WKU softball will host Southern Mississippi this weekend after an inter-state battle with Louisville on Wednesday. Winners of their last four of six games as of publication time, the Lady Tops are looking to finish strong heading into the final stretch of the regular season.

The Lady Tops have been highly efficient on offense as of late, skyrocketing into the top 25 of many offensive categories. The Lady Tops have been hit by a pitch 65 times, which is good for second in the nation. Redshirt junior Brittany Vaughn and senior catcher Taylor Proctor have combined for 36 hit by pitches. The duos total alone is tops in C-USA.

The Lady Tops have displayed surges of power throughout the entire season. They currently lead C-USA in homeruns with 38 and are 25 nationally, already surpassing their 2016 season total of 28.

While offense has been a driving force of the Lady Tops, defense has also played a key role in the team’s success. The Lady Tops are 17 in the nation with 16 runners thrown out attempting to steal. The Lady Tops are also 11 in the nation with 22 double plays turned.

Southern Miss will enter Friday’s contest with a 24-22 record (7-11 C-USA ) and has had solid success winning on the road earning an 11-8 record.

Southern Miss has been a good hitting team all season. The Lady Golden Eagles boast an impressive four hitters with above .300 batting averages. Samantha Reynolds boasts the highest batting average on the roster with a solid .338.

Statistically speaking Lauren Holifield has been the best hitter for the Lady Golden Eagles. She leads the team in at-bats with 143, runs with 28, hits with 45, home-runs with 8 and RBIs with 29. She also has the most total bases, 73, and the highest slugging percentage, .510, on the roster.

While the Lady Tops haven’t faced Southern Miss during the 2017 season thus far, they’ve held the higher hand since joining C-USA, compiling a 4-2 record against the Lady Golden Eagles.

Due to a 100 percent chance of rain, the weekend series has been moved from Friday and Saturday to Sunday and Monday. The opener features a home double-header on Sunday with the first game slated to start at 1 p.m. The Lady Tops round out the series with a finale on Monday at 1 p.m. 

Reporter Kenton Hornbeck can be reached at 859-445-7702 and [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @KentonHornbeck.