April 24, 2008

JACKSON – Making their seventh-straight appearance in the SCAC Softball Tournament that originated in 1999, the Millsaps Majors will face familiar foe Hendrix College at 2 p.m. on Friday to open the weekend at Millennium Park in Danville, Ky.

Trinity University, winners of seven of the nine conference tournaments, will await the winner of Millsaps/Hendrix in a 6 p.m. contest Friday night.

Millsaps and Hendrix have faced each other four times in the last four years, with the Lady Warriors winning 3 of 4, including a 12-11 game that knocked the Majors out of the conference tournament last year in San Antonio.

Hendrix (11-25, 7-9 SCAC) enters the weekend as the West’s No. 3 seed behind the dangerous freshman shortstop Hanna Braden who is batting a team-best .478 in 27 games played and started. Braden ranks first on the Lady Warriors’ squad in runs scored (27) and slugging percentage (.630), while ranking second in hits (44) and total bases (58).

Despite what its record shows, Hendrix has five everyday starters that bat above the .333 mark, including Ellen Burr (.385) who ranks third in the league. As a team, the Warriors rank first in doubles (69), second in hits (328) and third in batting average (.309) and they score around 4.7 runs-per-game while giving up 7.1 runs-per-contest.

In the circle, Sarah Hightower (6-9, 5.51 ERA) and Jaclyn Herrera (5-16, 5.76 ERA) have split the 11 Hendrix wins, while Herrera has lost her previous four starts (all in a sweep suffered to TU).

Millsaps (17-12, 4-4 SCAC) enters the weekend as the East’s No. 2 seed after sweeping a 4-game series at home over Centre and losing a 4-game series at then No.3-ranked DePauw University in Greencastle. The Majors are 11-11 all-time in the SCAC Tournament and will be playing their first game in 10 days when they step on the diamond against the Warriors.

Sophomore shortstop Sam Hill, an All-SCAC Tournament Team selection last season, is turning in a career season thus far. Hill is batting a team-best .427 with a conference-leading 15 doubles, while leading the team in hits (41), runs scored (32), RBIs (24) and total bases (58) in addition to slugging .615. Junior outfielder Tiffany Ladnier and sophomore third baseman Jen McKinley also provide instant offense for Millsaps.

Ladnier will start her 108th-straight game for Millsaps in the tournament-opener and is another dangerous target. Ladnier is batting a career-best .343 and ranks in the Top 3 in most offensive categories, including leading the team in stolen bases with 11 in 12 attempts. McKinley struggled from the plate in her opening 12 games with a .195 average and no home runs, but has turned up the volume as of late. The Frisco, Texas, native has run her average up to .337 after hitting .439 from the plate with five home runs in the last 17 games.

The Majors’ third-ranked pitching staff (3.36 team ERA) in the league includes a trio of underclassmen in freshman Laura Litton (6-2, 3.77 ERA) and sophomores Kasey Thibodeaux (7-5, 2.85 ERA) and Brittney McAllister (4-5, 3.82 ERA, 3 saves). All three ladies rank in the Top 9 in the SCAC in individual pitching, while combining for 98 total strikeouts.

This year’s tournament will be the first hosted by Centre College in the SCAC Softball Tournament’s 10-year history and will kickoff at noon on Friday, April 25.