Kats to face SFA with SLC title at stake
5/2/2019 4:16:00 PM | Softball
Game 50-52
May 4 • Game 1 3 p.m. Game 2 5 p.m. • Huntsville • Bearkat Softball Complex
Sam Houston State (29-20 overall, 20-4 SLC) vs Stephen F. Austin (33-17, 17-7)
Live Stats G1 Live Stats G2 • Bearkat Sports Network YouTube channel • @BearkatsSB on Twitter
May 5 • Noon • Huntsville • Bearkat Softball Complex
Sam Houston State (29-20 overall, 20-4 SLC) vs Stephen F. Austin (33-17, 17-7)
Live Stats • @BearkatsSB on Twitter
HUNTSVILLE - The table is set for a key Southland Conference showdown at the Bearkat Softball Complex this weekend.
Sam Houston State will battle rival Stephen F. Austin in the final SLC series of the regular season with a league championship on the line. Due to inclement weather in Huntsville Friday, the teams will now play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. and wrap up the three-game set Sunday at noon.
The Bearkats (29-20 overall) currently sit in first place in the SLC at 20-4 and hold a one-game lead over Nicholls (19-5 in SLC). Sam Houston State is riding a 13-game conference winning streak heading into this weekend's series against the Ladyjacks (33-17), who stands third in the league standings at 17-7.
The Bearkats have won the regular-season SLC championship three times since joining the league in 1988, that inaugural season and again in 1990 and 1993.
Sam Houston State has swept four straight league series with victories at home over Houston Baptist and Abilene Christian and on the road at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Incarnate Word.
The Bearkats have set several records this season. The team also had a 13-game winning streak against both nonconference and SLC opponents, which is the program's best since moving up to Division I in 1988.
That streak is tied for the third longest in school history with the 1982 squad, which also holds the record of 17 straight wins. The 1985 Bearkats won 14 in a row.
Senior ace Lindsey McLeod broke the career strikeouts record earlier this season and now has 669 during her time at Sam Houston State. The two-time All-SLC honoree from Austin is second in career no-hitters with three behind leader Brandi Crnkovic (four from 2007-08) and is second in saves with nine behind Morgan Mikulin (13 from 2007-2010).
McLeod, who has been named the SLC Pitcher of the Year twice this year and five times in her career, also has set several season school records as well. Her three no-hitters in 2019 are tied for first all-time with Crnkovic (2008).
McLeod broke the old mark with 41 consecutive scoreless innings pitched during the Bearkats' 13-game conference winning streak, and she is closing in on her school record of most strikeouts in a season (222 in 2018) with 213 heading into the SFA series.
She also holds the school career and season records for one-hitters pitched at 10 and six (2019), respectively.
The series finale this weekend will also be Senior Day. The Bearkats will honor McLeod, who was a CoSIDA Academic All-American Division I third-team selection in 2018, and infielder Ashely Goetz.
Goetz has 139 starts in her career at three different positions at shortstop, outfield and first base. The Georgetown product has a career batting average of .253, with four home runs, 16 doubles and 35 RBIs.
She missed most of her junior season with an ACL tear, but has worked hard to bounce back for a great senior season highlighted by a three-run home run March 30 in a 4-3 win at Nicholls, which sparked Sam Houston State's 13-game conference winning streak, a walk-off home run against UT Arlington on April 9 and a three-RBI performance in a 9-0 victory at UIW April 27.
Goetz is also a three-time SLC Academic Honor Roll member.
