Championship Central

Harrogate, Tenn.----The Wingate University Bulldogs are the number three seed in this week's Food Lion South Atlantic Conference softball tournament, which begins Thursday in Harrogate, Tenn. on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University. Wingate will face sixth-seeded Brevard College Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Live video and live stats will be available for this week's SAC Tournament.

The Bulldogs are 32-16 overall, finishing alone in third place in the SAC standings with a 14-6 league record. Wingate finished two games behind regular season co-champions Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne. The Bulldogs played two less league games than the Trojans and Bears because of inclement weather last weekend. Brevard is 22-23 overall, finishing sixth in the SAC with an 11-9 league record.

Wingate has won three SAC Tournament titles, with the most recent coming in 2006. The Bulldogs also have three regular season conference championships to go along with seven second-place finishes. The Bulldogs won three SAC tournament games in 2013 as the seven seed, losing a pair of close contests to eventual champion Lenoir-Rhyne.

Sophomore right-hander Stacey Houser (Mooresville, N.C.) opened last year's SAC Tournament with a two-hit shutout against Anderson in a 4-0 win, with junior designated player Kayla Saliga (Asheboro, N.C.) connecting on a homer. Wingate lost a 3-2 game against LRU on day two, with Houser pitching 11 2/3 innings, throwing 204 pitches. The 'Dogs bounced back with a 5-1 win over LMU, getting a three-hit performance from senior Hayley Whitley (Monroe, N.C.) and a six-hit complete game from Houser. Wingate followed with a 6-1 win over Mars Hill. Freshmen Taylor Laskey (Cherryville, N.C.) and Emily Usiak (Matthews, N.C.) each had a double and two RBI, while Houser once again went the distance, allowing a run on seven hits. Houser threw seven more shutout innings against Lenoir-Rhyne, but the game went into the eighth scoreless and the Bears would go on to win 2-0 to eliminate Wingate. Houser tossed a tournament record 40 2/3 innings, allowing just seven runs.

The Bulldogs and Tornados met for a doubleheader earlier this month, with Brevard sweeping the home doubleheader. The Tornados took game one 1-0 thanks to a solo homer from Kinsey Parrish and a four-hit shutout from Jamie Hrobak. Houser allowed a run on four hits for Wingate. Brevard won game two 6-5, with Alyssa Miller and Casey Whitaker each driving in a pair of runs. Junior shortstop Alexis Burrell (Chesapeake, Va.) had a double and two RBI for Wingate, while Saliga was two-for-four with a double, RBI and run scored. Wingate is 10-6 all-time against Brevard, with a 1-1 record against the Tornados in the SAC Tournament. Their last SAC Tournament meeting came in 2012, when Brevard won 1-0 to eliminate the Bulldogs.

Houser has had another solid year in the circle for the Bulldogs. The preseason All-SAC selection is 21-7 with a 1.67 ERA and 95 strikeouts. She leads the league in wins, ranking third in complete games, shutouts and innings pitched, sixth in ERA and seventh in strikeouts. The sophomore already has 45 career wins.

Saliga leads the Bulldogs with a .377 batting average, ranking 10th in the SAC. She also has six doubles, 11 homers and 24 RBI. The 2013 All-SAC selection has struck out just eight times in 146 at bats. Sophomore infielder Mellena Helms (Concord, N.C.) is hitting .358, leading the team with 10 homers, three triples and 43 runs, ranking second on the team with 35 RBI and 11 doubles. She ranks seventh in the league in triples, homers and runs scored, while ranking 11th in RBI. Helms has seven homers in SAC play, the second most in the league. Laskey is hitting .357 with nine homers, leading the team with 14 doubles and 37 RBI. She ranks third in the SAC in doubles, eighth in homers, ninth in RBI and 10th in on-base and slugging percentage. Laskey has also thrown out a league-best 16 runners trying to steal.

Freshman outfielder Olivia Smith (Chesapeake, Va.) is fourth on the team with a .336 batting average, hitting .364 in SAC games. She has 16 RBI and 19 runs scored while registering a team-best 10 sacrifices. Freshman outfielder Jordan Wilson (Gastonia, N.C.) is hitting .282 with seven doubles and 14 RBI, while sophomore outfielder Shannen Adams (Ayden, N.C.) is hitting .274 with a .361 average in league contests. Burrell has six homers, nine doubles, 28 RBI and 23 runs scored, while freshman first baseman Amy Wingfield (Mechanicsville, Va.) has five homers for the Bulldogs.

The winner of the Wingate-Brevard game will take on the winner of the Anderson vs. Carson-Newman contest on Friday. The loser of the Wingate-Brevard matchup will face the Anderson-Carson-Newman loser on Friday. The double elimination tournament runs Thursday through Sunday in Harrogate, Tenn.

2014 Food Lion SAC Softball Championship Schedule
Harrogate, Tenn. (Lincoln Memorial University)

Thursday, April 24
No. 4 Tusculum vs. No. 5 Lincoln Memorial, 10 a.m.
No. 3 Wingate vs. No. 6 Brevard, 12:30 p.m.
No. 2 Anderson vs. No. 7 Carson-Newman, 3 p.m.
No. 1 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. No. 8 Catawba, 5:30 p.m.
Friday, April 25
Gm. 1 loser vs. Gm. 4 loser, 10 a.m.
Gm. 2 winner vs. Gm. 3 winner, 10 a.m.
Gm. 2 loser vs. Gm. 3 loser, 12:30 p.m.
Gm. 1 winner vs. Gm. 4 winner, 12:30 p.m.
Gm. 7 loser vs. Gm. 5 winner, 3 p.m.
Gm. 8 loser vs. Gm. 6 winner, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 26
Gm. 9 winner vs. Gm. 10 winner, noon
Gm. 7 winner vs. Gm. 8 winner, 2:30 p.m.
Gm. 11 winner vs. Gm. 12 loser, 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 27
Championship game, 1 p.m.
If necessary, 3:30 p.m.