40-game season awaits Team Purple

SAGU opens Feb. 8-9 at home vs OLLU

WAXAHACHIE, Texas  — The women’s fast-pitch softball program at Southwestern Assemblies of God University is about to begin their second year. In three weeks they will open the 2013 season with a three-game series at home.

The Lady Lions, who struggled through their inaugural 30-game campaign, have published a 40-game itinerary that includes 21 home dates. There are a total of eight doubleheaders played on the team’s campus ballfield.

It is located behind the Sheaffer Center , which serves both basketball and volleyball. The sports grounds have separate fields for softball and baseball, as well as an official pitch for soccer games and practice fields for the football and soccer teams.

Built a year ago, the playing surface for softball has fences that are 203 feet down the lines and 216 feet from home plate to straightaway centerfield. The outfield fences are all six foot tall.

Head Coach Tim Grant ’s Lady Lions start with three afternoon games on Friday and Saturday, February 8-9, on campus. Our Lady of the Lake University , from San Antonio, will visit for all three contests.

SAGU’s final eight home games are in April, all against three teams from Oklahoma, each played on Friday and Saturday.

On April 5 the opponent will be Mid-America Christian University , who are members in the same conference the Lady Lions will join next year; the Sooner Athletic Conference . MACU finished last in the SAC a year ago with a 15-38 record.

Currently SAGU competes in the Red River Athletic Conference , which has a total of 15 members from Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

The final standings from the 2012 season are posted below.

Bacone College visits for three games during Apr. 12-13. The regular season will conclude on Apr. 26-27 against Hillsdale College .

The complete schedule can be accessed at: www.sagu.edu/athletics , then click on Softball, then Schedule.

Coach Grant, along with second year Assistant Coach Rachel Harris , has begun team practices for the new season. A smaller (in number) than average roster insures plenty of playing time as the Lady Lions build a young core for the future.

The team will likely have three pitchers vying for starts, led by a returner in Shannen Davis (Kremlin, Ok / Kremlin-Hillsdale HS), a junior who also played third and first base. She was third on the team in batting last spring with a .273 average.

Junior Iliana (EHL-ee-AH-nah) Jimenez (Crystal City, Tx / Crystal City HS) is the incumbent shortstop, while senior Cassandra “Cassy” Mata (MAH-tah)(Crystal City, Tx / Crystal City HS) has recovered from an injury and could take over in centerfield.

The leading hitter, Kasey Poovey (Nevada, Tx / Community HS), a sophomore, swung a .293 bat. Her .414 slugging percentage also was tops for the Purple Pride .

New recruits and transfer players are expected to contend for starting jobs in the line-up.

SAGU is a dual Division I member in both the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA).

Contact : Mark “Link” Warde , SAGU Sports Information Director, at [email protected] or at 469-658-2847.

2012 RRAC Final Standings

Note : The top six teams qualified for the double-elimination RRAC tournament in Farmers Branch, Texas (May 3-5). Texas Wesleyan went 3-0 and defeated OLLU (2-2) in the final, 5-2.