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This Week in A-Sun Softball

A split against Stetson gives Carmen Paez and the Eagles sole-possession of the regular-season A-Sun title. <br><i>Image courtesy of FGCUAthletics.com</i>

A split against Stetson gives Carmen Paez and the Eagles sole-possession of the regular-season A-Sun title.
Image courtesy of FGCUAthletics.com

Date Posted: 4/28/2008

This Week in A-Sun Softball

A-Sun Series of the Week

Tuesday, April 29
Florida Gulf Coast at Stetson
Patricia Wilson Field/DeLand, Fla.
5:00 p.m. ET

After cruising to a 10-0 start in A-Sun play, the Eagles (48-14, 16-4 A-Sun) are only 6-4 in their last 10 conference games. Despite the late-season struggles, Florida Gulf Coast needs only a split against Stetson in the A-Sun regular season finale to clinch the regular season title. The Hatters (38-22, 11-8 A-Sun), who wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming A-Sun Championship, boast a league-best team ERA of 1.55 and are led by school single-season strikeout record holder Amanda Lindsey (21-13, 1.33 ERA) and Erica Demers (17-9, 1.85 ERA). They face a vaunted Eagles offense that leads the league in batting (.313) and claims two of the most feared bats in the conference in Carmen Paez (.430, 22 HR, 68 RBI) and Cheyenne Jenks (.398, 16 HR, 72 RBI).

A-Sun Notables

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUPS SET
As this weekend's conference play concluded, so did the matchups for May's A-Sun Softball Championship. Top-seeded Lipscomb faces No. 6 Gardner-Webb, the defending champion and second-seeded Stetson Hatters face fifth-seeded Campbell, and No. 3 Mercer squares off against the Lady Bucs of ETSU.

SPARTAN FRESHMAN CLAIMS TWO SCHOOL RECORDS
It is sufficient to say that USC Upstate's Morgan Childers made a significant impact for the Spartans during their first NCAA Division I campaign. The right-hander out of Kings Mountain, N.C. set the single-season strikeout record at USC Upstate on Wednesday and added the mark for wins in a season the very next day. Facing Furman on Wednesday, Childers picked up five strikeouts between two games to up her total to 237 on the year, surpassing the 236 set by Maricela Panuco during the 2000 season. The next day in a doubleheader with Presbyterian, Childers picked up her 25th win of the season, breaking the old Spartan record of 24 set by Kristy Middagh in 2002. Childers fanned 10 batters in the 7-0 triumph. For the season, Childers ended with a 27-5 record with 258 strikeouts. Her 27 wins ties her for fifth in the A-Sun single season record book.

FLORIDA GULF COAST CAPS OFF RUN-HAPPY SEASON
With one doubleheader against Stetson remaining in the 2008 season, the Eagles can already stake their claim as the highest-scoring softball team in A-Sun history. Florida Gulf Coast plated 414 runs this season through 62 games, for an average of 6.68 runs per game. Even if the Hatters manage to hold the Eagles scoreless in both of Tuesday's games, FGCU will still have a per game average of 6.47, shattering the old record of 5.72 runs per game set by Mercer in 2003. Cheyenne Jenks and Carmen Paez account for almost one-third of the Eagles' offense alone, driving in a combined 140 of 414 runs. On the season, Jenks has 72 RBI and Paez has 68, which ranks them as the top-two run-producers in a single season in A-Sun history.

A-Sun Standings - 2007-08