THE AGENDA
The OUAZ softball team makes its first road trip of the season this week as they head to Lake Elsinore, California to play five games at the TSC SoCal NAIA Classic on Friday and Saturday. The Spirit will play three times on Friday, starting at 1:30 p.m. (Arizona) against No. 3 Southern Oregon. They will end day one with games against Northwest Christian at 4 p.m. and Marymount California at 6:30 p.m.
 
The Spirit will play a pair of games on Saturday with their first slated for 4 p.m. against No. 16 Corban. The trip concludes against La Sierra at 6:30 p.m. All of the games will be played at the Rosetta Canyon Park.
 
There will not be any live video or stats available during the weekend. Updates will be posted on Twitter by following @OUAZSB and @OUAZSpirit. Scores will also be available on OUAZSpirit.com after each game.
 
ABOUT THE SPIRIT
OUAZ travels to California at 1-3 overall this season and coming off a doubleheader split against Benedictine Mesa on Friday. They have played all four games at home thus far. Last season, the Spirit went 4-10 when playing on a neutral site and they were 1-5 at this same SoCal Classic.
 
The Spirit start the tournament hitting .312 on the season and currently ranked fourth in the conference in that category. They have a .404 slugging percentage with seven doubles and one home run. The team is 1 for 3 in stolen base attempts and they have three sacrifice hits and one sacrifice fly.
 
In the circle, OUAZ has a 3.89 earned run average (ERA) with opponents hitting .250. In 27 innings of work they have allowed 27 hits and 22 runs. The opposition has seven doubles and three home runs against the Spirit this season while OUAZ has totaled 17 walks and 15 strikeouts.
 
OUAZ has a .942 fielding percentage having committed seven errors in 121 chances. They have trown out 4 of 9 base stealers and are yet to turn a double play.
 
OUAZ TIDBITS
After going all of last season without batting around, the Spirit did it twice on Friday. The first came in the bottom of the third in game one against the Redhawks when nine batters accounted for four runs. The Spirit did it again in the bottom of the third of game two when 10 batter scored four runs.
 
Friday's win over Benedictine Mesa snapped a 12-game losing streak in the month of February dating back to last season. It was just the second win in 19 games in February in program history.
 
OUAZ recorded the program's first-ever run-rule victory on Friday when they defeated Benedictine Mesa 14-6. The Spirit closed out the victory with a six-run sixth inning that was capped with an RBI single from Ashton Aggers.
 
AT THE PLATE
Aggers is hitting .429 through the first two weekends of the season. That ranks 12th in the GSAC at this early portion of the year. Aggers has six hits and she is the only Spirit player with a pair of multi-hit games. She has also walked twice to give her a .500 on-base percentage.
 
Emily Stebbins is hitting .400 in 10 at bats this season. She is second on the team with her .800 slugging percentage behind one double and one home run. Stebbins has four runs batted in and has also drawn four walks and been hit by a pitch.
 
Amanda Almond is hitting .308 and is the only player on the team with a hit in all four games of the season. The four-game hitting streak matches the longest streak she was able to put together last season. Almond has scored a pair of runs and has four runs batted in.
 
Sydney Saxton Siaki leads the team with five RBI while she hits .308 with one run scored. Her five RBI rank third in the GSAC this season. She went 2 for 2 with a double and three RBI in game two against BenU Mesa on Friday.
 
Alicia Young is batting .571 in seven at bats on the season and she leads the team with a pair of doubles. Her .857 slugging percentage leads the team and she has a pair of RBI and one sacrifice hit. She notched three hits and scored two runs in the game two win over BenU Mesa on Friday.
 
IN THE CIRCLE
Sabrina Jimenez leads the Spirit with a 1.27 ERA in two appearances this season. She has been a tough-luck loser in both games to post an 0-2 record. Jimenez has thrown 11.0 innings and allowed nine hits and five runs (two earned) while making one start. She leads the team with six strikeouts and has five walks with opponents hitting .214.
 
Alexandra McCutcheon is 1-0 with a 5.65 ERA in her two starts this season. She earned her first career win in a complete game against Benedictine Mesa on Friday. For the season, McCutcheon has thrown 8.2 innings and allowed 12 hits and 11 runs (seven earned) with seven walks and five strikeouts.
 
Bailey Coronado is 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA in her two appearances (one start). In 7.1 innings of work, Coronado has allowed six hits and six runs with five walks and four strikeouts. She has held the opposition to a .231 batting average.
 
AGAINST THE FIELD
OUAZ faced four of the five teams they will play this week last season. They defeated Northwest Christian while suffering single losses to Southern Oregon and La Sierra. The Spirit also dropped three games to Corban last season.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
OUAZ makes a second straight trip to California next week to play a pair of doubleheaders. They are at Antelope Valley on February 15 before playing at Marymount California on February 16.