Friday, February 17
Hattiesburg, Miss.
9:30 AM
Tulsa
vs
SIUE
Tulsa Softball Heads to Mississippi
2/16/2023 7:21:00 PM | Softball
Notes (PDF) | Game One Stats | Game Two Stats | Game Three Stats | Game Four Stats | Game Five Stats
Hattiesburg, Miss. –– The Golden Hurricane softball team heads to Hattiesburg, Miss. for the second weekend of action as Tulsa takes part in the Golden Eagle Invitational on the campus of Southern Mississippi.
The Hurricane will open the invitational on Friday morning against SIUE at 9:30 before returning for a noon matchup with Jacksonville State. On Saturday, TU will start at the same times but with Alcorn State and the hosts, Southern Mississippi as its opponents. Tulsa will wrap the weekend with a 9:30 a.m. Sunday rematch with SIUE.
Tulsa opened the season with a 1-4 start at the Maverick Invitational in Arlington, Texas. The Hurricane dropped the season opener against Texas Tech but bounced back to beat the Red Raiders 3-2 in a rematch on Saturday morning. Sophomore transfer Maura Moore struck out nine batters in her debut, a complete game win. Tulsa would lose a heartbreaker 3-2 in walk off fashion to UT Arlington before dropping both games in the final day.
Kylee Nash struck out 14 batters over three appearances for the Hurricane, including an eight-strikeout performance in the season opener. Riley Grant also saw some time in the circle, making her first appearance in the Tulsa blue.
Celeste Wood knocked in three runs with a triple against UT Arlington, giving Tulsa a late lead that was spoiled in the bottom of the seventh. She finished with five RBI and added three doubles. Haley Morgan got off to a hot start with eight hits in 17 appearances, batting .471. The senior scored four runs and added a stolen base.
Tulsa and SIUE meet for the first time this weekend. The Eagles enter the weekend with an 0-3 record and had two games canceled in the opening weekend. SIUE finished 19-35 a season ago and 9-19 in MVC play. Piper Montgomery collected four of the team's 14 hits in the first three games, while Lexi King recorded a pair of RBIs.
Jacksonville State is another team Tulsa doesn't have a ton of experience against, as the Gamecocks and Golden Hurricane have met just once, a 4-2 Tulsa win on the road on March 17, 2004. JSU got off to a 3-0 start this season before dropping its week one finale 7-5 to Buffalo. Six different Gamecocks homered last week with eight collecting more than one RBI. Lindsey Richardson drove in a team-leading seven runs while being one of three with five hits. In the circle, three pitchers threw complete game victories, led by Sarah Currie with a shutout. The four starters combined for 25 strikeouts.
Another team Tulsa has only faced once, Alcorn State enters the invitational with a 3-3 record. TU came away with a 14-2 win when the teams met up on Feb. 21, 1997, for a neutral site game in Monroe, La. The Braves held a 3-1 record after the opening weekend but enter the invitational at .500 after a pair of midweek losses. Kennedy Terry tops the team with a .389 batting average after the first six games. She's drove in two and came around to score seven times. Alexa Veamoi has seen the most in the circle, earning three starts and pitching 15.2 innings. She holds a 4.91 ERA with nine strikeouts and allowed five extra base hits, none of which are homers.
Of all the teams Tulsa is set to face this week, the Hurricane is most familiar with the hosting Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Tulsa holds a 22-6 record against USM, including a 9-3 advantage in road games. However, the teams haven't met since the two were Conference USA foes in 2013. The Hurricane have won 10 in a row in the series and 15 of the past 16.
Southern Miss enjoyed a perfect starting weekend under first year head coach Natalie Poole, hosting the Black and Gold Invitational and finishing 4-0. A 17-0 win over Southern capped an impressive weekend which saw the Golden Eagles outscore opponents 25-3. Hannah Borden delivered a team-high six RBIs while Natalie Taylor is hitting .500 with a double and home run.
In the circle, Morgan Leinstock and Paige Kilgore both hold 2-0 records with 0.00 ERAs. Leinstock saw the most action in week one, pitching 16.0 innings and striking out 19 while only allowing 12 hits and one unearned run.
After the weekend, Tulsa will play at the South Alabama tournament next weekend before opening the home season on March 3 against Tarleton State as part of the Tulsa/OSU Invitational.
Hattiesburg, Miss. –– The Golden Hurricane softball team heads to Hattiesburg, Miss. for the second weekend of action as Tulsa takes part in the Golden Eagle Invitational on the campus of Southern Mississippi.
The Hurricane will open the invitational on Friday morning against SIUE at 9:30 before returning for a noon matchup with Jacksonville State. On Saturday, TU will start at the same times but with Alcorn State and the hosts, Southern Mississippi as its opponents. Tulsa will wrap the weekend with a 9:30 a.m. Sunday rematch with SIUE.
Tulsa opened the season with a 1-4 start at the Maverick Invitational in Arlington, Texas. The Hurricane dropped the season opener against Texas Tech but bounced back to beat the Red Raiders 3-2 in a rematch on Saturday morning. Sophomore transfer Maura Moore struck out nine batters in her debut, a complete game win. Tulsa would lose a heartbreaker 3-2 in walk off fashion to UT Arlington before dropping both games in the final day.
Kylee Nash struck out 14 batters over three appearances for the Hurricane, including an eight-strikeout performance in the season opener. Riley Grant also saw some time in the circle, making her first appearance in the Tulsa blue.
Celeste Wood knocked in three runs with a triple against UT Arlington, giving Tulsa a late lead that was spoiled in the bottom of the seventh. She finished with five RBI and added three doubles. Haley Morgan got off to a hot start with eight hits in 17 appearances, batting .471. The senior scored four runs and added a stolen base.
Tulsa and SIUE meet for the first time this weekend. The Eagles enter the weekend with an 0-3 record and had two games canceled in the opening weekend. SIUE finished 19-35 a season ago and 9-19 in MVC play. Piper Montgomery collected four of the team's 14 hits in the first three games, while Lexi King recorded a pair of RBIs.
Jacksonville State is another team Tulsa doesn't have a ton of experience against, as the Gamecocks and Golden Hurricane have met just once, a 4-2 Tulsa win on the road on March 17, 2004. JSU got off to a 3-0 start this season before dropping its week one finale 7-5 to Buffalo. Six different Gamecocks homered last week with eight collecting more than one RBI. Lindsey Richardson drove in a team-leading seven runs while being one of three with five hits. In the circle, three pitchers threw complete game victories, led by Sarah Currie with a shutout. The four starters combined for 25 strikeouts.
Another team Tulsa has only faced once, Alcorn State enters the invitational with a 3-3 record. TU came away with a 14-2 win when the teams met up on Feb. 21, 1997, for a neutral site game in Monroe, La. The Braves held a 3-1 record after the opening weekend but enter the invitational at .500 after a pair of midweek losses. Kennedy Terry tops the team with a .389 batting average after the first six games. She's drove in two and came around to score seven times. Alexa Veamoi has seen the most in the circle, earning three starts and pitching 15.2 innings. She holds a 4.91 ERA with nine strikeouts and allowed five extra base hits, none of which are homers.
Of all the teams Tulsa is set to face this week, the Hurricane is most familiar with the hosting Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Tulsa holds a 22-6 record against USM, including a 9-3 advantage in road games. However, the teams haven't met since the two were Conference USA foes in 2013. The Hurricane have won 10 in a row in the series and 15 of the past 16.
Southern Miss enjoyed a perfect starting weekend under first year head coach Natalie Poole, hosting the Black and Gold Invitational and finishing 4-0. A 17-0 win over Southern capped an impressive weekend which saw the Golden Eagles outscore opponents 25-3. Hannah Borden delivered a team-high six RBIs while Natalie Taylor is hitting .500 with a double and home run.
In the circle, Morgan Leinstock and Paige Kilgore both hold 2-0 records with 0.00 ERAs. Leinstock saw the most action in week one, pitching 16.0 innings and striking out 19 while only allowing 12 hits and one unearned run.
After the weekend, Tulsa will play at the South Alabama tournament next weekend before opening the home season on March 3 against Tarleton State as part of the Tulsa/OSU Invitational.
Players Mentioned
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