Softball to Play HBU in Round One of SLC Championship

HAMMOND, Louisiana - The third-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team will play sixth-seeded HBU at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in round one of the 2022 Southland Conference Tournament, hosted by Southeastern at North Oak Park.

The Islanders (23-25, 11-7) secured the number three spot after winning twice against UIW (5-13, 15-34) and with Northwestern State (10-8, 28-20) losing to Southeastern (14-4, 37-14) in the last weekend of the regular season. A&M-Corpus Christi won five of its six conference series this season.

The Islanders are playing for their first SLC Tournament title in program history. This year's tournament will mark the team's first appearance since 2015, after surpassing the program's most total wins in a season since 2011.

In week four of conference play, the Islanders completed a shutout sweep at HBU (4-14, 16-27) 1-0, 7-0 and 2-0 to improve from what started off as a 0-4 record in conference to a winning 5-4 record against conference opponents. A&M-Corpus Christi is now 26-16 in the all-time record against the Huskies.

Five of its six conference series matchups were victories for A&M-Corpus Christi, only losing the series against No. 1 seed McNeese (15-3, 35-19).

After the series win over UIW, junior Ashleigh Sgambelluri was honored with the final SLC Hitter of the Week award of the season. She notched a .556 average after hitting her first triple and home run of the season during the series, and actually hit two home runs to help the Islanders beat the Cardinals. 

The nod marked A&M-Corpus Christi's third weekly honor of the year with senior Grace Gilbert earning back-to-back SLC Pitcher of the Week awards earlier this season. Gilbert ends the year with an 8-8 record for a 3.52 ERA. She ends in the conference's top-10 for innings pitched (111.1), batters struck out (65) and wins (8).

Freshman Siarah Galvan has also been valuable in the circle for the Islanders, finishing the season with a perfect 5-0 record and 4-0 against conference opponents. In conference-only, she records the conference's second lowest ERA of a 0.83.

Junior Pal Egan ends the season after breaking multiple program single-season records, including her batting average (4.36), slugging percentage (.786) and on-base percentage (.566). she broke the record for most stolen bases in a season at 27, previously set at 22.

Nationally, multiple players find themselves among the top rankings. Egan is 10th her for on-base percentage, 13th in doubles and 18th for batting average. Sophomore Sydney Hoyt is sixth in the nation for walks per game while fellow sophomore Gabriella Torres is 14th in the nation for caught stealing by.

HBU earned the No. 6 seed after getting the tiebreaker over Nicholls (4-14, 12-36). They are led by sophomore Shelby Echols, who ended the year leading the conference in batting average with a .464.

Tuesday's game will be streamed on ESPN+. The Southland Tournament champion will receive the league's automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. Regional competition at the NCAA Tournament will be held May 20-22 at sites to be determined.

Stay Social
For more information on Islanders Softball, keep up with the team via their Facebook page (Islanders Softball) and follow the program on Twitter (@IslandersSball) and Instagram (islanderssball). 
 
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