Glendale, Ariz.- A weekend after hosting NAIA number one ranked Oregon Tech, Arizona Christian will host NAIA defending champ and number two ranked Southern Oregon on Friday. On Saturday, they will travel for the first time this season as they head to Benedictine Mesa.
Game Details
Southern Oregon- Friday, February 16 at 4:30 pm (DH)
ACU Softball Field, Arizona Christian University, Glendale, AZ
Live Video- https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian/
Live Stats- https://acufirestorm.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
Benedictine Mesa- Saturday, February 17 at 12:00 pm (DH)
Seton Catholic Preparatory, Mesa, AZ
Live Video- https://portal.stretchinternet.com/benumesa/
Live Stats Game 1- https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/sball/2023-24/boxscores/20240217_tiz0.xml
Live Stats Game 2- https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/sball/2023-24/boxscores/20240217_enm1.xml
Thoughts from Coach Mayben
"After a solid week of practices where players were committed to making adjustments and improvements we feel ready to be at our best hosting reigning National Champion Southern Oregon on Friday and playing at Benedictine Mesa on Saturday. SOU comes in with a new nucleus of players, but as they have for years they are loaded with returning and new talent. Our focus is to be more consistent on defense in an effort to limit as many runs as possible, and execute offensively to attempt to put pressure on their defense."
Arizona Christian
ACU had a tough weekend as they dropped all four games to Embry-Riddle and Oregon Tech. Jyden Miles had the best overall weekend as she hit .385 over the four games. Claire Buckley and Miranda Hipolito both homered.
Key ACU Players
Miles - .455, 3B, 3 steals
Hipolito - .381, 2 HR, 9 RBI
Buckley - .310, HR, 5 steals
Dayna Herrera- .261, 8 RBI, 1-1 pitching
Abbi Covalt- .259, 2B
Savannah Smith - 3-3, save, 1.58 ERA, 30 Ks
Trinity Lawson - 2-0, 14 Ks
Series Notes
The Firestorm and Raiders last met in 2022 up in Oregon with SOU taking two of the three games. Southern Oregon is 4-1 all-time against Arizona Christian.
Versus Ben Mesa, Arizona Christian is currently riding a 13 game win streak. All-time the Firestorm are 25-6 against the Redhawks.
Southern Oregon
The Raiders are 3-2 to begin their 2024 season after winning the 2023 NAIA Championship. SOU swept NCAA DII Western Oregon on Saturday- 5-2 and 7-5.
Benedictine Mesa
The Redhawks split with OUAZ on Tuesday- winning 2-1 and losing 5-1. Overall, they are only 2-1 thanks to having three games rained out.
Roll Storm!
