ITTA BENA, Miss. – The Mississippi Valley State University softball program gets its first look at one of its newest division rivals, the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, in a Friday night doubleheader with a single game on Saturday.
What You Need to Know
Time and Dates: Friday, March 25 (4 & 6 p.m.) | Saturday, March 26 (1 p.m.)
Records: Mississippi Valley State (5-13, 3-2 SWAC) | Bethune-Cookman (8-18, 3-3 SWAC)
Location: Itta Bena, Mississippi – MVSU Softball Field
Series History: First Meeting
Last Meetings: First Meeting
Winning Streak: First Meeting
Mississippi Valley State Overview
The ladies in Green and White currently slot among the NCAA’s top-40 for steals per game at 1.61 (5th in the SWAC) and top-45 regarding triples a contest with 0.28 (3rd in the SWAC).
Both categories have a Devilette among the top-50 in the country as Shelby Carson is top-35 in the triples per game statistic (0.13) while Keisha White came in at exactly 50th for steals on average (0.53).
The offensive catalyst has been the Preseason All-SWAC Second Teamer Brianna Alston. The Rocklin, California native leads the club in batting average (.278), hits (15) and RBIs (6).
Fronting the rotation is junior Daisy Page, topping the pitching staff in most stats including ERA (3.82), wins (3), complete games (4), innings pitched (51.1), strikeouts (27) and batting average against (.253).
Scouting The Opponent: Bethune-Cookman Wildcats
Bethune has split its series’ with the presumptive SWAC East favorites to begin its SWAC journey, dropping two-of-three to Jackson State before taking two-of-three from Alabama State. B-CU also holds victories over Stetson, Butler, Monmouth, Hofstra, and Northern Illinois.
The Wildcats from Daytona Beach, Florida currently boast the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the league at 1.91 and a top-five ERA among the conference with a 3.78.
That high quality pitching staff is led by ace Hannah Ortega who has thrown the 19th-most innings in the nation at 94.1 to go along with the second-best walks allowed per seven innings ratio in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (1.56).
The Maroon and Gold have a pair of bats with 20-plus hits in Haley Parks (21) and Joslynn Davis (20) who lead the team in batting average at .280 and ,278, respectively, while Briana Paysinger is the big bopper with two bombs and ten runs batted in.
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