The Sam Houston State University softball program hopes to pick up a series win this weekend as they host the Texas A&M- Corpus Christi Islanders in a double-header on April 14 and a single game on Saturday.
The Bearkats enter the series ranked sixth in the league with a Southland Conference record of 7-8 and overall record of 16-20.
“Overall, I feel the season is going pretty well,” head coach Bob Brock said. “We’ve been up and down since we are in a little area where our offense is a little off, but we have been playing some really good ball.”
SHSU holds a team batting average of .275, which includes 18 runs and 11 RBIs. Freshmen infielder Megan Crosby leads all freshmen in the SLC in homeruns with five, while senior third baseman Tori Koerselman is ranked among the top five in the league with a batting average of .342. Koerselman is also one of nine leadoff hitters in the country to have less than eight strikeouts this season.
Senior Taylor Atkinson and sophomore Lindsey McLeod have both been consistent in the circle. Atkinson is ranked seventh in the SLC with an ERA of 2.61, her strongest as a Bearkat, while McLeod is holding opponents to .197 batting average and 68 strikeouts.
As for the Islanders, they currently boast an overall record of 6-26 with a 1-11 record in conference play. TAMUCC is hitting a .197 as a team at the plate. The Islanders picked up their last victory ion March 25 in the finale of a three game series against the Northwestern State Demons, winning by a final score of 5-4.
Following the victory over NWSU, TAMUCC lost its next six games and is entering the weekend series against SHSU with the losing streak on its shoulders.
The Bearkats hold a 22-14 all time record over the Islanders, and Brock believes if the team can improve their offense, they should have no problem defeating the Islanders.
“We’ve been working on that [offense] all week, last week and the week before,” Brock said. “We hope to rectify that this weekend and are looking forward to Corpus Christi.”
The Bearkat will play two games against the Islanders on April 14 with the first game starting at 3 p.m. and the second set for 5 p.m. The two teams will wrap up the series on Saturday with a single game starting at 5 p.m.
The games will be held at the Bearkat Softball Complex and the doubleheader can be viewed on ESPN3 as well as WatchESPN.