LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Alabama Softball team is set to open up their home schedule this weekend as they play host to the second ranked team in the country in the Auburn Montgomery Warhawks for a colossal three-game GSC series.
Game One is slated for Friday at 2:00 p.m. while Games Two and Three is set for Saturday, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
West Alabama (10-4, 3-0 GSC) is now receiving votes in the Coaches Poll after sweeping No. 15 Mississippi College on the road this past weekend. As for AUM (8-2, 3-0 GSC), they are the No. 2 ranked team in the country and come into the weekend after sweeping No. 9 Trevecca Nazarene last week.
14 games into the season, UWA is atop the GSC statistical leaderboard in the most important pitching category there is, Team ERA. After allowing a combined five runs through their three game series against the Choctaws, West Alabama boasts a 1.47 ERA. Madison Wright and Eleanor De Block are the workhorses for the Tigers and both are off to All-American type starts. In 44.2 innings of work, Wright carries a 1.57 ERA along with 37 strikeouts which both rank top-six within the conference. For De Block, she currently leads the team and sits second in the league with a 1.14 ERA in 43.0 innings of work and enters the weekend after not allowing a single earned run in 10.0 innings this past weekend against MC.
Offensively, All-American Marissa Mitchell leads the charge with a team-high .400 batting average. Mitchell has been a tough out this season, accumulating a .471 on-base percentage and will be atop the Warhawks' scouting report this weekend, bringing an eight-game hitting streak into Game One. Haley Shannon has also been productive in the leadoff spot for UWA, bringing a .361 batting average into the weekend along with a .425 on-base percentage. With Mitchell and Shannon getting on-base at such a high clip, Ann Marie Stanbridge and Taylor Clegg have been the beneficiaries. Stanbridge leads the team and ranks third in the GSC with 14 RBIs while Clegg has brought the power to West Alabama's lineup as the senior leads the team with a .600 slugging percentage.
Auburn Montgomery is a talented team from top to bottom as the Warhawks rank second in the conference with a 1.77 Team ERA and third in hitting with a .336 team batting average.
On the mound, AUM has already shut out four ranked opponents this season, including back-to-back shutouts in Games Two and Three of their series against the Trojans this past weekend. Reese Cauley and Chelisa Newsome are the stars in the circle for Auburn Montgomery as both rank in the top-three in the GSC in ERA. Newsome is the reigning GSC Pitcher of the Week after throwing a no-hitter in 5.0 innings against Trevecca Nazarene, lowering her ERA to a conference-best 1.11. For Cauley, she is the reigning GSC Freshman of the Week and ranks third in the league with a 1.36 ERA.
Offensively for the Warhawks, Lexi Love, Haley Ann Frank, and Chloe Baynes are all batting well over .400. Love leads AUM in all of the major offensive categories, carrying a statline of .469 BA, 1 HR, and 13 RBIs into this weekend's series. Ann Frank is not far behind, hitting .444 on the year with five RBIs while Baynes is batting .433 along with a team-high .541 on-base percentage.
This weekend's series against West Alabama and Auburn Montgomery will be a battle between two of the best teams in Division II Softball. Game One will begin on Friday at 2:00 p.m. while Saturday's double header containing Games Two and Three will start at 1:00 p.m. from the UWA Softball Complex.
