Jags to open conference play at home against Southwest

The UHV softball team set its bar high well before the 2024 season kicked off.

The six-time conference champions have made six consecutive Red River Athletic Conference semifinals and are hoping for their first title since 2021, when the team reached the NAIA World Series.

So far, the Jaguars (5-1) have risen to the challenge in non-conference play, including a ranked win over No. 23 William Carey in the team's season opener.

Now, the team will look roll its hot start into conference play when University of the Southwest comes to town for a 1 p.m. conference-opening doubleheader on Friday at the Victoria Youth Sports Complex.

"We're very confident heading into conference play," said head coach Lindsey Ortiz. "Those preseason games are good for a lot of reasons. They help us identify what we need get better at. I think we're willing to work hard to be the best version of ourselves and we're at a great starting point for conference. We're only going to get better."

Heading into Friday's twinbill with the Mustangs (5-3), UHV boasts the second-best batting average at .386, one point behind LSU Alexandria.

A large credit for that goes to the top of the Jaguars' order of Madysin Leighton, Kenzie Chambers, Kaylle Lopez and Claire Blinka. That quartet has combined to hit .529 with 26 RBIs and 31 runs scored.

Lopez, who was named the RRAC Player of the Week on Tuesday, hit .467 with 10 RBIs in four games last week. Her 12 RBIs and .550 batting average rank second and third in the conference, respectively.

Chambers and Leighton have combined for 15 stolen bases this season and each rank in the top five in the conference.

Blinka enters Friday's doubleheader on an eight-game hitting streak which dates back to the 2023 conference tournament.

"I think our team has a lot of confidence in each other right now," Ortiz said. "I think they're having fun. We're getting on the bases and we're running aggressively. We're seeing that in and of itself can make things happen for us.

"But I've said it 100 times. Our lineup is solid all the way through. Kaylle, Blinka, Mady and Kenz are doing such a great job at the top, but we're getting good production from the bottom, too."

UHV, which leads the all-time series with Southwest 18-2, understands the need to close out games, especially against the Mustangs.

In a season sweep of Southwest last year, all four games were decided by two runs or fewer.

"Paying attention to the preseason across the conference, I think the level of play, across the board, has been elevated," Ortiz said. "So you can't sleep on anybody, especially a scrappy team like Southwest. We have to keep our focus and energy across both games because there's no room for messing around. You don't get these games back."

One key for the Jaguars' to succeed on Friday is pitching, and, despite being on the losing end of a 5-4 decision against St. Thomas (TX) on Sunday, sophomore Anyssia Mendoza delivered a gritty performance to keep UHV in the game.

The Mathis native allowed only two earned runs on six hits while striking out five.

"I was super proud of the game Neech put together," Ortiz said. "She's been fighting hard for that opportunity. Truthfully, I think she capitalized on it; we just didn't play great defense behind her. So that was part of our message after that game, that we need to support our pitching staff defensively. But the more experience these kids get, the better we're going to be and the more prepared we'll be for postseason."