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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Softball (7-7, 1-3 GAC) will play in their second GAC series this weekend and the first road conference series of the season against East Central
- The Bulldogs began the GAC schedule with an extra-inning victory over No. 23-ranked Harding last Friday, but after falling to the Lady Bisons the following game in extra innings, dropped both games of the Saturday doubleheader to only acquire one win on the weekend
- The four-game series against ECU will be just the second true-road contest SWOSU has faced this season after beginning the season with neutral-site tournaments
- Last season, the Dawgs split the GAC series with East Central 2-2 by picking up one win on both days of the series
 
The Opponent
East Central (9-7, 0-4 GAC)
- ECU was 9-3 heading into the first GAC series against No. 2-ranked Southern Arkansas before getting swept by the Muleriders, dropping them to 9-7 on the year
- As a team offensively, East Central is batting .297 led by Alissa Taylor with a .422 average including four doubles and two home runs
- In the circle, the Tigers are pitching it well with a 2.56 team ERA led by Kelbie Crelia with a team leading 28.2 innings pitched holding a 2.69 ERA and 23 strikeouts

 The Coaches
SWOSU: Kim Maher (7-7, 1st season)
- Named the fourth head coach in SWOSU Softball history on June 2, 2016, bringing with her a wealth of experience from the collegiate, professional and international levels of softball
- Spent eight seasons as the head coach at Purdue University, leading the Boilermakers to 240 victories and two NCAA Tournament appearances from 2006-13
- Previously coached at California-Berkeley as an assistant coach from 2000-05 following a playing career with USA Softball and the Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL)
 
East Central: Destini Anderson (291-262-1, 12th season)
- Anderson reached the 200-win milestone in her career during the 2014 season, recording her 200th win March 21, 2014 in the 4-2 win at Southern Nazarene
- She is only the second head coach in program's history, replacing Ron Miller, who retired in July of 2006
- Anderson is a 2001 graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University where she garnered several awards and set numerous school records. She was inducted into the OBU Athletic Hall of Fame in November of 2009

Checking the Standings
- Both Arkansas Tech and Southern Arkansas made it out of the opening GAC weekend unscathed with perfect 4-0 marks, while Harding, Monticello, Henderson State and Ouachita all won three out of four to hold 3-1 marks
- Oklahoma Baptist, Southeastern and SWOSU all managed to pick up a game against the above bulleted teams to avoid going winless and sit with 1-3 records
- East Central and Northwestern were swept to begin 0-4
 
SWOSU Notes
- The Bulldogs have two .400 or better hitters in Kaytlin Donaldson (.429) and Abigail Schade (.400) while the team currently is hitting .276 through the first 14 games this season
- Against Harding last weekend, Tori Hawk drove out her third home run of the season which leads the time in that category
-Samantha Householder came up with the clutch seventh-inning in game one on Friday, delivering a two-out hit which scored the tying run and forced extra innings
- Householder batted .444 on the weekend with two RBIs 
- Tied for the most appearances on the team with seven, Miranda Grover holds a 1.53 ERA and a 4-0 record in the circle
- Rileigh Ricken pitched seven innings on Saturday against HU, allowing just two earned runs then entire game but it wasn't enough as SWOSU was shutout 2-0
- The outing for Ricken cut her ERA more than half of what it was going into the contest, as she now has a 4.20 ERA on the season
- When leading after the fifth inning, SWOSU is 5-0 this season 

Looking Ahead
- Back-to-back road home weekend series are on the horizon for SWOSU Softball, who will host Southeastern next weekend and then Southern Arkansas the following weekend at the Athletic Complex