Tough tournament field awaits Lady Bengals at NFCA Leadoff Classic
The LSU Eunice softball team heads into the 2014 NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. set to take on a strong field in their toughest tests of the season to date over three days of action this weekend.
The Lady Bengals, 15-0 on the year and the No. 1-ranked team in the NJCAA Division II poll, along with top-ranked Wallace State Community College-Hanceville in the Division I poll, each are coming off National Championships last spring and head up the strong field.
The 24-team field includes 15 NJCAA Division I teams and nine squads from Division II. Nine of the participating teams in the tournament participated in their division's respective 2013 national championship tournament.
In addition to the two-time national champions from LSU Eunice (2011, 2013 and Wallace State-Hanceville (2008, 2013), NJCAA Division II is also represented by the 2009 national champions Heartland Community College and 2010 national champions Muskegon Community College.
Georgia Perimeter College, Lake Land College, Odessa College, CCBC-Catonsville and Kirkwood Community College join Heartland and Muskegon as 2013 NJCAA District Champions who will be in this year's field.
Remaining tournament teams are: Blinn College, Central Alabama Community College, Des Moines Area Community College, Florence-Darlington Technical College, Gordon College, Indian Hills Community College, Labette Community College, Midland College, Northwest Florida State College, Pasco-Hernando Community College, San Jacinto College, Seminole State College, Southern Union State Community College, Spartanburg Methodist College and Tallahassee Community College.
This year's NFCA Leadoff Classic will be divided into pool and bracket play, with each team guaranteed a minimum of five games. Each team will begin the tournament by playing each of the other three schools in their pool. Once pool play is completed, the teams will be divided into three brackets (Gold, Silver & Bronze) of eight teams each.
The Lady Bengals have a .366 team batting average with a .437 on-base percentage and a .593 slugging percentage. Over 15 games, they have collected 39 doubles, four triples and 14 home runs while scoring 116 total runs, averaging 7.73 runs per game.
In the circle, LSU Eunice pitchers have combined for a 0.53 team ERA in 93.0 innings of work. They have allowed just 40 hits, 14 runs (seven earned runs) and 26 walks while striking out 92 batters. Opposing hitters are batting just .134 against the Lady Bengals' pitching staff that has already tallied three no-hitters this season.
LSU Eunice opens pool play on Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. eastern time, when they face Indian Hillis Community College (2-0). The Lady Bengals then turn around and square off against Pasco Hernando Community College (4-10) in a 5 p.m. eastern start. They round out pool play on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. eastern time against Blinn College (13-4) before heading into the bracket round.
The latest schedule and bracket information on the NFCA Leadoff Classic can be found here.
