AUSTIN, Texas — The conference season is right around the corner, but the Tennessee State University Tigers softball team (8-6) has some business to take care of as they travel to Austin, Texas, to play five games in the highly competitive University of Texas Longhorn Invitational (March 3-5). The team is in the middle of a 14-game road trip which started last weekend in the Panther Invitational in Atlanta, Georgia.  This invite will be a substantial test for TSU. Something that they are looking forward to.
 
"You want to test your players before you get into conference play, so this weekend is important," said Tiger head coach Genee McRath. "Texas is the national runner-up, and the three other teams won their conference last season. Ideally, we will see everything we need playing against this level of competition. We want to go out there and compete. Our message is that we must show up every time we touch the field."
 
Though they are going to Texas with a three-game losing streak, competing hasn't been a problem this year for the Tigers. They have been in every game this season. In their last game, a 5-4 loss in eight innings to Georgia State, they were up 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Two solo homers tied the game. The Tigers then took a 4-3 lead in the top of the eight but succumbed to Georgia State on a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning.
 
Last week sophomore hurler Caitlyn Manus went 2-2, winning both games on Friday. In the 3-0 win against Western Carolina, she threw a complete game, three-hit shutout. Later that day, she got a win in relief over Georgia throwing four innings of shutout ball in her team's 5-2 win. Despite her record, freshman Holly Ayala (1-3) has pitched well this season. The San Antonio native has a 2.59 ERA and four complete games.
 
At the plate, freshman Onnika Spencer has been getting it done. She belted two home runs over the weekend and had two doubles and four singles. She ended up with a 1,125 slugging percentage and batted .500. She also caught all 33 innings this past week, sniping two out of five runners trying to steal. Sophomore Ryla Traylor is starting to heat up. She has collected two hits in each of the past three games, raising her batting average to .364.
 
The Matchup: Tennessee State Tigers (8-6) vs. Princeton (2-3)
Date/Time: Friday, March 3|| 11:30 a.m. (CST)
Location: Red & Charline McCombs Field | Austin, Texas
Live Stats: TeamA 0 TeamB 0 Top 1 0 Outs (texassports.com)
 
 
The Matchup: Tennessee State Tigers (8-6) at Texas (11-2-1)
Date/Time: Friday, March 3|| 4:30 p.m. (CST)
Location: Red & Charline McCombs Field | Austin, Texas
Watch Live: Longhorn Network
Live Stats: TeamA 0 TeamB 0 Top 1 0 Outs (texassports.com)
 
 
The Matchup: Tennessee State Tigers (8-6) vs. McNeese State (10-5)
Date/Time: Saturday, March 4|| 9:30 a.m. (CST)
Location: Red & Charline McCombs Field | Austin, Texas
Live Stats: TeamA 0 TeamB 0 Top 1 0 Outs (texassports.com)
 
 
The Matchup: Tennessee State Tigers (8-6) vs. Louisiana (10-6)
Date/Time: Saturday, March 4|| 5:00 p.m. (CST)
Location: Red & Charline McCombs Field | Austin, Texas
Live Stats: TeamA 0 TeamB 0 Top 1 0 Outs (texassports.com)
 
The Matchup: Tennessee State Tigers (8-6) vs. Princeton (2-3)
Date/Time: Sunday, March 5|| 10:00 a.m. (CST)
Location: Red & Charline McCombs Field | Austin, Texas
Live Stats: TeamA 0 TeamB 0 Top 1 0 Outs (texassports.com)
 
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS:

• Freshman Onnika Spencer has a .715 slugging percentage for the season after hitting two home runs and lacing two doubles this past weekend. She leads the team in home runs and RBIs. She has been behind the plate for every inning this season.
• Laila Armstrong has been sound in the leadoff position. She leads the team in batting average at .319 and is tied for first with Nahtali Simpson drawing seven walks. 
• Anayah Baker-Rowell has been solid in the nine-hole all season. She is batting .316 and is six for six in stolen bases.

 
SCOUTING PRINCETON

• Alexis Laudenslager, the reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, won the honors of Ivy Co-Pitcher of the Week. The senior struck out 24 batters in 14 1/3 innings with a 1.95 ERA in two appearances this weekend.
• Princeton won the Ivy League last season and returns a strong nucleus, including last season's rookie of the year Sophia Marsalo at first base. A total of seven returning players were named to the conference's first and second teams last season.
• Julia Dumais had her first three collegiate hits last weekend.

 
SCOUTING TEXAS

• Freshman Leighann Goode has already shown why she was named one of the top newcomers in the country. She leads the Big 12 Conference in hits with 25 and the nation in runs scored per game (1.62). Viviana Martinez and Mia Scott are tied for second in hits with 24.
• Freshman Citlaly Gutierrez (3-1) has thrown a no-hitter this season. She leads the Texas staff with a 1.75 ERA.
• Sophomore Mac Morgan is 4-0 this season. She has thrown three complete games.

 
SCOUTING LOUISIANA

• This week, Meghan Schorman (4-2) was named the Sun Belt Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week. She threw a no-hitter against the 25th-ranked team in the nation, UCF, and beat 14th-ranked LSU, throwing 5.2 innings.
•  Karly Heath (1-0) threw a no-hitter and hit a two-run home run in her team's 2-0 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
• Louisiana, the three-time defending regular season and tournament champions, was the unanimous selection as the favorite to win the 2023 Sun Belt Conference title in a vote of the league's 12 head coaches.

 
 
 
 
 
 
SCOUTING MCNEESE STATE

• Chloe Gomez, Rylie Bouvier, Alavis Seneca, and Reese Reyna are batting over .300, with Gomez leading the way with a .386 average.  Gomez also leads the team with 17 hits and is tied for a team-high with Crislyn Moreno with three doubles.
• Senior Whitney Tate (4-0) is the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week. Her 1.86 ERA leads the team. She also is the team leader in innings pitched (41.1) and strikeouts (26) while walking only two batters.
• Last season, McNeese State won 40 games and won their conference as a second seed.