Tulsa Softball Set For Home Finale Against Missouri State

The Tulsa softball team plays its regular season home finale Wednesday afternoon when it faces Missouri State at 3 p.m. at the Collins Family Softball Complex.

The Golden Hurricane (30-17, 9-6 American) has won seven of its last nine games after dropping two of three to Houston over the weekend. The Bears (28-21, 16-7 MVC) won two of three games over Northern Iowa over the weekend, and are 11-5 in their last 15 games. Live video and live stats of the game will be available on TU's website.

Tulsa hits .299 (383-for-1282) with 239 RBI, 270 runs, 66 doubles, 14 triples and 43 home runs, and has a .473 slugging percentage and a .385 on-base percentage with 172 walks. The Hurricane has a 2.65 team ERA with 243 strikeouts, 108 walks, 308 hits, 145 runs and 119 earned runs allowed, and has a .257 opponent batting average.

Missouri State is hitting .275 with 209 runs, 188 RBI, 48 doubles, seven triples and 42 home runs, a .422 slugging percentage and a .361 on-base percentage. The Bears have a 3.41 team ERA with 235 strikeouts, 118 walks, 362 hits, 199 runs and 161 earned runs allowed, with a .274 opponent batting average in 330.2 innings.

Six Tulsa players hit better than .300, led by senior Julie Kernen, who hits .352 with 55 RBI, 11 home runs, 15 doubles and 35 runs scored. Sophomore Brittany Walker is hitting .378 with 25 RBI, 22 runs, a .633 slugging percentage and 13 extra base hits. Senior Erica Sampson hits .340 with 51 runs, 27 RBI and 19 extra base hits. Sophomore Maddie Withee hits .304 with 18 RBI and 15 runs, sophomore Maggie Withee hits .310 and has scored 36 runs, and junior Kaitlin Allen hits .306 with 11 RBI and 11 runs.

In the circle, senior Bailey Erwin leads the Hurricane with a 15-3 record and a 2.48 ERA in 28 appearances with 16 starts. She has 99 strikeouts to 28 walks, and has allowed 125 hits and 42 earned runs in 118.2 innings. Freshman Emily Watson is 7-4 with a 2.54 ERA. She has pitched three shutouts, and totaled 72 strikeouts to 32 walks, and has allowed 78 hits and 30 earned runs in 82.2 innings. Junior Caitlin Sill is 8-10 with a 2.61 ERA, and has thrown 110.0 innings in 23 appearances with 16 starts. She has allowed 48 runs, 41 earned runs on 100 hits, with 71 strikeouts and 45 walks.

This will be the 46th meeting between Tulsa and Missouri State. Missouri State leads the series, 24-21. The Golden Hurricane has won 10 in a row in the series, dating back to 2007. The Bears last won in the series in 2006, when it won twice in Springfield, 5-2 and 2-1. TU has won three times in Tulsa during its winning streak, including 8-0 in 2013, 4-0 in 2011 and 6-5 in 2007. The Hurricane also won five games in Springfield and twice in the 2011 NCAA Norman Regional.

Following Wednesday's contest, the Hurricane will conclude the regular season with a three-game American Athletic Conference series at UConn Saturday and Sunday, before traveling to Orlando for the American Conference Championship at UCF, May 7-9.