---

SWOSU (4-16) at Eastern New Mexico (14-10) Portales, N.M. (Zia Field) Tuesday, March 17, 3:00 pm (DH) Live Stats SWOSU (4-16, 0-8 GAC) at Ouachita Baptist (6-16, 2-11 GAC) Friday, March 20, 2:00 pm (DH) Saturday, March 21, 1:00 pm (DH) Live Stats SWOSU Weekly Notes

Setting the Scene
- The Bulldogs hit the road for a six-game stretch featuring a non-conference matchup with Eastern New Mexico and a four-game series against Great American Conference foe Ouachita Baptist
- SWOSU will hope to snap a 10-game losing skid that dates back Feb. 14 when they downed Texas A&M-Commerce 8-6 as part of the Southeastern Regional Invitational
- The Bulldogs have yet to earn a conference win this season, but have yet to face a conference opponent on the road. The Tigers of OBU will be the first such test this season. SWOSU split the series 2-2 with Ouachita last season in Weatherford
- SWOSU met ENMU earlier this season at the SWOSU Round Robin, earning their only win of the weekend at the expense of the Zias 6-2

The Coaches
SWOSU: Barbara Burnett (4-16, 1st season)
- Burnett returns to her alma mater to lead the Bulldog softball program for the first time this spring
- She has spent the last four seasons among the junior college ranks at Independence Community College in Independnce, Kan. where she left as the all-time winningest coach in program history with a 112 wins
- While at Independence she led the Lady Pirates to back-to-back regional runners-up finishes while breaking numerous program records and ranking nationally in the Top Five in offensive production
- She has coached two National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-Americans, two National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Americans, 16 NJCAA All-Region selections and 13 All-Conference selections

Eastern New Mexico: Kristen Soukup (15-40, 2nd season)
- Soukup returns for a second season in charge of the Zias
- In her first season, Soukup went 15-40 in a tough Lone Star Conference
- Prior to coming to ENMU, she served as an assistant coach at Concordia (Minn.) from 2006-2011
- While at CU, Soukup helped to develop 29 all-conference players, 15 all-region players, two Daktronics All-Americans and one National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American

Ouachita Baptist: Mike McGhee (242-284, 11th season)
- McGhee enters his 11th season at the helm of the Tigers softball program, where he also serves as the cross country coach
- During his tenure, the Tigers have amassed three winning seasons
- Since joining the GAC, McGhee has placed one player on the All-GAC Second Team, while four others have received All-GAC Honorable Mention
- His teams have reached the GAC Tournament each of the last three years, but the Tigers have never advanced past the first round

The Opponents
Eastern New Mexico (14-10)
- ENMU have lost their last two conference series 2-6 against LSC opponents Angelo State and Commerce
- As a team, the Zias are batting .347 with a slugging percentage of .476 on the season. They are led by Amanda Martinez who is batting .452. Aurelia Sandoval has a team-high .585 slugging perentage and has four of the team's 13 home runs
- In the circle, Aja Secheslinglogg has compiled a 10-5 record while boasting a 4.79 ERA. She has gone the distance for the Zias eight times, striking out 44 batters

Ouachita Baptist (6-16, 2-11 GAC)
- The Tigers most recently dropped a four-game series 3-1 to Northwestern Oklahoma State
- OBU has the seventh-ranked batting average in the GAC at .303. Sarah Johnson leads the team and conference with a .516 average
- Ouachita is tied with SWOSU for the third-best slugging percentage at .500. Kate Lacina is third in the conference with a .909 slugging percentage and has hit the third-most home runs with seven. Meanwhile, Johnson holds a .887 percentage herself to come in the fourth spot
- Delaney Bedunah is the Tigers' top pitcher. She currently holds a 3-2 record with a team-low 5.06 ERA

Last Time Out
- The Bulldogs were swept by Henderson State in a four-game GAC series, giving up an average of 9.75 runs per game over the course of the series
- Rileigh Ricken picked up three losses on the weekend, giving up 10 earned runs over four games
- Tori Hawk and Adrienne Martinez lead the team at the plate. Both recorded three hits on 12 at-bats and combined for five runs and five RBI

Checking the Standings
- SWOSU (4-16, 0-8 GAC) sits at the bottom of the standings and has yet to record a conference win this season
- Arkansas-Monticello (15-4, 7-1 GAC) leads the conference in the standings, but picked up their first loss last weekend to Arkansas Tech
- Southeastern Oklahoma State (12-10, 8-3 GAC) is in second, while Henderson State (16-6, 7-3 GAC) moved into third place after sweeping SWOSU
- Ouachita Baptist (6-16, 2-11 GAC)  is currently in ninth place overall

Bulldog Facts
- SWOSU batted just .250 in the four-game series against the Lady Reddies. However, the team ranks fourth in the conference with a .331 batting average for the season to go along with a .500 slugging percentage. Maci Brown leads the team and is second in the conference with a .487 average
- The Bulldog pitching staff has an ERA of 7.47, led by Ricken who boasts a 6.49 ERA. SWOSU is fifth in the confernce with 155 hits allowed and tenth with 110 runs given up
- Defensively, Martinez is third in the GAC with 124 putouts. Both Samantha Perry and Ashley Dunigan rank in the top 10 in assists, led by Perry who is tied for third with 42
- Ashley Filer is tied for second in the GAC, gunning down five would-be steal attempts. SWOSU has thwarted eight steal attempts so far this season to lead the conference. However, Southwestern allowed HSU to successfully steal on 11-15 attempts last weekend
- Laura Wilson recorded all five strikeouts for the Bulldogs against Henderson State
- SWOSU is 0-3 in road games this season

Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs will play a midweek GAC doubleheader against NWOSU in Alva, Okla., on Tuesday,March 24 before taking on Arkansas Tech in a four-game series in Russellville, Ark., from Friday, March 27 thru Saturday, March 28