(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)
The Missouri Southern softball team continue tournament action this Saturday and Sunday when they travel to Bentonville, Ark. to compete in the 2020 Alvy Early Memorial Classic Tournament, which was pushed back a day due to forecasted cold weather.
The tournament, which is hosted by the University of Arkansas at Monticello, will host 20 of the top Division II Softball teams in the region to compete and honor the legacy of Coach Alvy Early. The Lions have four games scheduled for the weekend.
Southern, which was scheduled to open the weekend on Friday, will play their first game on Saturday (Feb. 15) at 12:00 p.m. when they play the University of Arkansas at Monticello. They will then play Harding at 4:00 p.m. On Sunday (Feb. 16) the Lions are scheduled to take on Henderson State at 2 p.m. and Quincy at 4 p.m.
The Lions were picked ninth in the MIAA preseason softball coaches' poll. Southern is coming off a season that saw the Lions finish 19-25 overall and 10-16 in the MIAA.
The team returns a total of five starters from last year's team including two honorable mention MIAA players in senior second baseman Makaila Leonhart and sophomore shortstop Josie Tofpi.
In total, the Lions return 11 position players, as well as four pitchers from last year's team. A group of five newcomers also return to the fold.
Last time Out
The Lions enter the weekend after finishing 2020 Edmond Regional Fesitval I with a 1-3 record. They opened the season with a 14-0 run-rule win over East Central in five innings before falling to Southeastern Oklahoma State, 5-1. On Sunday, the Lions fell by one run to No. 15 Cameron University, 5-4, before being defeated by Oklahoma Christian, who was receiving votes in the preseason poll, 20-3.
Last week, Abby Atkin has a strong opening weekend in the circle for Missouri Southern. The junior appeared in three of the Lion's four games including two starts and finished with a 1-0 record. She pitched 10 innings, including a five-inning shutout over East Central. In her weekend games, Atkin finished with a 0.90 ERA by allowing just eight hits, no walks and four strikeouts. She allowed just one earned run in those 10 innings of work.
Haleigh Scott went 6-of-10 over the weekend as she started all four games for the Lions. She had three doubles and five RBI.
Scouting The Opposition
Saturday's game with UAM will be the fourth between the Lions and UAM since 2012. UAM leads the series 2-1 over that time with their last game, a 4-2 loss, back in 2015. UAM enters the weekend with a 1-4 record as they have dropped three straight.
The Lions will then battle Harding. Saturday's matchup will be the first game between these two schools in history. The Bisons enter the weekend with a 5-3 record. Aidan Nichols was named Great American Conference Pitcher of the Week for the Bisons after she registered a pair of complete-game victories for the Lady Bisons at the Harding Invitational. She notched her second double-digit strikeout performance of the early season as she struck out 11 in a 3-2 win against Northeastern State on Friday. She followed up that win by holding Delta State to one unearned run and three hits in a 9-1, five-inning victory
The Reddies enter the weekend with a 3-5 overall record after losing their last three. Since 2016, Henderson State has won all three match ups with Southern, including in 2018 when they won 8-0.
Quincy is another team the Lions have not played so it will be a new team to look at. Saturday's games in Bentonville will be the Hawk's first games of the 2020 campaign.
Weather Outlook
Despite the weather pushing the tournament back, it appears the weather will be good in in Bentonville Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is expected to be partly cloudy with
wind gusts in the teens. Sunday will be partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain.
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