THIBODEAUX, LOUISIANA – The University of Incarnate Word softball team will stay on the road this week as they travel to Southland Conference rival Nicholls in a three game series starting on Friday at 7 p.m. The concludes with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon at the Colonel Softball Complex.
         
The Cardinals (14-23, 5-10) will enter play on a three game skid after dropping all three games against Abilene Christian last week. UIW is 4-6 in their last ten games and the team is 5-11 on the road this season.
         
At the plate, the Cardinals are batting .271 as a team and they are averaging 3.5 runs per game.  Against Southland Conference opponents this season, UIW is batting .256 as a team and they are still looking for their first conference road victory of the season.  Danielle Ramirez (San Antonio/Marshall) leads the Cardinals with a .376 batting average and she has also scored 18 runs and stolen nine bases.  Over the past ten games, Natali Duron (Pasadena/Pasadena Memorial HS) has been the Cardinals' hottest hitter going 11 for her last 23 with three RBI's and four runs scored.
         
In the pitching circle, the Cardinals have a team earned run average of 5.17 and they are led by Bridget Stein (Brenham/Brenham HS) who has a 6-7 record with a 4.09 ERA in 77.0 innings.  Sarah Leal (Kyle/Hays HS) will also likely see action in the series and she is 4-7 with a 3.74 ERA in 67.1 innings of work.
         
The Colonels (25-14, 10-4) enter the three game series after losing two of their last three after facing McNeese State. The Colonels are very good at home with 9-1 record and they currently sit third in the Southland Conference standings behind McNeese State and Lamar.
         
Nicholls is hitting .283 as a team and they are averaging 4.3 runs per game. Danielle Phillips leads the Colonels in batting average at .368 with 17 RBI's.  Amanda Gianelloni leads the team with 29 batted in and she is hitting .361 with a .588 slugging percentage.  Alexis Huss will also be a player to keep an eye on as she has four homeruns, 21 RBI's while batting .311.

The Colonels have a team earned run average of 2.00 and both Hannah Haydel and Megan Landry will likely get the bulk of the pitching duties against the Cardinals. Haydel leads the team with a 13-7 record and she has a 1.38 ERA in 137.1 innings of work with 13 complete games while Landry is 11-6 with a 1.98 ERA in 106.0 innings with seven complete games.
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