By Jake Knabel, NAIA Communications & Sports Information Intern

Game of the Week
No. 9 Shorter (Ga.) (38-7, 18-3 SSAC) at No. 11 Lee (Tenn.) (41-7, 18-3 SSAC)
Wednesday, Cleveland, Tenn., 2 p.m. CDT, Butler Field
• Shorter and Lee, tied atop the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) East Division standings with identical 18-3 league marks, meet for a doubleheader for the second time this season when they square off on Wednesday in Cleveland, Tenn. The two squads split a twin-bill in Rome, Ga., back on March 14 when Lee took game one, 2-1, and Shorter triumphed in game two, 4-3. Both teams will have just four league games remaining after Wednesday.
• Shorter has lost just two games since the defeat to Lee on March 14, winning 20 of 22 since that date. During that stretch, the Lady Hawks have beaten three fellow SSAC teams currently ranked in the Top 25, including Lee, Brenau (Ga.) and William Carey (Miss.). Shorter pitchers have an active streak of 27-consecutive scoreless innings after posting shutouts in four-straight games since April 13. The Lady Hawks are 11-1 in true road games with the only loss coming at Brewton-Parker (Ga.), 2-1, on April 7.
• Shorter boasts one of the NAIA’s top pitching staffs, ranking second nationally in ERA (1.150), fourth in opponent batting average (.170) and sixth in strikeouts (293). It also has a potent offense that ranks seventh in hits (431), 10th in both batting average (.352) and slugging percentage (.555) and 13th in runs scored (278).
• Senior outfielder Charlsie Broome is fresh off a 9-for-14 week (with three home runs and eight RBIs) that allowed her to grab NAIA National Player of the Week honors. She is hitting a career-high .416, ranks second in the SSAC in slugging percentage (.708), leads the league in runs scored (49), ranks second in hits (64), and is No. 1 in the SSAC with 23 stolen bases. In the circle, freshman Maddie Bray (11-4, 1.04 ERA, 94.2 IP) and sophomore Kristen Little (11-2, 0.90 ERA, 93 IP) are neck-and-neck for the title of staff ace. Little ranks fourth in the NAIA in ERA, while Bray is eighth.
• Lee will put its 11-game winning streak on the line in Wednesday’s showdown. Lady Flame pitchers have fired seven shutouts during the streak in which Lee has won by an average score of nearly 7-1. Lee is 4-3 against SSAC teams currently ranked in the Top 25, including a 2-0 record against Brenau. Lee had a stretch of its own from April 6 – 14 of 30 complete innings without allowing a run until Emmanuel (Ga.) scored two runs in the top of the first in a 7-4 Lady Flame victory on April 14. Lee carries an unblemished 24-0 mark at home this season.
• Lee also owns one of the most prolific offensive attacks in the NAIA, ranking third in hits (469), fourth in runs (337), fifth in triples (18) and eighth in batting average (.362). In addition, the Lady Flames’ pitching and defense rate near the top of the NAIA. They are 10th in fielding percentage (.968), 12th in ERA (1.72) and 22nd in strikeouts (242).
• Sophomore first baseman Ana Coscorrosa (.428 BA, 7 HR, 56 RBI, .690 SLG) anchors the middle of the lineup for Lee. Coscorrosa ranks sixth in the NAIA in RBIs and 16th with 62 hits. Senior right-hander Brittany Balough (21-2, 1.29 ERA) serves as the team’s top pitcher. Her 21 wins are the fifth most in the nation.

Around the Top 25
• The week of April 9 – 15 featured five games between Top 25 teams, beginning with an April 12 doubleheader between then-No. 13 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) and then-No. 25 Saint Xavier (Ill.). Olivet Nazarene took game one, 6-4, as the Tigers bombed away with a home run each from Hannah Gardner, Erika Tatum and Rachel Holaway. The Cougars responded with a 3-1 win in game two. Saint Xavier’s Megan Nonnemacher shut down Olivet Nazarene’s power bats with a seven inning complete game performance that included seven strikeouts and just four hits and two walks allowed.
• In the NAIA Game of the Week, then-No. 7 William Carey (Miss.) split a twin-bill with then-No. 19 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) on April 13 in a pair of games dominated by pitching. William Carey, currently leading the Southern States Athletic Conference West Division with a 14-4 league mark, seized game one by a 2-1 score behind the arm of Alyssa Boutwell, who went seven complete innings with eight strikeouts, four hits allowed and no walks to earn the win. However, the Lady Crusaders were upset in the second game as they failed to score. Cassie Daniels tossed a seven-inning shutout and the Warhawks made a lone run stand up.
• In the only other game matching ranked squads, then-No. 6 Lubbock Christian (Texas) knocked off then-No. 18 St. Gregory’s (Okla.) 2-0 on April 13. The Lady Chaparrals’ Sarah Mendez pitched a seven-inning shutout with eight strikeouts as she allowed only two hits and three walks. At the plate, Brittany Kent went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
• Top 10 teams struggled to avoid upsets throughout the week with five such squads suffering defeats to unranked schools. Rogers State (Okla.) split a doubleheader with then-No. 6 Lubbock Christian on April 12. Bellevue (Neb.) defeated then-No. 4 Central Baptist (Ark.), 4-3, on April 13. That same day, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) took one of two from then-No. 9 Houston-Victoria (Texas), winning the first game 2-1. April 14 saw Corban (Ore.) shock then-No. 5 Oregon Tech twice, 8-5 and 7-2. Also on April 14, Vanguard (Calif.) split a twin-bill against then-No. 8 Azusa Pacific (Calif.).
• Azusa Pacific came back with a big victory on Tuesday over No. 1 Concordia (Calif.) in this week’s first meeting of ranked teams. The Eagles extended their NAIA record-breaking win streak to 44 games with a 4-0 win in game one, tagging Cougar hurler Mariah Worley with her first loss of the season. Teammate Rita Kim snapped Concordia’s streak in game two by firing a four-hit, seven-inning shutout as Azusa Pacific won game two, 2-0. The loss was the first for the Eagles in Golden State Athletic Conference play and only their third overall. Concordia won the GSAC with a 15-1 league mark and is now finished with regular-season action. Azusa Pacific’s mark stands at 36-8 overall and 10-4 in the GSAC.
• In addition to the clash of GSAC powers on Tuesday, the week of April 16 – 22 showcases another eight games (four doubleheaders) between ranked teams. The first of these four matchups gets underway Wednesday with the NAIA Game of the Week. On Thursday, No. 3 Oklahoma City hosts No. 19 Southern Nazarene (Okla.) in another key Sooner Athletic Conference battle. The last two doubleheaders involving Top 25 squads take place Friday when No. 11 Lee (Tenn.) visits No. 14 Brenau (Ga.) and No. 18 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) welcomes No. 24 Mobile (Ala.).

National Statistical Notes
• No. 1 Concordia’s (Calif.) NAIA record-breaking streak of 44-consecutive wins came to an end on Tuesday when the Eagles dropped the second game of a doubleheader with No. 8 Azusa Pacific (Calif.). Concordia’s streak topped the previous record of 41-straight wins by Shawnee State (Ohio) in 1996. Until Tuesday’s defeat, the Eagles had not lost since falling 2-1 to unranked Eastern Oregon on Feb. 11. Their overall record of 51-3 (.944) remains the best mark in the NAIA and gives them more wins this season than any softball program in the NAIA and NCAA, including all three divisions.
• Lubbock Christian’s (Texas) Kim Frazier moved to No. 1 in career home runs in NAIA softball history on March 3 when she connected for four home runs during a doubleheader sweep of Oklahoma Christian. That effort pushed her to 62 career home runs, giving her four more than the previous record held by Katie Boocher of Bethel (Ind.). Frazier has since hit 11 more home runs, putting her at 15 for the season and 73 for her career.
• Junior right-hander Kelsey Robertson of Point Park (Pa.) delivered a seven-inning no-hitter in a 5-0 win over Walsh (Ohio) in the first game of an American Mideast Conference doubleheader on Monday. Robertson, who gave up four walks and a hit batter, dominated a Walsh squad that entered the game batting .349 on the season.
• Several Columbia (Mo.) school records were re-written on Monday when the Cougars blew away Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) by scores of 15-3 and 27-0. In game two, Columbia set new school marks for hits in a game (28), RBIs in a game (25) and runs scored (27). Alex Ridenhour and Whitni Howell also tied the record for most hits in a game with five and Ridenhour broke the record for runs in a game with five. Jessica Hardy broke the record for most home runs in a game with three and RBIs in a single game with nine.
• South Carolina Beaufort hurlers Kristy Cook and Caroline Pastre each threw five-inning perfect games on the same day as the Sand Sharks rolled 19-0 and 34-0 over Fisher (Mass.) on Feb. 20. Cook struck out 12 in game one, while Pastre set down 13 on strikes in game two.
• Saint Xavier’s (Ill.) Amie Brown fired a five-inning perfect game in a 10-0 win over Trinity International (Ill.) on April 3 at the SXU Softball Field. Brown also tossed a seven-inning perfect game in a 2-0 victory over Adrian (Mich.) in Cleremont, Fla., back on Feb. 28.
• Then-No. 1 Lubbock Christian had its 54-game home winning streak snapped in the 10-9 loss to West Texas A&M in the second game of a doubleheader on March 27.
• Karlee Despres of Davenport (Mich.) recorded her fifth career no-hitter in a 1-0 win over Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) on March 17. Despres went seven innings and notched 12 strikeouts.
• Erica Gunter of Central Baptist (Ark.) leads the nation in batting average with a mark of .540 (68-for-126), while teammate Christen Kirchner is second with a .525 mark (62-for-1118).
• Concordia’s (Calif.) Amanda Fama tops the leaderboard with 25 home runs. The next highest total is 18 each by Oklahoma City’s LeeAnn Lopez and Corban’s (Ore.) Stephanie Nippert.
• Fama is also No. 1 with 62 RBIs. Evangel’s (Mo.) Danelle Billings is second with 60 RBIs.
• Katelyn Tolle of Evangel is the NAIA leader in ERA at 0.71. A total of six hurlers have an ERA of under 1.00.
• Indiana Wesleyan’s Abbie Forman is tops nationally with 28 wins. Oklahoma City’s Lilly LaVelle leads the nation with 287 strikeouts in 161 innings of work.
• To view all national leaders, click here.

Coaching Milestones
• Phil McSpadden of Oklahoma City leads all active coaches with a record of 1,297-323 (.801) in 25 years.
• Faulkner’s (Ala.) Hal Wynn, eighth on the active wins list, reached 600 career triumphs on April 3 after a 6-5 win over Belhaven (Miss.) in the first game of the doubleheader.
• Brandie Paul of Martin Methodist (Tenn.) recorded win No. 500 in her coaching career on April 12 as the RedHawks swept a doubleheader from Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.).
• Central Methodist (Mo.) head coach Pat Reardon eclipsed the 500-win mark on March 27 when his team swept a doubleheader from Culver-Stockton (Mo.). The pair of victories put Reardon at 501-433 in 19 seasons.
• Mike Hampton of Iowa Wesleyan picked up his 500th win on March 17 with a 4-1 decision over Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.).
• Vanguard’s (Calif.) Beth Renkoski notched her 500th career victory on March 24 with a 2-1 win over Ottawa (Kan.) in the second game of the twin bill.
• Lee (Tenn.) head coach Emily Russell claimed her 400th career victory on April 10 as her Lady Flames swept a doubleheader from Truett-McConnell (Ga.).
• Ronda Varnesdeel of Davenport (Mich.) passed the 300-win plateau on April 1 with two wins over Cumberland (Tenn.). Varnesdeel’s first 133 wins came at Aquinas (Mich.).