April 25, 2008

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss softball team concludes the road portion of its schedule when the Lady Eagles travel to UTEP for a three-game Conference USA series Saturday and Sunday.

Southern Miss enters the weekend with a 23-25 overall record, following a 5-2 loss at in-state rival Mississippi State Wednesday night. Brandi Alonzo, Jennifer Fox and Megan Hill recorded two hits apiece. The Lady Eagles are 7-11 in league and sitting in seventh in the standings.

Hill continues to paces the Lady Eagle offensively with a batting average of .319 with a team-best 27 RBIs, while Kristin Pilgrim is right behind with a .313 average and a team-leading nine doubles. Fox also is batting over .300 with at .305 with three home runs and 19 RBIs.

Samantha Davis (13-9) has pitched 147.2 innings with an ERA of 2.56. She has struck out 76.

UTEP comes into the game with a 27-19 record and 8-10 in league play. The Miners are in fifth-place.

Camilla Carrera leads the team with a .408 batting average with seven home runs, 10 doubles and 29 RBIs. Stacie Townsend is second on the team in batting with a .349 average and a team-best 32 RBIs.

Townsend also is the top pitcher for the Miners, sporting a team-low 2.25 ERA with a record of 12-10. She has worked 124.1 innings and struck out 133 batters.

Southern Miss returns home to close out the regular season against UCF in a three-game series, May 3-4. Five seniors (Allison Bullard, Kristen Chaney, Fox, Shea Naramore and Brittney Pigott) will be honored in a pre-game ceremony Sunday. First pitch of the double-header is 1 p.m., followed by game two at 3 p.m. Sunday's game will start at noon.