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Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Conference Race Heats Up for Softball
4/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 25, 2007
BOCA RATON, FL - With conference seeding on the line, the Florida Atlantic University softball team heads north to face Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee in a pair of Sun Belt Conference three-game sets.
The Owls will open the week with a doubleheader on Wednesday against the Lady Hilltoppers, who enter the week with the fifth-highest batting average in the Sun Belt at .272 and fourth-best ERA at 2.77.
Rachelle Boucher is third in the SBC in batting average at .368. Rebecca Horesky leads the team in home runs with six and RBI with 26. The Lady Hilltoppers are led in the circle by Jennifer Kempf, who is fifth in the SBC with a 2.23 ERA. She has 136 strikeouts in 185 innings, allowing opponents to bat .251 against her.
WKU (25-24, 8-7 SBC) is currently tied in fourth place in the SBC standings with FAU.
After their midweek series with Western Kentucky in Bowling Green, KY, the Owls will head to Murfreesboro, TN to face Middle Tennessee State. The Blue Raiders (24-23, 11-6 SBC) enter the week in second place in the Sun Belt.
MTSU boasts the fourth-ranked offense in the Sun Belt, led by Whitney Darlington, and the fifth-ranked pitching staff, led by Lindsey Vander Lugt.
Darlington is seventh in the SBC in batting average at .344, including 10 doubles and team highs in home runs (five) and RBI (28). Vander Lugt had a 3.04 ERA in 207.0 innings of work, allowing opponents to bat .273 while striking out 112 and walking just 19 batters.
FAU (28-21, 8-7 SBC) enters the week tied with WKU for fourth in the SBC standings. The Owls have won five-of-seven since a five-game losing streak, and carry momentum into perhaps the most important week of the season. FAU can finish the week as high as first or as low as eighth, nearly entirely dependent on their performance on the field.
The Owls are seventh in the SBC in batting average at .258 but have scored the fourth-most runs. FAU's pitching staff leads the conference with a 2.12 ERA and has allowed a league-low 276 hits on the season and 131 runs in 49 games played. The Owls' .965 fielding percentage is tied atop the conference with Florida International.
Mandie Fishback leads the Owls in batting average at .320, while Blair Bodenmiller leads the team in home runs (six) and RBI (30). Jenna Lopez leads the team with 16 stolen bases. Bodenmiller leads all SBC players with 20 RBI in conference play, while Becky Brandies leads all players with six doubles in SBC play. Fishback's .405 batting average in conference play ranks fourth among individuals.
Jen Musillo leads the SBC in ERA and is fourth in total strikeouts, second in strikeouts per game. She has a 1.48 ERA in 155.2 innings of work, striking out 188 batters and allowing just 107 hits on the year. She leads the conference in strikeouts in conference play with 85.
Wednesday's doubleheader against WKU is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., eastern, and the finale of the three-game set is scheduled for Thursday at 4 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader against MTSU is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the conclusion of the three-game set is scheduled for 1 p.m., on Sunday. All the games can be heard on FAUsports.com as part of Owls All-Access, and all games will be available on GameTracker.
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
OF/C
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
1B/P
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