSU's 21 total bases in game three against Shorter tied the season high.
• Mari Alex Sandridge has reached base safely in the past eight contests. She leads the team in home runs (six), batting average (.357), RBIs (22), on base percentage (.427) and runs scored (22).
• DSU is currently ninth in GSC standings—one game out of an eighth place berth to the 2017 GSC Softball Tournament.

IN THE CIRCLE
 
The Lady Statesmen pitching staff has combined for a 3.36 ERA—seventh lowest in the league—and holds opponents to .257 batting average, which ranks fourth in the conference. Delta State has struck out 120 batters, and the 242 hits the Lady Statesmen pitching staff have sacrificed are third lowest in the GSC. Freshman LHP Mari Alex Sandridge leads the team in batters struck out with 42. She boasts a 2.05 ERA—the fifth lowest in the GSC. The 24 runs Sandridge has allowed are the fourth lowest in the GSC, while the 50 hits Sandridge has given up are fifth lowest in the GSC.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
 
The Lady Statesmen are set for their fifth 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 6-9 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 11-3 when scoring the first run of the game and 8-3 when scoring in the first inning. Delta State is 13-3 when out-hitting opponents. The Lady Statesmen have scored a combined 153 runs so far this season, 94 of which came within the first four innings. Delta State pounded a season-high 15 hits in their 8-2 win against Christian Brothers on April 2. Delta State's season-high 16 runs scored against Union ranks fourth in the league in conference-only games.
 
BOMBS AWAY
 
The Lady Statesmen belted a season-high four runs en route a 6-3 comeback win against Shorter on April 9. In GSC standings, Delta State's four home runs in game three of the series against Shorter rank seventh overall and third in conference-only games. DSU's 16 home runs this season tie the fifth most the Lady Statesmen have recorded within the past five seasons.
 
WALK THIS WAY
 
Delta State has drawn 91 walks this season (59 in conference-only games, which ranks sixth among GSC schools). The Lady Statesmen drew eight walks against Union earlier this season—tying the season high—which is the ninth most in a conference game this season. Kara Lane Nowell leads the team in walks with 11.
 
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. She recorded a career-high five strikeouts in Delta State's 13-2 victory over CBU on April 1. 
 
Sandridge leads the pitching staff in shutout victories and strikeouts. On April 2, she struck out a career-high nine batters in Delta State's 3-1 win against Christian Brothers and earned her first career save in game three of the series. She has the sixth lowest ERA of the conference and holds opponents to a .221 batting average—sixth lowest in the GSC. At the plate, she leads the team in home runs (six), batting average (.357), RBIs (22), on base percentage (.427) and runs scored (22).
 
Dick, Newsom, Vice, and Patin 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. Dick recorded her first career home run and multi-RBI game with a two-run home run in Delta State's 6-3 win against Shorter on April 9.
 
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). 
 
DSU UNDER CHARLES
 
Head coach Casey Bourgoyne-Charles is only 18 games away from her 250th career win. Last season, she eclipsed most wins in a season with 34. Under Charles, the Lady Statesmen are 104-80 at University Field, 68-99 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 nine newcomers. The Lady Statesmen also return 10 letterwinners from last year's squad. 
 
UP NEXT
DSU will host Valdosta State University on April 22-23 for the final home series of the season with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 22, and a single game at noon on Sunday. Prior to the start of Saturday's doubleheader, DSU will honor six seniors on the squad during Senior Day festivities.