Softball February 27, 2020 Madison Parrott, Athletic Communications

Rangers to Host No. 6 Ranked Southern Arkansas

ALVA, Okla. - The Northwestern Oklahoma State University softball team prepares to take on their second conference opponent in nationally-ranked Southern Arkansas University this upcoming weekend with a four-game series played on Friday at 3:00/5:00 p.m. and Saturday at 12:00/2:00 p.m.

Rangers will go into conference play with a 3-8 record after hosting their first conference series against Oklahoma Baptist. This will be the Red-and-Black's ninth home game in a row our of twelve. Northwestern will look to continue their momentum as they came off a mercy rule win against Southwest Baptist (12-3) in the first half of the doubleheader played on Tuesday before the second game got canceled due to snowy conditions and severe cold.

The Red-and-Black are led by head coach Jill DeVries who is currently in her third season with the Rangers. She has a record of 46-114 prior to this season which includes her interim stint before receiving the full-time job at the University.

The Rangers offense is led by sophomore Kalie Johnson who has a batting average of .429 as she leads the team with fifteen hits and a team-leading on-base percentage of .512. Joey Casey has made an impact since getting her first start of the season after injury with a .500 batting average with three runs and three RBI's. Alexus Bailey sits right below with a .370 average with one homerun, five RBI's, and a team-leading nine runs. Abby Detar, Taylor Zanca and Morgan La Neve sit with a similar average around .330 while La Neve leads the team with nine RBI's.

The pitching staff is led by Freshman Hannah Howell who is credited with all three of the Ranger wins and has an ERA of 4.77. She will look to carry that into this upcoming week against the Lady Muleriders as she takes a leadership role as a freshman.

Southern Arkansas University:

The Lady Muleriders have shown their nationally ranked talent through the beginning of the season with three different games against top-twenty-five ranked opponents and defeated #21 Tarleton State (3-2) and #10 Texas A&M- Commerce (6-4). Southern Arkansas was able to sweep their first conference series against Harding. The Muleriders are led by Head Coach Jason Anderson who is entering his sixth season as the Lady Mulerider's head coach.

The Bison are led by Elisa Favela, who is hitting .526 on the young season, has 30 hits on the year and leads the team with five homeruns as well as a .557 on-base percentage. Laina Suesue sits with a.411 average and is tied with Favela with 19 RBI's. The team has an incredible 21 homeruns in only 16 games.

The pitching staff to date has been led by Sydney Wader who has an incredible 1.43 ERA through 53.2 innings so far this season in six starts and leads the team with an undefeated 8-0 record. She is followed by Victoria Taylor who has a 2.23 ERA in seven starts and has five wins of her own.

Series History:

Northwestern and Southern Arkansas has a long history with this match-up being the two teams' 27^th game. The Lady Muleriders lead 19 wins to the Rangers seven, with NWOSU's last win in March 2017. Since joining the Great American Conference, the Red-and-Black was defeated 12 out of the 14 times. In last year's match-up, SAU took all four games of the series and held the Northwestern to only four runs compared to their 35.

How the teams Compare:

Northwestern	Southern Arkansas
Batting Average: .285	Batting Average: .362
HR: 6	HR: 21
R: 54	R: 131
RBI: 47	RBI: 122
OBP: .360	OBP: .454

ERA: 7.03	ERA: 2.08
FLD %: .949	FLD%: .920

For the latest news and updates on NWOSU Softball, follow @NWOSUAthletics on TWITTER or visit www.riderangersride.com.

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Players Mentioned

#2 Alexus Bailey: OF; Senior

#8 Abby DeTar: OF; Sophomore

#12 Morgan La Neve: 3B; Sophomore

#13 Taylor Zanca: RHP/1B; Senior

#21 Kalie Johnson: INF; Sophomore

#6 Hannah Howell: RHP; Freshman

#16 Joey Casey: OF; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#2 Alexus Bailey
: Senior
: OF

#8 Abby DeTar
: Sophomore
: OF

#12 Morgan La Neve
: Sophomore
: 3B

#13 Taylor Zanca
: Senior
: RHP/1B

#21 Kalie Johnson
: Sophomore
: INF

#6 Hannah Howell
: Freshman
: RHP

#16 Joey Casey
: Freshman
: OF