SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The Southeastern Louisiana softball team will face a tough test this weekend when they travel to face Southland Conference rival UTSA in a three-game series at the UTSA Softball Complex.

The series between the Lady Lions (17-6, 6-3 SLC) and the Roadrunners (9-11, 5-4 SLC) opens with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday. The series finale is set for Sunday at 12 p.m.

Southeastern currently sits in a three-way tie for second place in the SLC standings with Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State. UTSA is a game behind the three tied teams.

The Lady Lions tuned up for this weekend's series with a 5-1 win at Louisiana-Monroe on Tuesday. Southeastern senior pitcher Rachel Ray (8-3, 2.76 ERA) threw six scoreless innings in the win, while senior Brooke Lockhart homered and drove in four runs for the Lady Lions.

Southeastern is leading the Southland Conference with a .303 batting average. Junior Heather Sherrill leads a group of five Lady Lions hitting over .300 with a team-best .427 batting average. Sherrill, freshman Katie Duhe (.400), Lockhart (.351), senior Kaley Christy (.312) and junior Allyson McCubbins (.304) are the top hitters for average.

The Lady Lions are also second in the conference with 21 home runs, led by Sherrill's six roundtrippers. Lockhart is second on the team with four, while freshman Kelly Lyman and junior Jill Machleit have hit three each. Sherrill (26) and Lockhart (22) hold the top two spots in the SLC RBI rankings heading into the week.

Sherrill, Lyman and senior Arica Rodriguez are tied for the team lead with six doubles apiece. Duhe leads the team with a .468 on-base percentage, thanks in large part to her team-high eight walks. Christy has stolen a season-high seven bases and scored a team-high 19 runs through the season's first 23 games.

Ray is the ace of a Southeastern pitching staff that has a team earned run average of 2.73. Ray is second in the Southland Conference in wins and is third among league pitchers with 79 strikeouts. Ray and sophomore Jenna Yoder (7-3, 2.09 ERA) have provided the Lady Lions with one of the conference's most effective one-two combos in the circle. Senior Nicole Schoenberger, who has started the past several games in centerfield, is also 2-0 with a 1.31 earned run average.

The Southeastern pitching staff will be tested by UTSA, traditionally one of the top offensive teams in the SLC. The Roadrunners head into this weekend's series with a .263 team batting average. Whitney Balch leads the team with a .392 batting average, followed by Danye Holmes (.377), Rudi Cantu (.377) and Krista Sitka (.375). Sitka and Balch are tied for the team lead with four home runs, while Sitka leads UTSA with 21 RBI.

UTSA heads into the series with a 2.81 team earned run average. Amanda Nikolenko (3-5, 3.08 ERA) has handled the majority of the innings in the circle for the Roadrunners. Holmes (3-4, 1.65 ERA) and Janielle Nickels (3-2, 3.58 ERA) are the other members of the UTSA staff.

Southeastern is 9-24 all-time versus UTSA. The Roadrunners have dominated the series recently, sweeping three-game series from the Lady Lions in each of the last four seasons. The Lady Lions have lost 13 in a row to UTSA with their last win coming in the 2003 season.

Following this weekend's action, Southeastern will take a week off before hosting Northwestern State for a three-game set at North Oak Park. The series begins on Friday with a 3 p.m. doubleheader and concludes with a 12 p.m. contest on Saturday.