MONROE, La. – ULM's softball team is back on the road on Friday (Mar.2) headed to the volunteer state to face Bradley, Fort Wayne, Memphis, and Missouri – Kansas City in the three-day Blues City Classic tournament hosted by the University of Memphis.
The Warhawks (8-5) are looking to bounce back from a quick 2-0 shutout on Wednesday (Feb.28) against McNeese. The only runs scored in the game came off the bat of Cowgirl, Brenique Wright, who earned a two-run home run in the 3
rd inning to give MSU the lead and eventually the win.
Despite only managing three hits on the night, ULM is still the top-dog at the plate among other Sun Belt teams with a .329 batting average.
Six Warhawks grace the individual batting list, with no other team having more than two players on the list.
At the top for ULM is junior
Sydney McKay, batting an impressive .460 so far this season. The Pearland, Texas native is 23-50 with 13 RBI, when combined with her runs scored, McKay has been responsible for 26 Warhawks runs this year.
Seniors
Hunter Hogan and
Rochelle Roberts both garnered weekly awards after helping their Warhawks to a 4-0 sweep at UCA's softball tournament last weekend. Hogan was awarded Sun Belt Co-Player of the Week while Roberts represented the Sun Belt as College Sports Madness' player of the week.
Scouting the Competition
ULM's first game is scheduled for Friday (Mar.2), when they play the Bradley Braves at 11 a.m. Bradley (4-6) is headed to Memphis after losing three straight at the Citrus Classic in Kissimmee, Fla. Five of Bradley's six losses were to ranked teams: #4 Washington (2), #22 Minnesota, #23 Kentucky, and #24 South Carolina.
The Braves are led by senior Maria Shcroeder (.345) at the plate and sophomore right handed-pitcher Emma Jackson on the mound. Jackson (2-1) has 26 innings pitched under her belt with 13 strikeouts and a 3.72 ERA.
The Hawks will face Fort Wayne Saturday (Mar.3) morning at 11:15 a.m. in the first of two games on the day.
Fort Wayne (6-9) is playing in its fourth consecutive tournament in Memphis. The Mastodons finished 2-3 at the most recent tournament, the Belmont/TSU Winter Warmup in Nashville.
The Mastodons earned a 3-2 win over Tennessee State on day one, and 3-1 over Cleveland State on day two. Sophomore infielder Maria Palmegiani is leading Fort Wayne with a .280 average at the plate. Holding down the defense from the circle is senior pitcher Bailey Benefiel, Benefiel boasts a mere .97 ERA in 50.2 innings pitched, accumulating 38 strike outs.
The Warhawks will face host-team Memphis Saturday afternoon at 3:45 p.m. Memphis (7-5) is hosting its first of two tournaments this weekend after an 11-inning 6-3 loss to Louisiana.
The Tigers leading batter, Baylee Smith is batting .400 through 10 games played. Brooke Lee of Memphis has racked up a .622 slugging percent who has hit her teams only three home runs.
Missouri- Kansas City will be ULM's only Sunday (Mar.4) contest. The Roos are 3-7 overall. They too matched up against South Dakota Sate earlier this year, losing to the Jackrabbits 5-3.
Links to live stats, and additional schedule details can be found at ULMWarhawks.com.
