BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The WKU softball team travels to face Louisiana-Lafayette this weekend in a Sun Belt Conference showdown in Lafayette, La. The Lady Toppers, who are 15-5 overall this season and a perfect 3-0 in the Sun Belt, are looking to extend their two-game winning streak. WKU sweep Austin Peay this past Wednesday in their first home games of the 2009 season 8-0 and 4-0. First pitch is slated for Saturday at 1 p.m. CST.
Noting the Lady Toppers
The Lady Toppers head to Lafayette, La. this weekend to take on defending SBC champions, ULL, in their second SBC series of the season. In thier first SBC series, WKU swept Florida International in three games in Miami and are undefeated in league play.
WKU is batting .296 as a team this season after scoring 100 runs off 162 hits. The Lady Toppers have hit the ball hard all season and have already collected 32 doubles, 13 homeruns and three triples in just 20 games. The Lady Toppers are dominating their opponents at the plate as their opponents are only hitting .216 with 48 runs and 109 hits.
Senior Rebecca Horesky and juniors Lindsay Antone and Ashley Contreras posted big numbers against Austin Peay and led the team to a doubleheader sweep over the Governers. Horesky finished the night with a .500 batting average after recording three hits, two doubles, and one RBI. Antone posted two homeruns in the two games while also recording four RBIs. Contreras collected three hits including a double and a three-run homerun.
Senior pitcher, Ryan Rogge, recorded the second no-hitter of her carrer in game one against Austin Peay, and just the fourth no-hitter in school history. Rogge’s last no-hitter came on April 30, 2006 when she shut out #13 ULL 8-0.
This will be the seventh weekend in a row that the Lady Toppers will travel for a weekend series. WKU, who opened up the season in Hattiesburg, Miss., has already played in Auburn, Ala., Stanford, Calif., Miami, Fla., Atlanta, Ga. and Rock Hill, S.C. Following the series with ULL, WKU will head to Troy, Ala. for their last road series before returning home to host ULM at the WKU softball field.
The Lady Toppers are currently third in the SBC in batting average. WKU is right behind Louisiana-Lafayette, who is first in the league, and Troy. In pitching, WKU is also ranked third with an ERA of 2.08.
Two Lady Toppers have been honored this season by the Sun Belt Conference by being named the league’s Players of the Week. Junior Lindsay Antone was the first Lady Topper honored in the second week of the season as the Player of the Week while senior Ryan Rogge was honored in the fourth week as the Pitcher of the Week.
Six high school athletes have committed to play softball on the Hill next season. The six athletes hail from six different states and will begin their careers next season.
Karavin Dew - Calhoun, Ga.
Ciara Garcia - Harvest, Ala.
Katrina Metoyer - Los Alamitos, Calif.
Mallorie Sulaski - Lakewood, Colo.
Shelby Taylor - Louisville, Ky.
Kimberly Wagner - D’Iberville, La.
Prior to the 2009 season, two WKU Lady Toppers were selected to the Preseason All-Sun Belt team. Senior Rebecca Horesky was named to the team at third base while junior Lindsay Antone was selected at second base.
WKU was picked by the league’s head coaches to finish seventh this season in the Sun Belt Conference. The Lady Toppers, who received 33 votes in the poll were right behind sixth place, Middle Tennessee, who collected 34 points in the poll. Defending Sun Belt champs, Louisiana-Lafayette, were picked to win the Sun Belt for the second consecutive season.
The Lady Toppers won their season opener for the fifth time in school history defeating Central Arkansas 9-0. The win was the first shut-out season opening win for WKU since the program began in 2000.
