Jags enter conference tournament as No. 5, will face LSU-Alexandria

The UHV softball team will open its bid for a third Red River Athletic Conference tournament title on Thursday.

The Jaguars (26-15, 19-9) will be the No. 5 seed and square off with No. 4 LSU-Alexandria (23-21, 16-10) in a rematch of a series UHV swept on April 1. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at Our Lady of the Lake University.

UHV enters the tournament after winning eight of its last 10 games, including a sweep of University of the Southwest on Saturday.

"We feel like we're playing our best softball right now," said head coach Lindsey Ortiz. "Our girls have put in a lot of work this season and it's showed over the last few weeks. I want us to keep that level of confidence and energy this week."

The Jaguars had two players earn RRAC weekly honors after going 3-1 last week to close the season.

Cameron Cowan earned her third Pitcher of the Week award after going 2-0 in the circle to move to 15-5 on the year, and boasted a 0.88 ERA with 18 strikeouts over 16 innings in three appearances last week.

She tied the program's all-time shutout mark (13) in a 2-0 win over University of the Southwest on Saturday. The Shiner native also struck out a season-high nine batters in a 3-2 win over Texas A&M-San Antonio on Wednesday.

Her 15 wins, which is a career-high, ranks third in the conference and her 94 strikeouts are sixth in the RRAC.

"Cameron gives us an opportunity to beat anybody," Ortiz said. "She sticks to the gameplan, attacks batters and lets her defense work behind her. She's shown her dominance this year and I can't wait for her to put it on display at the tournament."

Lauren Caka was named RRAC Player of the Week after hitting .455 with four RBIs and a pair of doubles last week. It was the second consecutive week for UHV winning POTW honors with Claire Blinka winning it the week before.

Blinka is second in the conference in RBIs with 39.

Kenzie Chambers ranks second in the conference with 29 stolen bases after three swiped bags last week. Madysin Leighton, who leads the team with a .386 average, has stolen 27 bases this season.

The Jaguars' offense has averaged 5.8 runs per game over the last 10 games.

"I like the way we've been playing at the plate right now," Ortiz said. "The top of the lineup has done what we've expected, but we've seen more production throughout the lineup which gives us more chances to do some damage."

The winner of Thursday's opening round game will square off with the OLLU-Xavier winner on Friday, while the losers will meet in an elimination game.