MONROE, La. – The ULM softball team continues its five-game road swing this weekend when it heads to Mobile, Alabama, for a three-game series with Sun Belt Conference foe South Alabama which begins with a 1 p.m. doubleheader against the Jaguars on Saturday, April 24. The series concludes the following day with a 1 p.m. clash against the Jaguars.
The Warhawks, which enter the weekend 13-24 overall and 4-10 in Sun Belt Conference play, are 9-35 when facing South Alabama since the 2007 season when ULM joined the league. The 2008 series win by ULM in Mobile marks the only time since the Warhawks joined the series that they have claimed a road series against South Alabama. That series win came by virtue of a 4-1 win in the second game and a 1-0 victory in the rubber match of the series, both on April 6, 2008.
ULM has earned four of its nine wins since 2008 when making the trip to Mobile with the Jaguars leading the series 15-4 at home. With only three of the road games between the two teams being decided by one run, South Alabama has an average margin of victory of 4.2 runs when hosting the Warhawks. By comparison, ULM's average margin of victory in its four wins in Mobile is 4.5 runs.
The ULM lineup features four players who are hitting .325 or better on the season with at least 10 at bats.
Korie Kreps leads the team with a .342 batting average, followed by
Kennedy Johnson (.330) and
Jayden Mount (.325).
Rylee Lara has totaled just 22 at bats but is hitting .409.
Mount is the highest-ranking slugger on the ULM team in league play, hitting .388 from the plate after going 19-of-49 from the plate in 16 league contests. Kreps is hitting .327 in conference play after going 17-of-52 from the plate in 16 games.
Mount has been a nuisance for opposing Sun Belt Conference pitchers, notching the eighth-best slugging percentage in Sun Belt Conference play, .673, while ranking ninth in on-base percentage, .466. She has the eighth-most hits in the league at 19.
ULM has three pitchers—
Adrianna Chavarria,
Amber Coons and
Gianni Hulett—with at least 30 strikeouts this season and teammate
Kelsey Giddens needs just two strikeouts to become the fourth. Chavarria leads all ULM pitchers in strikeouts with 45, which she has accrued over 54 innings of work. Chavarria has five games with at least four strikeouts this season, including 12 in her last three outings.
Coons, who has notched 17 strikeouts in three of her last four outings, sits just one shy of 40 strikeouts on the slate. Hulett tied Coons for second-most strikeouts (39) after fanning five Troy batters on April 17. Those five strikeouts tied her single-game high this season, which she set against Appalachian State April 11.
South Alabama, which owns the third-best record in league play, is 23-13 overall and 10-5 in Sun Belt Conference action. The Jaguars have won five of their last six outings with the lone setback, 7-4, coming to UT Arlington in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday. The Jaguars won a 4-2 decision over Southern Miss on Tuesday.
Meredith Keel is the top hitter in the South Alabama lineup, hitting .385 on the season after going 40-of-104 from the plate with seven doubles. She is one of four hitters with a .310 batting average or better. Olivia Lackie (14-6) anchors the pitching staff with 29 appearances and 16 starts. She has logged 132 innings, allowed 42 runs (34 earned runs) and converted 179 strikeouts.
