Dartmouth Softball Heads to Texas Invitational

THIS WEEK IN DARTMOUTH SOFTBALL

Texas Invitational Schedule (All times ET)
UT Red and Charline McCombs Field (1,251)

Fri., Feb 27 - Lamar vs. Dartmouth - 12:30 p.m.// Longhorn Network // Live Stats
Fri., Feb 27 - Dartmouth at Texas - 3:30 p.m. // Longhorn Network // Live Stats
Sat., Feb 28 - Lamar vs. Dartmouth - 11:00 a.m. // Longhorn Network // Live Stats
Sat., Feb 28 - Texas Southern vs. Dartmouth - 7:30 p.m. // Longhorn Network (Tape Delay) // Live Stats
Sun., Mar 1 - Dartmouth at Texas - 11 a.m. // Longhorn Network // Live Stats

INNING-BY-INNING STORYLINES

NATIONAL KNOCK OFF - It didn't take long for the Big Green to set the tone for the season, as the squad defeated No. 16/17 Auburn to open the 2015 campaign, 4-2, on Friday morning at the Wilson DeMarini Tournament at South Florida.

GIN RUMMY - Senior Kristen Rumley became the first Big Green pitcher to eclipse 500 career innings in the win against Auburn. After tossing 23.0 over the weekend, she now has a total of 518.1 in 100 appearances.

GUARD MOUNTING - In the last four years, Dartmouth has had one mainstay behind that plate — 130 games to be exact — in Alex St. Romain '14. Since graduating after the NCAA Tournament, the Big Green are now looking for a new knight in somewhat shining armor to protect the plate. Junior Kathy Dzienkowski is the lone returner to have defending the plate honor. In five games this season, Dzienkowski has played in three games while sophomore Karen Chaw and freshman Claire Bird have called one game each.

HIP HIP JORGY - Sophomore Alyssa Jorgensen has taken over the leadoff spot this season and replaced Kara Curosh '14 at second base. In 14 games last season, Jorgensen made nine starts and batted .265. In 14 at bats this season, the Texas native is 4-for-14 (.286) with a RBI.

ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST - Head coach Shannon Doepking picked up her first Division I win as a head coach against former SEC foe Auburn. Doepking went 7-5 against the Tigers as a student-athlete at Tennessee.

HOWDY, TEXAS - Dartmouth lists eight Texas natives on the active roster this season. Kathy Dzienkowski is from Austin, while Jorgensen and freshman Brittany Mann are from Woodlands. Freshman Lourlin Lara is from neighboring town Conroe. Sophomore Ashley Sissel is from Wichita Falls, junior Kelsey Miller is from Mansfield, freshman Madison Smith is from Tyler and Rumley is from Katy.

SERIES RECORD

Dartmouth vs. Lamar - First Meeting
Dartmouth and Lamar have never met before in softball.

SCOUTING LAMAR - The Lady Cardinals enter this weekend with a 3-8 overall record and have competed in a pair of tournaments prior to the Texas Invitational. At the Sand Dollar Classic, Lamar picked up all three wins defeating Jackson State 9-2, Liberty 10-6 and Eastern Kentucky 7-4. At the Mississippi State Invitational, the Lady Cardinals dropped all six contests to some tough competitors which included Louisiana Tech, Tennessee-Martin, Illinois and host Mississippi State. Shannon Sain leads Lamar with a .438 batting average and .474 on-base percentage, and is second on the team with nine RBIs. Casey Cromwell is second with a .371 batting average and leads the Lady Cardinals with three home runs, 10 RBIs and a .714 slugging percentage. Laura Napoli (2-4, 4.39) leads the Lamar pitching staff.

Dartmouth vs. Texas - First Meeting
Dartmouth and Texas have never squared off before in softball but have competed in men's basketball in 1970. The Longhorns won 85-76.

SCOUTING TEXAS- The Longhorns dropped their last three games at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California last weekend. Texas is 9-6 on the year with consecutive losses at the hands of Fresno State, Missouri and Notre Dame. The Tigers and Fighting Irish were both ranked higher than the Longhorns, who dropped out of the ESPN/USA Softball poll and sit 25th in the USA Today / NFCA Coaches poll. Erin Shireman and Lindsay Stephens lead Texas with four home runs each. Stephanie Wong is batting a team-best .390 with 16 hits and seven runs batted in. Tiarra Davis is 4-1 with a 3.41 earned run average.

Dartmouth vs. Texas Southern - First Meeting
Dartmouth and Texas Southern have never squared off before in softball but have competed in women's basketball in 1996. The Big Green won 102-72.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN TEXAS - The Tigers struggled out of the gates dropping five straight, but as of late have won three of their last four. Thomasina Garza leads the team in most statistical categories leading up to the Texas Invitational. Garza's .667 (12-18) batting average is one of the best in the NCAA this season. She has three home runs and 10 RBIs. Madison Staton is 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA in 13.1 innings. Samantha Jimenez is 0-2 but is tied for innings and starts (3) with Staton.

Directions to Red and Charline McCombs Field

Schedules