UTSA Roadrunners (8-9, 4-2) at UT Arlington Mavericks (5-10, 2-4)
Saturday, March 8 ? 1 p.m. (DH) | Sunday, March 9 ? Noon
Allan Saxe Field (250) ? Arlington, Texas
Series Record: UTSA leads, 33-22
Last Meeting: UTA, 6-2 (May 11, 2007)
SAN ANTONIO ? Winners of four straight Southland Conferencegames, UTSA (8-9, 4-2 SLC) hits the road to face UT Arlington (5-10,2-4 SLC) in a three-game league series this Saturday-Sunday, March 8-9.First pitch in a Saturday doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m.,followed by a single game at noon on Sunday.
Tuning In: Live stats will be provided at utamavs.com.
Base Hits
? UTSA leads the all-time series, 33-22, and has won nine of the last 11 meetings
? UT Arlington is 13-7 against the Roadrunners in Arlington and this will be the first meeting at Allan Saxe Field since April 24, 2005
? Senior Amanda Nikolenko broke Jennifer Drake’s UTSA career record for innings pitched (601) last Sunday ... she now has tossed 611.1 innings
? With 488 career strikeouts, Nikolenko has moved past Paige Whitley for second place on UTSA’s all-time list ... she needs 32 Ks to break Ursula Mares’ school record of 519
? Sophomore Rudi Cantu is batting .583 (21-for-36) during her current career-long 10-game hitting streak
? Freshman Dany? Holmes struck out 13 McNeese State batters on March 1, one punchout shy of the school record of 14 set by Ursula Mares in 2005
? Sophomore Krista Sitka and freshman Whitney Balch are tied for the team lead with four home runs apiece
Scouting The Mavericks: UT Arlington took 2-of-3 games from Nicholls State last weekend to improve to 5-10 overall and 2-4 in Southland Conference play. The defending regular season champions are led on offense by Samantha Chumchal (.375) and Katie Jones (.351), the 2007 SLC Player and Hitter of the Year. Laura Jones is the top pitcher, boasting a 1.26 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 44.1 innings pitched, despite a 2-6 record. The Mavericks are hitting .254 as a team with 10 doubles and 13 home runs, while the pitching staff has combined for a 2.44 ERA and 99 strikeouts against 36 walks. Head coach Debbie Hedrick is 283-284-2 in her 12th season at the helm.
Baylor Recap: Sophomore Krista Sitka hit her fourth home run of the season, but Brette Reagan went 3-for-3 with two RBIs to lead No. 13 Baylor to a 5-1 win over UTSA on Tuesday night at Roadrunner Field. Sophomore Rudi Cantu legged out an infield single in her final at-bat to extend her hitting streak to a career-long 10 games, while sophomore Mercedes Hessel had the only other UTSA hit, a double, against the defending Big 12 Champions and 2007 Women’s College World Series participant.
SLC Supremacy: UTSA is the winningest program in Southland Conference history, owning a 254-159 (.615) all-time record in conference games. Dating back to 2004, the Roadrunners are 85-30 (.739) in league play. UTSA won three consecutive SLC regular season crowns from 2004-06 and captured SLC Tournament titles in 2004 and 2006.
Tough Slate: UTSA is facing a tough schedule this year, including five teams that made the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Two teams are ranked in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll ? No. 13 Baylor and No. 14 Houston ? while Texas, Colorado State and Texas State are receiving votes. In the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll, Baylor is ranked No. 13, Houston is No. 15, while Texas, Missouri and Colorado State are receiving votes.
Career Record Watch: Senior right-hander Amanda Nikolenko broke Jennifer Drake’s career record for innings pitched (601) in her March 2 win against McNeese State, and she now has pitched 611.1 frames. The Ashland, Mo., native also is on pace to break UTSA career records for wins, starts, complete games and strikeouts. She enters Tuesday’s contest with 57 wins (record is 61), 90 starts (93), 60 complete games (72) and 488 strikeouts (519).
Going, Going, Gone: UTSA has made a name nationally with the success it has enjoyed hitting the long ball. Dating back to 2003, the Roadrunners have slugged 479 home runs in 295 games, an average of 1.62 per game. The Roadrunners have led the NCAA in home runs in four of the past five seasons and have hit more long balls during that span than any other program. In 2006, UTSA shattered its own NCAA record, hitting 105 round-trippers in 51 contests for a 2.06 average, eclipsing the 1.87 mark set in 2004 (101/54). The Roadrunners own three of the top six home run seasons in NCAA history ? 105 (2006), 103 (2005), 101 (2004) ? and set a conference record with 14 home runs in four games at the 2006 SLC Tournament.
A New Era: Lori Cook is in her third year as head coach with a career 72-54 record (.571). In her first season in 2006, UTSA went 37-14, won its third consecutive SLC regular season title with a 22-5 mark, won the SLC Tournament for the second time in three years and made its second NCAA Tournament appearance.
Up Next: UTSA returns home to host Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game set next weekend.
