Bowling Green, Ky. - The Lady Toppers (22-20, 3-9 SBC) continue their road trip to Miami, Fla., this weekend for a Sun Belt Conference series against FIU (23-21, 9-6 SBC).
WKU will open the series with two games Saturday at 3 and 5 p.m., and close-out the series Sunday at 11 a.m. The Lady Toppers will play a mid-week SBC game against Middle Tennessee, Wednesday in Murfreesboro, Tenn., at 6 p.m.
The next home game for the Lady Toppers will be Friday, April 22, when WKU takes on Louisiana-Monroe at the WKU Softball Complex.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Saturday's game will be the 28th road game for the Lady Toppers this season. Familiar with road games, WKU has a record of 3-12 at away games and 11-1 in neutral site games, for an overall record of 14-13 on the road this season. Historically, the Lady Toppers have an overall road record of 191-195 in 11 seasons. Under head coach Tyra Perry the Lady Toppers are 63-56 on the road and 16-18 on the road in April. During the month of April WKU has gone 57-60 on the road. Last season, the Lady Toppers finished with a road record of 17-16.
LAST OUTING: The Lady Topper softball team (22-20, 3-9 SBC) had a five-run inning in the top of the third to take the lead and victory over Tennessee Tech 6-2, Thursday afternoon. The Lady Toppers tallied six runs off eight hits with two doubles. WKU out-hit Tennessee Tech 8-3 striking out four batters. Junior Amanda Walden went two-for-two at the plate with two RBI. Sophomore Karavin Dew went one-for-two with two sacrifice flies for two RBI. Freshman Amanda Thomas had one hit for one run and two RBI. Junior Dana Nathanson opened the game pitching 1.1 innings giving up two runs off two hits. Freshman Brittanie Albright came in and pitched 5.2 innings allowing just one hit striking out three batters and grabbing her first win of the season.
SCOUTING FIU: The Panthers return six starters to their 2011 squad. The team returns two pitchers and 12 letterwinners while welcoming seven newcomers to the team. FIU finished their 2010 season with an overall record of 38-21, going 17-7 in the Sun Belt Conference for second place. This season the Panthers have recorded an overall record of 23-21 with a SBC record of 9-6. The Panthers are 10-7 at the FIU Softball Complex this season and 5-1 against SBC opponents at home. As a team FIU is posting a .268 batting average overall and .286 batting average against conference opponents. In SBC action FIU is out-hitting opponents 116-83. Leading the Panthers in hitting is junior Ashley McClain with a .426 batting average with 27 runs off 58 hits with eight home runs and 36 RBI on the season. FIU's pitching staff has a 2.65 ERA. Junior Jenn Gniadek has pitched a team-high 137.1 innings this season with a 2.75 ERA, for a record of 10-10 while striking out 107 batters.
WKU-FIU REWIND: The Lady Toppers have faced the Panthers 41 times in program history with an overall record of 17-24. WKU is 7-10 at the FIU Softball Complex. The two teams have met seven times in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, defeating the Panthers four times in the tournament. The last time the Lady Toppers traveled to Miami, WKU swept FIU, allowing only four runs in three games.
SUN BELT ACTION: This weekend's contest is the fifth weekend of Sun Belt Conference action for the Lady Toppers and the third on the road. Last weekend the Lady Toppers were on the road against Troy. WKU is 3-9 in SBC action this season and are 30-40 under head coach Tyra Perry in SBC play. Under head coach Tyra Perry the Lady Toppers are 15-26 in SBC away games.
LEADERS OF THE PACK: Sophomore catcher, Karavin Dew, is second in the Sun Belt Conference in triples with four on the season. Dew is tied for second on WKU's all-time season triples record, one triple away from tying first place held by Alana Towns (2005). Dew leads the team in batting for this season with a .351 batting average, 13 runs off 27 hits. Junior Laura Smith is second with a .338 batting average with 12 runs off 27 hits, with 14 RBI. Sophomore Katrina Metoyer is third with a .331 batting average with 20 runs off 39 hits and 16 RBI. Two freshman round-out the top five in batting so far this season, both holding the team-high six home runs on the season. Freshman short stop Amanda Thomas has a .325 batting average with 22 runs off 40 hits for 24 RBI, with six home runs. Second basemen Kelsie Mattox has a .314 batting average with 25 runs off 38 hits with 25 RBI. Mattox tallied a grand slam at the WKU Softball Complex in the 7-2 victory over SIUE March 8. Sophomore Mallorie Sulaski leads pitchers with a 2.22 ERA pitching 113.2 innings, striking out 55 batters. Sulaski is 9-7 in the circle on the season while posting a .252 batting average.
WAGNER RECOGNITION: Lady Topper sophomore Kim Wagner was named 2011 Buzz Classic Most Valuable Player. Wagner finished the tournament starting in all three games for the Lady Toppers pitching in two. She went five-for-nine at the plate with four runs and five RBI's for a .556 batting average. Wagner tallied three home runs over the weekend, with a career-high two home runs in the opening game against Rhode Island.
SUN BELT CONFERENCE PRESEASON HONORS:The Sun Belt Conference handed out their preseason honors, voted on by the league's nine head coaches. Sophomore utility player Mallorie Sulaski earned the honor of being named to the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Team. It is the first preseason honor for Sulaski who finished the 2010 season leading the Lady Toppers with a .340 batting average, hitting three home runs, three triples and four doubles, with a .519 slugging percentage. As a team WKU was picked to finish eighth in the league with 20 points ahead of Middle Tennessee with 16 points. Louisiana-Lafayette, 2010 league champions, were picked to earn the honor again with 80 points and eight first place votes.
NEW SEASON NEW FACES: The Lady Toppers welcome eight newcomers to the 2011 squad. WKU's team is largely made up of sophomore and freshman athletes. The team looks to build for the future with fresh new faces and a new start to a successful season. The Lady Toppers squad consists of three seniors, three juniors, (one of which is a transfer), eights sophomores and eight freshman. The Lady Toppers also welcome new assistant coach Beth Mullins to the team for the 2011 season. Prior to coming to WKU, Mullins was an assistant coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham the previous three seasons where she worked with hitting and infield development, recruiting and scouting. Mullins was a four-year letterwinner (2001-04) during her collegiate playing career. She earned All Conference USA honors and finished her career tied for first on UAB's all-time home run list. After the 2001 season, Mullins was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team after starting 52 of 55 games.
LIVE STATS: To follow the Lady Toppers go to www.WKUsports.com and click on the live stats link on the schedule page.
WEBSTREAMING: Two more Lady Topper Sun Belt Conference home games will be webstreamed this season. The games include; Louisiana-Monroe on April 23 and Middle Tennessee on May 7. Play-by-play will be provided by Jeremy Brown and color commentary provided by Jake Ryle. Fans can sign up for webstreaming content by going to www.WKUsports.com.
