HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team will welcome Southland Conference foe UTSA to town for a two-game league series beginning Friday at North Oak Park.
 
Friday's opener between the host Lady Lions (8-28, 1-9 Southland) and the Roadrunners (16-20, 6-4 Southland) is set for 6 p.m. The series concludes with a 12 p.m. contest on Saturday. Live stats for the series will be available at www.LionSports.net. Fans can also follow the action via Twitter at www.twitter.com/sluathletics.
 
Southeastern, which had its home game versus No. 21 LSU rained out on Wednesday, is coming off its best offensive performance of the season in Monday's 12-8 win at Southern. The Lady Lions collected a season-high 15 hits on the way to the victory over the host Lady Jaguars. Nine of Southeastern's hits went for extra bases, including a single-game school record seven doubles.
 
In the win, junior first baseman Ariell Van Hook was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBI for the Lady Lions. Junior designated player Katie Doyle, who finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored, and senior catcher Meghan Gomez, who contributed two doubles to Southeastern's record total, each drove in two runs for Southeastern. Eight of Southeastern's nine starters in the lineup had at least one RBI in the victory.
 
Southeastern comes into the series with a .237 team batting average. Sophomore second baseman Megan McCollum continues to lead the team with a .313 batting average. Van Hook (.290), junior centerfielder Michelle Duhe (.266) and Doyle (.250) are the other top hitters for average for the Lady Lions. Duhe leads the team with 33 hits, followed closely by McCollum's 31.
 
Gomez is the team's top power hitter with eight home runs and 21 RBI. Van Hook (4 HR, 10 RBI), sophomore shortstop Kayla Elswick (2 HR, 11 RBI), McCollum (12 RBI) and Nichols (10 RBI) also provide Southeastern with added pop. Duhe leads the team with 14 runs scored, followed by Van Hook and Gomez with 13 runs each.
 
Four Lady Lions share the doubles lead, as McCollum, Van Hook, senior outfielder Katie Matthews and senior third baseman Trish Bliss each have six doubles. Duhe leads the team with three triples. Van Hook's 18 walks, while senior third baseman Lauren Coniglio (15), Matthews (14), McCollum (10), Gomez (10) and Elswick (10) have also drawn double-digit free passes. Van Hook leads the team with a .416 on-base percentage, followed closely by McCollum (.395).
 
Southeastern has a 5.06 team earned run average thus far in 2012. Junior Kati Morse (2-4, 3.28 ERA), junior Kenna Terry (2-12, 4.81 ERA), senior Vicki Honeycutt (3-3, 5.09 ERA) and sophomore Jessie Browne (1-9, 7.26 ERA) have all seen action in the circle for the Lady Lions.
 
The Lady Lion pitching staff will face a UTSA lineup that is hitting a robust .301 as a team and features six regulars with a plus-.300 batting average. Freshman infielder Courtney Buchman leads the team with a .386 batting average, followed by freshman catcher Megan Low (.367), sophomore catcher Molly Fichtner (.357), senior third baseman/outfielder Nikki Goff (.326), senior first baseman Caitlyn Ivy (.324) and senior infielder Ashley Kappler (.304).
 
Low is the team's top power hitter, leading the squad with five home runs and 23 runs batted in. Goff follows in both categories with three home runs and 16 RBI.
 
In the circle, UTSA has a 4.32 team earned run average. Junior Haylee Staton (8-5, 3.12 ERA) is the staff ace, while junior Alyssa Vordenbaum (3-7, 4.89 ERA) and senior Morgan Luksa (4-6, 5.25 ERA) have also seen significant time.
 
Southeastern is 13-32 all-time versus the Roadrunners. Last season, Terry pitched Southeastern to a pair of victories, as the Lady Lions took two of three from UTSA in Hammond.
 
Following the weekend series, Southeastern will host South Alabama on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at North Oak Park. Live stats will be available at www.LionSports.net and fans can follow the action via Twitter at www.twitter.com/sluathletics.