BATON ROUGE, LA – Southern University is set to host their second softball tournament of the season. The Lady Jaguars will welcome Louisiana Christian and Alabama A&M for the Defend the Bluff tournament from March 3-4 at Lady Jaguar Field.
Southern (1-13) last saw action at the HBCU Classic hosted by Alabama State. The Lady Jaguars came up just short in all five of their tournament games, losing the last two in walk-off fashion.
After pitchers dominating the first three games, Southern's bats came alive with 24 hits on the final day. The 15 hits against Alabama A&M were the most in a single game since the Lady Jaguars had 15 against Prairie View A&M on April 22, 2022.
Alana Mark leads the team in batting average at .314 and RBIs at eight. Anabella Valadez has been hot at the plate the last seven games, going 5-for-17 with two doubles, a triple and a home run. Londyn Lau's return to the lineup had been a big pickup for the Lady Jaguars. Lau went 2-for-6 in her four games last weekend. Keira Miracle-Tilford and Sydney Wesley have identical stat lines at a .250 batting average and three RBIs.
In the circle, the Lady Jaguars have been relying on Valadez and Kairah Williams to keep games close. Valadez has struck out 14 while walking 12. Williams has struck out 20 and walked 20 in her 36.2 innings pitched on the season. Southern will look to add Raquel Latta back in the mix as she returns to the lineup.
Alabama A&M enters the weekend at 6-6 on the season. They went 2-1 at the HBCU Classic and picked up two wins against Oakwood on Wednesday. Offensively, the Bulldogs are lead by Venice Sanders who has a team high in batting average at .514, four triples, four home runs and 18 RBIs. Paige Scott leads the team in the circle with a 3-2 record, striking out 36 and walking only 7 in 36.1 innings.
Louisiana Christian comes in at a 10-5, after winning four straight after defeating Texas College twice on February 24 and Jarvis Christian twice on February 25. Jordan Dauthier has a team high of .371 batting average. Desiree Squires bats .356 with a team leading six doubles, two home runs and 12 RBIs. LCU has four pitchers with 20 or more innings pitched on the season. Arlee Darbonne is 3-1 in the circle with a 1.86 ERA with 17 strikeouts and two walks.
The Lady Jaguars have lost three of the last four against Alabama A&M, including a heartbreaker last weekend. Louisiana Christian and Southern have split the season series the last two season in Baton Rouge.
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