DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Mississippi Valley State University softball program finishes its first home-and-home series of the SWAC regular season this weekend with a nearly 750-mile hike over to the Sunshine State as they face the East leading B-CU Lady Wildcats.
What You Need to Know
Time and Dates: Friday, April 15 (12 & 2 p.m. CT) | Saturday, April 16 (11 a.m. CT)
Records: Mississippi Valley State (9-18, 7-7 SWAC) | Bethune-Cookman (15-23, 9-6 SWAC)
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida – Sunnyland Park
Series History: Mississippi Valley State Leads 2-1
Last Meetings: March 25-26, 2022 | Mississippi Valley State Won Series 2-1 (Combined 8-10) | Itta Bena, Mississippi (MVSU Softball Field)
Winning Streak: Mississippi Valley State (W1) | Bethune-Cookman’s Last Win: March 25, 2022 (10-5, Game 2 of Doubleheader)
Mississippi Valley State Overview
What the Devilettes may lack on the offensive side of the ball they have more than made up for it with defense and pitching. Valley is the best defensive team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference with a .957 fielding percentage, has the third-best strikeout-to-walk ratio at 1.85, and has a steadily lowering ERA that has dropped to 4.16.
Daisy Page is looking for an encore act following her long-awaited SWAC Pitcher of the Week award as she is now 7-5 on the campaign with a dazzling 2.59 ERA to rank as the league’s runner-up in that category while her 1.30 W/9 is the conference’s best, and her seven victories are fourth-most.
Naomi Drake has mastered the art of the selfless ballplayer, slotting among the NCAA’s top-50 for sacrifice bunts per game at 0.19.
A’tajua Wren has also been limiting the walk as the number two starter in the rotation, allowing only 1.69 walks per seven innings, the sixth-lowest rate in the SWAC.
Senior Jaylon Davis has taken over the mantle as the team’s top hitter average-wise with 16 hits in 56 at-bats (.286).
Scouting The Opponent: Bethune-Cookman Lady Wildcats
Since dropping 2-of-3 in Itta Bena to the Devilettes at the end of March, B-CU has been on fire winning six of its next nine matchups which included a win over Florida Atlantic, a series victory against Florida A&M plus a sweep of Alabama A&M.
While MVSU has rode the arm of Page to numerous wins, Hannah Ortega has been even better for the Lady Wildcats, leading the league in ERA (2.21) and K-to-BB ratio (3.32), has the second-most strikeouts (93), and currently has thrown the sixth-most innings in the country (145.2).
The Lady Wildcats’ two best hitters are considered to be Joslynn Davis (.287) and Haley Parks (.274) with its most dangerous run producers being Desirae Martinez (13 RBI) and Briana Paysinger (12 RBI, one of team’s two homers).
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