Black Knights Return to Florida for Spring Break

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point softball team returns to the state of Florida for an 11-game set at the USF Under Armour Showcase from March 10-18.

HOW TO FOLLOW
LIVE STATS • GoArmyWestPoint.com
TWITTER • ArmyWP_Softball

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday, March 10: 4:30 p.m. vs. South Carolina-Upstate | 6:45 p.m. vs. Fort Wayne
Saturday, March: 11: 11:30 a.m. vs. Central Michigan | 4:15 p.m. vs. Monmouth
Sunday, March 12: 4 p.m. at South Florida
Wednesday, March 15: 11 a.m. vs. Indiana State | 1 p.m. vs. Monmouth
Friday, March 17: 11 a.m. vs. Ohio State | 1:30 p.m. vs. Fairfield
Saturday, March 18: 2:30 p.m. vs. Florida A&M | 4:45 p.m. vs. Bethune-Cookman

ARMY (11-4, 0-0 Patriot League)
• The Black Knights are currently on an 11-game winning streak.
• This is just the fourth time since becoming a Division I program that Army has won 11 or more consecutive games.
• Freshman Lacey Swafford leads the team with 14 hits, hitting at a clip of .298.
• Sophomore Ashley Yoo and Emily Ballesteros have each recorded 13 hits on the season, while Ballesteros leads the team with five doubles, six extra-base hits and eight RBI.
• Ballesteros and Swafford have each been named Patriot League Rookie of the Week so far this season, while senior Kristen West and sophomore Renee Poirier have claimed pitcher of the week honors.
• West sports a spotless 3-0 record in five appearances with an astonishing 0.38 ERA, which ranks eighth in the nation.
• Poirier leads the Black Knights in innings pitched (41), wins (five), complete games (five), shutouts (one) and strikeouts (28).

SOUTH CAROLINA-UPSTATE (19-3, 0-0 ASun)
• This will be the second meeting between Army and USC-Upstate, after last season's 3-2 by the Spartans at UNC Wilmington's Seahawk Softball Bash.
• The Spartans have jumped out to a red-hot start, with their only three losses coming against Missouri, Youngstown State and James Madison.
• Ansley Gilstrap and Karla Beasley have powered the SC-Upstate offense.
• Gilstrap has gone 21-for-61 (.344 avg.) at the plate with five doubles, 16 runs scored and 14 RBI.
• Beasley sports an average of .333 (22-for-66), with a .621 slugging percentage thanks to four doubles and five home runs.
• In the circle, Lexi Shubert and Holly McKinnon have shouldered the majority of the workload, tossing 139.1 of the team's 146 innings on the season.
• Shubert sports a 10-1 record with a 0.68 ERA, nine complete games, five shutouts and three saves.
• She has allowed just 30 hits and seven runs (earned) in 72 innings of work with a walk-to-strikeout ratio of 17:93.
• McKinnon is 8-2 on the season with five complete games with an ERA of 0.94. She leads the team with 94 strikeouts.

FORT WAYNE (3-15, 0-0 Summit League)
• This will be the first meeting between Army and Fort Wayne.
• The Mastadons are led offensively by Lauren Watson's .350 batting average (21-for-60).
• Kelly Pevely has provided the power for Fort Wayne with three home runs and six RBI, both are the highest totals on the team.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN (10-7, 0-0 MAC)
• This will be the first meeting between Army and Central Michigan.
• The Chippewas have won nine of their last 10 games.
• CMU's offense starts with Lacy Tolfree, whose .404 average (21-for-52), 15 runs scored and .538 slugging percentage lead the team.
• Madison Kalina (17-for-46, .370 avg.), Taylor Lewallen (11-for-31, .355 avg.), Allison Curtis (18-for-51, .353 avg.) and Morgan Gardner (16-for-50, .320 avg.) have also been key contributors to the Chippewa offense.
• Gardner leads the squad with 14 RBI.
• Rachel Knapp enters the game with an ERA of 2.35, while going 6-3 in 12 appearances.
• Knapp has recorded 83 strikeouts while issuing only 17 walks in 62.2 innings of work.

MONMOUTH (2-5, 0-0 MAAC)
• Army is 2-2 in the all-time series against Monmouth as the two teams will meet for the first time since 2012.
• The Hawks two victories on the season have come in the last three games.
• Justine Reyes leads Monmouth with a .400 average (6-for-15) and four RBI.
• Nicole Wieczorek has provided the power offensively with team bests in doubles (three), triples (one) and runs scored (three).

SOUTH FLORIDA (13-8, 0-0 American)
• Army is 0-1 against South Florida with the lone meeting coming in 2015.
• Kristen Wyckoff leads the Bulls in batting average (.446), hits (25), runs scored (13), and stolen bases (12-for-12).
• USF has five bats in its lineup with multiple home runs, while two have 10 RBIs.
• On the rubber, Cheyenne Eggens leads the Bulls with a record of 5-3 to go along with her 1.70 ERA.

INDIANA STATE (8-6, 0-0 Missouri Valley)
• Army is 1-0 against Indiana State in the all-time series with the first meeting coming in 1985.
• Kassie Brown leads the Sycamoers offense with a .405 average (15-for-37) and is second on the team with 12 runs scored.
• Indiana State has five hitters above the .300 mark, five with 10 or more runs scored and seven with 10 or more hits.
• Brooke Mann has provided the power with three home runs and 14 RBIs.

OHIO STATE (7-5, 0-0 Big Ten)
• This will be the first meeting between Army and Ohio State.
• Lilli Piper and Anna Kirk lead the offensive effort for the Buckeyes, hitting above .400.
• Piper is hitting at a clip of .463 (19-for-41) with a team-leading 13 RBIs.
• Kirk is batting .419 (13-for-31) with a .513 on-base percentage and three home runs.
• In the circle, Ohio State has the one-two punch of Shelby Hursh and Lena Springer.
• The duo has combined to go 7-2 with 60 strikeouts in 64 innings.

Florida A&M (3-16-1, 0-0 MEAC)
• Army is 1-4 against Florida A&M as the two sides will square off for the first time since 2008.
• Alexis Day leads the Rattlers offensively with 13 hits and seven RBIs.

Bethune-Cookman (6-18, 0-0 MEAC)
• Army is 1-0 all-time against Bethune-Cookman with the first meeting come in 2015.
• The Wildcats are riding a five-game winning streak.
• Ryan Jackson is hitting .429 (27-for-63) with team-bests in runs (17), home runs (six) and RBIs (20).

Army's first game will be on Friday at 4:30 against South Carolina-Upstate at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Fla.

For more information on Army West Point softball, visit GoArmyWestPoint.com and follow @ArmyWP_Softball on Twitter.

Black Knights Return to Florida for Spring Break

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Players Mentioned

Emily Ballesteros

Renee Poirier

Lacey Swafford

Kristen West

Ashley Yoo

Army West Point Athletics