Islanders Softball Preview: vs. Northwestern State

 

Islanders	Offense	Demons
.282 (3rd)	Batting Average	.244 (8th)
103 (6th)	Runs	98 (8th)
49 (1st)	Doubles	31 (6th)
3 (7th)	Triples	5 (5th)
10 (5th)	Home Runs	7 (7th)
.420 (2nd)	Slugging %	.325 (8th)
59 (8th)	Walks	79 (3rd)
124 (5th)	Strikeouts	128 (7th)
.346 (5th)	On-Base %	.326 (8th)
Islanders	Pitching/Defense	Demons
2.85 (4th)	ERA	3.86 (7th)
138 (3rd)	Hits Allowed	202 (7th)
93 (4th)	Runs Allowed	126 (8th)
84 (6th)	Walks Allowed	96 (8th)
161 (1st)	Strikeouts	149 (2nd)
.237 (3rd)	Batting Avg. Against	.260 (6th)
28 (7th)	Errors	27 (T4th)
.958 (7th)	Fielding %	.970 (3rd)
3 (9th)	Double Plays	11 (3rd)

 
The Matchup: The Islanders have won four out of the past six games against NSU. TAMUCC took 2-of-3 from the Lady Demons at home in 2022 (the one loss was a 2-1 NSU win in 12 innings), then beat the Lady Demons 4-3 at the conference tournament. Last year, NSU returned the favor, winning 2-of-3 in Natchitoches, La. … The Islanders won the last matchup between the teams, 5-1. Primrose Aholelei got the win with a complete-game five-hitter. She allowed just one run, walked three and struck out four. Kimane Rogron went 2-for-3 and hit one of her four career home runs, a two-run shot in the second inning. Alina Jasso went 1-for-2 with a walk, a stolen base and a run, while Paolina Baez went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice. … TAMUCC dominated the beginning of the all-time series, winning 10 of the first 13 games, including nine straight. But NSU quickly changed that, winning 19 of the next 22 games between 2012 and 2022.
 
Eyeing the Islanders: TAMUCC has been on both ends of a sweep in conference play this year. The Islanders took all three from A&M-Commerce to begin conference play before losing three straight to UIW last weekend. … Senior catcher Felixia Hinojosa led the team with three hits during the series, while junior Rhea-Ann Avalos and senior Taniece Tyson each had a pair of hits. … Tyson still leads the team in batting at .385, and she also still leads the conference in slugging percentage at .754. She's also second in the SLC in home runs with six. … Senior outfielder Alina Jasso is tied for fourth in doubles with seven, and senior third baseman Kimane Rogron is tied for fifth in triples with two. … Senior pitcher Primrose Aholelei sits third in the country in strikeouts with 112. She leads the conference in strikeouts by 44. In fact, if you just counted strikeouts swinging, she still would lead the conference by 10 (78-68). … This will be just the second true home series of the year for the Islanders. TAMUCC swept A&M-Commerce last weekend, which was the first home series in almost a month and the only one at Chapman Field thus far. The Islanders swept Stephen F. Austin in February in a series moved to Cabaniss Field because of the weather.
 
Say What? A&M-Corpus Christi coach Kathleen Rodriguez: "We struggled putting the bat on the ball this weekend. UIW did a good job of keeping us off balance, and they also made good plays on well-hit balls. We had a couple of bad days in San Antonio, and UIW played well on both sides of the ball. We just need to regroup and put together some strong and intentional practices leading up to the weekend. The girls are competitive and will definitely take this personally, which is what we need to do."
 
Scouting Northwestern State: Northwestern State won its fourth one-run game of the season on Tuesday on a walk-off single in the seventh inning. It was the first walk-off hit for the Demons since a walk-off home run in 2022. It also was the 11th one-run game for NSU this season. The Demons are now 4-7 in those games this year. … Tristin Court had her fourth three-hit game of the season, the most of any player this year, on Tuesday night with three singles to the right side. In 31 games this year, Court has already matched or surpassed career high marks in runs, hits, doubles, home runs and RBI. … Kenzie Seely threw her ninth complete game of the season on Tuesday, picking up eight strikeouts along the way. She had just 10 complete game outings in her previous three seasons as a Demon. … With five stolen bases this past weekend, NSU has already surpassed its steal total from a season ago with 31 total. It is the most steals in a season since 2019. NSU is 31-for-41 in stolen base attempts this year.
 
TAMUCC (15-9, 3-3 SLC)
Saturday, March 23 – vs. Northwestern State (13-18, 1-5), Noon, Chapman Field
Saturday, March 23 – vs. Northwestern State (13-18, 1-5), 2 p.m., Chapman Field
Sunday, March 24 – vs. Northwestern State (13-18, 1-5), Noon, Chapman Field
 
On Deck: Following the series with NSU, the Islanders will travel to Houston for a three-game conference series against Houston Christian. Games 1 and 2 will be at 4 and 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 28, and the finale will by a noon Friday, March 29.
 
Next Home Games: The Islanders begin a three-game SLC series against Southeastern, La, on Friday, April 5. The teams play a doubleheader at noon and 2 p.m., then play the finale at noon Saturday, April 6.
 
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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