TOURNAMENT HEADQUARTERS

JSU's Schedule this weekend:
Friday, Feb. 26
12:15 p.m. vs. Grambling State
5 p.m. vs. Lamar
Saturday, Feb. 27
2:30 p.m. vs Liberty
5 p.m. vs. Louisiana Tech

RUSTON, La. – The Jacksonville State softball team faces another tough field this weekend in the LA Tech Classic in Ruston, La.
 
The Gamecocks (5-5) won't see anyone in the top 15 like the three Southeastern Conference foes they ran into last week, but this weekend's field presents its own sets of challenges.
 
The host of the event, Louisiana Tech (8-1), is off to its best start since 2002 after going 5-0 last weekend. The Bulldogs bring a 1.99 team ERA into the weekend and have held their foes scoreless for 28-straight innings prior to opening the weekend.
 
Also in the field this weekend are Grambling State, Lamar and Liberty. The Gamecocks will face Grambling on Friday at 12:15 p.m. before closing the day against another red-hot team in Lamar at 5 p.m.
 
The Cardinals are off to an 8-2 start to their season and bring a seven-game win streak into Friday's matchup with Jax State. Their two losses have come at the hands of UNLV and Oklahoma, and they are hitting .336 as a team.
 
On Saturday, JSU will take on Liberty at 2:30 p.m. and will then wrap up the event at 5 p.m. against the host Bulldogs.
 
The Gamecocks enter the week with a .273 team average, despite facing three of the top 10 pitching staffs in the nation last weekend at the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic in Walt Disney World. JSU went 3-3 in the tourney, falling to No. 1 Florida, No. 10 Georgia and No. 13 Missouri. UGA is ranked first nationally in ERA, while Florida is second and Missouri is 10th.
 
Senior Ella Denes leads the Gamecock offensive attack with a .424 average and is tied with fellow senior Cadi Oliver for the team lead in homers with two. Junior Emily Church leads Jax State with eight RBI.
 
In the circle, four different players have appeared in at least four games, with freshman Kirsten Titus' 3.50 ERA leading the way. Junior Taylor West holds a 2-1 record and a 3.96 ERA and has struck out a team-high 24 batters in 23.0 innings of work.
 
Live stats for all games in the La Tech Classic will be available at latechsports.com.