CLEVELAND, Mississippi – Following the tradition of food, fun, and sports, the Delta State softball team will host Shorter University for a three-game Gulf South Conference series at University Field during Go Green Weekend. The Lady Statesmen and Lady Hawks will kick off the series with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 8, at 2 p.m. and conclude the series with a single game on Sunday, April 9, at 1 p.m.
 
All future Statesmen club members get free admission to the games. Before the start of Saturday's doubleheader, all children 12 and under can line up with the Lady Statesmen for the playing of the National Anthem. Saturday, the Lady Statesmen and Lady Hawks will participate in a national breast cancer awareness day by wearing special breast cancer awareness jerseys during the game. At the end of Sunday's game, kids can run the bases, and there will be an Easter Egg Hunt at Parker Field-McCool Stadium for Children 12 and Under following the conclusion of the Statesmen baseball game on Sunday, April 9. This weekend will also be Walks-for-Wishes, and fans can make a pledge to the Make-A-Wish foundation by texting WISH to 50555.
 

LADY STATESMEN SOFTBALL GAME DAY INFO

DATE | OPPONENT | TIME	April 8, 2017 | SU | 2:00 p.m. (DH) April 9, 2017 | SU | 1:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS LIVE AUDIO	Click Here Listen Here
GAME NOTES	DSU v. SU
SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES	@DeltaStateSB

 
INSIDE THE SERIES: PREVIEWING THE FIRST PITCH

• The Lady Statesmen enter the series after sweeping Christian Brothers in Memphis, Tenn., for their second Gulf South Conference series win and sweep of the season. 
• The Lady Statesmen are currently .272 with 244 hits, 33 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs, and 128 RBIs.
• Shorter is currently 21-18 and 10-11 in GSC play.
• The Lady Hawks are batting .296. Shorter's 332 hits on the season rank third in the GSC and its 188 RBIs are sixth most in the league. The Lady Hawk's pitching staff has combined for a 3.30 ERA, fifth lowest in the conference, but has given up 280 hits and 128 earned runs (sixth most in the league).  
• Last season the Lady Hawks finished with a 30-22 overall record and 20-13 record in GSC play.
• In 2016, Delta State took two-of-three from Shorter in Rome, Ga. The Lady Statesmen split the doubleheader, but earned the series win with a 9-6 victory in the finale. The nine runs the Lady Hawks allowed in game three were the most of any game last season. The 18 hits DSU pounded in game three were the second-highest of the season.
• Shorter holds an 8-5 edge in the last 13 meetings with DSU.
• To show solidarity with Missy Frost, head coach of the University of Indianapolis softball team, and all women diagnosed with breast cancer, DSU and SU will be wearing special breast cancer awareness jerseys as part of a national breast cancer awareness day on April 8.
• This weekend is also Make-A-Wish weekend, and Delta State softball will be participating in Walks-for-Wishes. Fans can pledge a donation for any time a Lady Statesman earns a walk, or text WISH to 50555 to make a $5 donation to Make-A-Wish.     

 
QUICK HITS

• The Lady Statesmen are currently riding a three-game winning streak.
• Delta State recorded a season-high 15 hits against Christian Brothers on Sunday, April 2.
• Freshman Mari Alex Sandridge earned GSC Freshman of the Week after driving in a career-high five RBIs and striking out a career-high nine batters at CBU.
• Senior Madison Zoeller has reached base safely in the past seven contests, while freshman Olivia Dick enters the series on a four-game hitting streak.
• Freshman pitcher Bailie Springfield struck out a career-high five batters in DSU's 13-2 victory over CBU to jump start the series.
• Sophomore Jordan Jones swiped her 13^th bag of the season to take the team lead.    

 
IN THE CIRCLE
 
The Lady Statesmen pitching staff has combined for a 3.35 ERA—sixth lowest in the league—and holds opponents to .260 batting average, which ranks fifth in the conference. Delta State has struck out 115 batters, and the 227 hits the Lady Statesmen pitching staff have sacrificed are fourth lowest in the GSC. Freshman LHP Mari Alex Sandridge leads the team in batters struck out with 42. She boasts a 1.88 ERA—the fifth lowest in the GSC. The 24 runs Sandridge has allowed are the second lowest in the GSC, while the 48 hits Sandridge has given up are sixth lowest in the GSC.
 
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 12-3 when out-hitting opponents. The Lady Statesmen have scored a combined 143 runs so far this season, 91 of which came within the first four innings. Delta State pounded a season-high 15 hits in the 8-2 win against Christian Brothers. The 13 runs in DSU's win in game one of the series against Christian Brothers tied the third most runs scored in a game this season. Delta State's season-high 16 runs scored against Union ranks fourth in conference-only games, and Jordan Jones Mari Alex Sandridge, Madison Zoeller, Carah Nunez, and Kara Lane Nowell each recorded multi-RBI games this past weekend.  
 
DOUBLE TROUBLE
 
The Lady Statesmen have tallied 33 doubles. Sophomore Jordan Jones leads the team in doubles with 11 and is tied for third in the GSC in doubles. She is only 12 away from tying the Delta State season record.
 
WALK THIS WAY
 
Delta State has drawn 82 walks this season (50 in conference-only games). The Lady Statesmen drew eight walks against Union earlier this season—tying the season and high—which is the eighth 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 fifth lowest ERA of the conference and holds opponents to a .218 batting average—fifth lowest in the GSC. At the plate, she leads the team in home runs (four), runs scored (20) and is second in batting average (.367).   
 
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 a game-high three hits against Christian Brothers and was the only Lady Statesman to record a multi-hit game during each game of the three-game series at CBU. She is currently third in the team in batting average (.325).
 
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 20 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, 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
The Lady Statesmen will travel to the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Fla., for a three-game GSC series beginning with a doubleheader on Friday, April 14, at 4 p.m. and concluding with a single game on Saturday, April 15, at 12 p.m.