MONROE, La. – The ULM softball team opens a five-game homestand with a Sun Belt Conference series this weekend vs. the league's No. 2 team in South Alabama. The Warhawks and Jaguars play three games Friday-Sunday, April 22-24, at the ULM Softball Complex. First pitch for the series opener on Friday is 6 p.m. CT. Saturday's game starts at 1 p.m. CT and Sunday's finale is set for noon CT.
ULM (23-17, 9-9) returns to Sun Belt play after a 2-1 loss at the SEC's Mississippi State Tuesday night. The Bulldogs needed a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh for the win. Mississippi State is a common opponent for the Warhawks and Jaguars as USA lost to the Bulldogs 5-0 in late February.
"We are playing an NCAA Regional opponent this weekend because South Alabama received an at-large bid last year and they are a great program with some really good wins," said ULM softball head coach
Molly Fichtner. "They have had a tough schedule and I don't think their record shows how good they really are. They are coached well by a great coach who has been in the game a long time. They have a pretty good pitching staff and they have a little bit of everything offensively, some speed, some power. It's going to be a game of inches and we're going to have to have a sense of urgency in all aspects of the game against a team like this."
The Warhawks are averaging 4.6 runs per game in Sun Belt Conference play while the Jaguars are at 5.0 runs per game. ULM lost two games to the Jaguars last season in a doubleheader after the first contest was canceled due to inclement weather. ULM won the series in 2019, scoring a combined 28 runs in the game-one and game-three victories. The two teams did not meet during the shortened 2020 season.
South Alabama (17-17, 9-4) heads into the weekend series after topping Nicholls 12-2 in a five-inning run-rule win in Mobile, Ala., Wednesday night. Senior outfielder Caroline Nichols went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and senior Kamdyn Kvistad drove in three runs, scored three runs, had two hits, including a solo home run, and drew two walks. Junior outfielder Makenzie Brasher went 2-for-3, scored two runs and added an RBI.
South Alabama was swept by the Ragin' Cajuns last weekend in its last Sun Belt action and five of the Jaguars' conference contests have been canceled this year. Despite fewer games, USA is still well represented well on the individual stat lists. Brasher is third in the Sun Belt with a .447 batting average while Nichols (.350) and Janaeh Finney (.333) rank 17th and 25th, respectively, in the individual league standings. The Jaguars' team ERA is 2.18 in league-only games, second behind the Ragin' Cajuns at 2.00.
Allie Hughen picked up the win for the Jaguars vs. Nicholls with two earned runs on only three hits in four innings. Hardy pitched the final inning and struck out two batters.
Jenna Hardy has the Sun Belt's best ERA in league games at 1.20 and Olivia Lackie is eighth on that chart at 2.09. Lackie has 81 strikeouts in conference competition, good for third on that list. She has allowed only 29 hits while teammate Jenna Hardy has given up 25 for fifth and holds the top spot for runs allowed with five.
In league games, ULM is third behind the Ragin' Cajuns (.371) and Troy (.259) with a .258 batting average. South Alabama is in fourth at .257. Leading the charge for the Warhawks is
Kennedy Johnson who is one of three in the Top-25. Johnson's .407 batting average ranks her seventh with
Jacelyn Buck (.357) at No. 15 and
Alexis Chavez (.339) at No. 22. ULM has three pitchers in the Top-15 with
Adrianna Chavarria (1.91) in seventh,
Victoria Abrams (2.56) in ninth and
Kinsey Kackley (4.20) in 15th.
Live stats for this weekend's series vs. South Alabama will be available on the softball schedule page at
ULMWarhawks.com.
